Dear Church Family,
On Sunday we began a sermon series entitled, Kingdom Treasure. For the next three Sundays we will be discussing and studying Jesus’ words about giving from the Sermon on the Mount, in which he said, Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). In preparation for our stewardship series, please take a few minutes to pray about ways you can serve using your time, talents, and treasure. This will be a very meaningful time for our congregation. This is also the time of year where we explore the meaning of
stewardship, and we ask each person in our church family to discover how they want to express their love for God through making a financial commitment to His church in the coming year. There are two reasons we ask you to fill out and return a commitment card each year. First, it allows the church to plan accurately for ministries, since we base our ministry budget on the dollar amount our members plan to give. Second, the act
of filling out a card is a way of inviting you to set a goal for giving during the coming year.
Many of you have already shown yourself to be a generous giver, and I would like for you to pray about and consider what you can pledge for the coming year. I encourage you to give the biblical tithe, 10% of your income, to the church. If you can’t take that step this year, perhaps you can move toward a tithe by increasing your giving. For me and my family, tithing is one of the great blessings in our life. We find tremendous joy in knowing that by giving to the church, we can be a part of something bigger than we are by investing in God’s Kingdom.
A link to your online pledge card is on this page. Your prayerful, intentional efforts to ask God for insight, and then act upon your decision, will express your love and gratitude for God in a personal and tangible way. Your estimate of giving confirms your desire to invest your treasure in God’s Kingdom and empowers us to fulfill our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Our pledge cards will be dedicated on Sunday, November 5, during each worship service, and if you’re using the printed version, we ask that you bring them with you that morning. If you are not able to attend worship that Sunday you may turn them in at anytime to the church office or fill one out online. If you have questions or need to talk about special ways to give to the church, please call me, Wendy, or Carla in the church administration office. Let us pray for one another during this important time in the life of our congregation. Thank you for all you do to further the mission and work of First UMC. You make a difference here!
God’s Peace,
David R. Saliba, Pastor