Offering = Opportunity

   Consider some simple facts. Did you know, for example, that one-sixth of everything Jesus is reported to say in the New Testament concerns the relationship of a person to his or her material possessions? And one-third of all Jesus' parables are about this matter. The use and misuse of the world - of possessions, of physical things, and of people - the use and misuse of the world we have been given by God to live in and with is what the history of salvation is all about. It's the matter of stewardship.

   Let's not fool ourselves about stewardship, because if we do we will be fooling ourselves about the Gospel itself, about the very promise of salvation itself.

What Have You Done?

   One day we will stand before God and be held accountable for what we have done with the talents the Lord has given us. God created us, and everything we have is from Him. He gives different talents and differing degrees of talent to each of us. His intention is that they be used for the advance of the kingdom.

   We sometimes find God's plan difficult to understand and even harder to live out. We tend to lord it over those with lesser talent, to be jealous of those who seemingly have more, or to use the talents we have for our own advancement.

Dump Distractions 

   A doctor was planning to build a million dollar home. His wife told family members not to criticize because he works long hours and they "deserve" it

   Consider this: Caring for things we deserve, want, or must have may negate their value. Our acquisitions must be stored, cleaned, organized, maintained, and all too frequently, replaced. Our possessions often possess us.

Easter

  Easter is the earliest Christian festival, celebrating Jesus' resurrection from the grave in triumph over sin and death. This festival was first mentioned by name in 130 A.D.

   New Christian converts in the earliest centuries were trained and tested in Lent and finally baptized at the Easter Vigil; the days after Easter were the time for them to explore the meaning of their new life in Christ and the significance of the mysteries of Baptism and Holy Communion of which they were now partakers.

God Loves – I Respond