Hear the Faith Walk announcement and testimony by Faith Walk Campaign Team member Cindy Goertz. The audio below is from the 8am service on Sunday 2/7/10.
Hear Pastor Augie’s sermon on GOD’S FAITHFULNESS. The audio below was the message from Sunday 2/14/10.
By Barb Fritz:
As Keith and I consider our pledge to Faith Walk, I am very gratefully reminded of God’s amazing presence in our life together and especially in our journey of giving financially back to Him. I would just like to share a little of what that has been like.
Did we just “bite the bullet” one day and take a big financial risk? Oh, no, not at all. When we started our lives together, material-wise Keith and I had basically just enough to get by and lived from pay-check to pay-check. We had debt, and we had children to care for. Our lives were very busy and hectic with responsibilities, and we kept careful track of every expense.
I really think our giving started as a desire to give, some time before the actual giving began; and that desire grew and took on a life of its own. After we acknowledged and paid attention to this desire, God just took over and led us forward. Now I do know that even that desire was a gift of God, given through baptism and a relationship with Him; and then He promises in His word that he will also fulfill the desires of our hearts. How can we lose, with a God like that?! He thinks of everything; He does everything. From a human standpoint, our desire came from basically two thoughts: 1) even though we did not live on “easy street,” we did have many blessings; and 2) everything we had really was God’s so we just turned it all over to Him. That was a relief in itself!
How did we “pay attention” to our desire to give to God? The answer is prayer – sometimes just a simple, “Lord, please help me to give.” And when God was asked, without a moment’s hesitation, He started His plan for us, and He surely carried it out – as no one or nothing on this earth can do. I am convinced He is just standing by every second of every day waiting for those requests. He delights in us and wants to show us His wonders.
What seemed to make a big difference for us was setting aside specific time to discuss our thoughts and concerns about our giving. As we committed an amount to God, we felt relieved that He would make it work. With Him in the equation, we were granted the faith that the plan would not fail. And it never has! We have been able to contribute so much – even more than we ever thought we could. I just don’t remember that it was ever painful; there was just a natural progress that took place in our lives. And it has been exciting to see and be a part of the growth of His Kingdom.
Keith and I have each been strengthened in our faith through this giving journey and our relationship also has deepened. That’s one blessing that God gave in return – there are many more. We are not wealthy by the world’s standards, but many times I have felt rich beyond words in many, many ways. Now we are also blessed with a home and funds put aside for retirement. Our needs are met – grocery shopping and gas for the cars and doctor visits are not worries. But it isn’t just things we have – we have love, fun, family, six beautiful grandchildren, health, friends, and a great church-family. I am just amazed at what we have now compared to what we started out with. In the present economy (or maybe in any economy), we are not totally financially secure, but we are secure in the Lord – and that is something that cannot be taken away from us!
I would encourage everyone to look to the Lord and accept His love and His care, especially now in making a pledge to Him and His work for the Kingdom. He is the One who accomplishes all good things. He definitely did it for Keith and me.
Barb Fritz
Faith Walk Campaign Team
Do you have questions about the Building Project?
- “When will we break ground?”
- “How much is this going to cost?”
- “How many kids will the preschool and daycare serve?”
Do you have questions about what the Bible says about giving?
- Are we supposed to tithe now that Christ has come?
- Do we give offerings based on “net” or “gross” income?
- Is it Biblical to give to both a building program and to regular church operations at the same time?
THIS WEEK at Saving Grace, as part of FAITH WALK, you can attend a Bible Study and Q&A session at one of these three convenient times:
- Tuesday, 2/9 10am – Cloud Office
- Friday, 2/12 7pm – Cloud Office
- Sunday, 2/14 9:15am – QCMS
We are asking everyone to attend one of these three sessions. So click here and Register Now for the session that’s convenient for you!
As we begin the 2010 Stewardship Campaign, I have been reminded of the story of Peter in Mathew 14:22-33. The disciples are at sea during a wind storm and Christ approaches walking on the water. The disciples think he is a spirit and become afraid. Peter asks Christ to prove his identity by performing the miracle of Peter walking on the water to Christ. Peter steps out in faith towards Christ on the water. While Peter is walking towards Christ on the water, he confirms his humanity by becoming afraid in the raging storm around him. His fear and doubt cause him to sink into the sea. Peter cries out to Christ and he is rescued by the Savior. The words Christ speaks at this moment have often sustained me in times of fear and doubt. He said “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt.”
Place yourself in Peter’s place during these events. He first has the joy and amazement of doing what he knows to be humanly impossible. Consider the growth in spirit he must have felt as he realized that Christ was using his faith to make this possible. Next, he drops back into the familiar human state of fear and doubt. As this comes upon him, he sinks into the sea. I am sure we have all thought in similar situations, “Why did I get myself into this mess.” I am also sure that the other disciples are sitting in the boat congratulating them selves on not taking the same faith walk as Peter. Finally, consider the spiritual growth accompanied by Christ responding for his call for help. I am sure that this entire experience stuck with Peter throughout his life and likely changed his life forever.
You may ask what this story has to do with stewardship. I believe that the Saving Grace Lutheran community is at a similar crossroads in its spiritual journey. We have the choice to stay in the boat with everyone else and later congratulate ourselves on the wisdom of being cautious. If we make this choice, the Lord will find ways to bless us in that path but we will miss out on the spiritual growth and experience of the faith walk we are being offered. Our other choice is to accept Christ’s offer to walk out on the sea and have our lives changed forever. If we accept this challenge, we will likely have our moments of doubt and fear just like Peter. In those moments, we will also begin to sink into the perils that await us, but we must remember what Peter learned on that day. The Lord is in charge of it all and we can only faithfully follow his path. If we take the faith walk He has offered us, we will be blessed with the life changing spiritual growth and experiences that He wants us to have. Thus, I ask you to consider when the story ends, would you rather be Peter or one of the other disciples in the boat.
-Fred Garrett, Faith Walk Chairman