What Grows from Gratitude

My office table is especially crowded this week. Boxes of narrative budget booklets, pledge cards, envelopes, and colorful paper leaves are waiting to become this year’s stewardship packets. Our Stewardship Team has spent the past couple of months discerning and planning this season, and I am grateful for the care they have brought to it. The packets will be ready for you to pick up on Sunday.

This year’s theme is “Growing in Gratitude.” We have chosen 2 Corinthians 9:6–8 as our guiding scripture, including Paul’s familiar words, “God loves a cheerful giver.” The Greek word translated as “cheerful” is hilaros, the source of our word “hilarious.” Paul is not suggesting that we break into belly laughs when the offering plate comes by. Paul is reminding us that giving can grow from gratitude, rather than compulsion, obligation, or guilt.

Let’s face it: the church asks for money every week of the year. Stewardship season gives us a chance to pause and see what God is doing with the time, talents, and treasure we share. One of the joys of serving as your pastor is seeing the life of this congregation throughout the week. Many of you give generously to more than one ministry, but few of us have the chance to see the full breadth of what happens here and beyond our walls.

That is why I put together the “narrative budget“. Despite its name, it is less a budget than a story. It shows what has grown from the resources we have shared: worship and learning, care for one another, service in our community, and partnerships around the world. I hope you will take time to read it and recognize your own place in that story.

As we begin this season, I invite you to give thanks for the blessings we have received, celebrate the work God is doing through Grace, and consider how you will take part in the year ahead. May gratitude continue to grow among us, and may generosity bloom from it.

See you in church!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Kevin