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A Feast of Word and Words
Lectionary Reflection, 3rd Sunday after Epiphany, January 27, 2013
This week’s lessons provide many opportunities to feast on the Word of God. One may also reflect on the power of words in our communal life, individual faith development, stewardship, and evangelism. (Photo by Rachel-Esther. Thanks!)
Creation Care Devotional Guide
Looking for a stewardship of creation devotional guide to use? Here’s a good one from webofcreation.org that provides scripture, a quote from the ELCA social statement “Caring for Creation,” a creation care fact, a prayer, and ways to become more involved and committed to caring for God’s good creation. Click here to access the free […]
Stewardship Bible Studies: Best of the Old Testament
Today’s sermon is a Bible study. You have brought your Bibles today and we are going to study them to see what the Bible has to say about stewardship. We are people of the Word. The Word is our spiritual guide for so many of our beliefs and values. We consistently look to the Word for guidance.
Zacchaeus, Patron Saint for Stewards
When Zacchaeus encountered Jesus, he did not promise to read scripture more faithfully nor to attend the synagogue more regularly. On this occasion he was not pledging his time or his talent to the programmatic mission of the faith community. Worthy as those are — and necessary for the life of the people of God — this visit was about something else.
The Church’s Call to Environmental Stewardship
Many people throughout the church are concerned about ecological issues. The health and well-being of our planet affects everyone. What does the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the ministry of his church, have to offer a world concerned about its natural environment? (NASA photo taken by astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.)
The Stories of Isaiah and Pepe
You and I learn much about living as faithful stewards from the examples of others. For example, let’s examine the calls of two men, hoping thereby that we can examine, accept, and renew our own calls. (Illustration is Michaelangelo’s depiction of Isaiah at the Sistine Chapel.)
Pastor: Fund Raiser for Mission
To a present culture of materialism, selfishness, and consumerism, we are called to model in our own lives and teach others Christian financial stewardship. Each of us clergy and lay leaders can be trained in our discipling to not only make good stewards of our people, but also to talk the language of fund raising and do so with the conviction that it is an important part of our Christian ministry. (Photo by Fallonyates, used by Creative Commons license.)
Faithful Living: A Biblical Ethic of Financial Stewardship
Financial stewardship is not only a matter of faithful giving but of faithful living. In response to the gospel, we submit our lives to the rule of God, to the lordship of Christ, and to the direction of the Holy Spirit, so that we may be the people God wants us to be and have the lives God wants us to have.
Stewardship as a Human Vocation
In this essay, Douglas John Hall explores stewardship of creation by asking the age-old question, “What are human beings for.” He rejects the pessimism of those who say the crisis is beyond hope, and instead he finds hope in Christ. (Photo by aussiegall, used by Creative Commons license. Thanks!)
The Liturgy of Abundance, the Myth of Scarcity
One of Christian theology’s most prophetic voices offers a challenging biblical analysis of the role of money in our culture. Wealth in America, Brueggemann says, acts as a narcotic, numbing us. “The great contradiction is that we have more and more money and less and less generosity — less and less public money for the needy, less charity for the neighbor.” (Photo: Prisoner 5413, Creative Commons)