A reminder, you can help out with disaster relief through https://www.lcms.org/hurricane-response. Also – your offerings during coffee hour on Sunday, November 3 will go to support LCMS Disaster Relief. Come and give generously!
October 16, 2024
Dear Friends,
First, some house-keeping. While our constitutional revision is under review by the Minnesota North District Constitution Committee, we have to work out a few of the details that were moved from the constitution to an addendum. Moving a bunch of stuff to an addendum allows the congregation to change it more easily – constitutional amendments are difficult by design. Things that can be more flexible, like job descriptions and the range of boards and committees in our congregation, are well-suited to an addendum that the congregation can adjust easily as time goes on.
A draft of an addendum will be on the docket for our quarterly voters’ meeting at the end of the month. You can grab a copy from the table outside the secretary’s office, or you can download it here: http://www.concordialcms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Addendum-Draft-3.pdf. Take a look, feel free to ask questions, and then we’ll be ready to take it up at the voters’ meeting on October 27.
Second, let’s think on the topic of stewardship for a minute.
This topic tends to be an eye-roller – how many of you have heard or felt that: “Churches are always asking for money”?
It’s often true, and it’s often done in a way that leads to cheerless giving.
God wants us to be different. He wants conversation about money at Concordia to be joyful and free.
Here’s how that can happen:
First, be honest with yourself about how you think about money. Are you greedy, fearful, wasteful, or careless? Or are you selfless, confident, generous, and wise? One of the surest ways to find out is to try to give money away. Take your paycheck, move the decimal point one spot to the left, and give it away. That’d be 10%. Do you think you can live on 90%? What do you have to give up? What does your stomach do at the thought? Just notice what’s going on in your heart, and you’ll find out how you think about money.
Then, where there’s sin in your heart concerning money, repent. There’s no other way around this. Making more money does not get rid of sinful attitudes towards money. Storing up lots of money doesn’t either. In fact, it’s often the case that the more you have, the bigger and stronger Mammon appears, and so it becomes harder to avoid falling in love.
Finally, after you’ve thought about those things and have rejoiced because God forgave your sin and promised you a clean heart, then (and really only then) think about the church.
There are certain ordinary costs from having a church, that even the Bible talks about. For instance, having a pastor costs a salary and benefits (“The Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer deserves his wages'” 1Timothy 5:18). Concordia does a great job of caring for me and my family.
Beyond ordinary costs like that and taking care of the building, there’s a rather exciting prospect. There’s a lot of good that the church can do when we pool our resources, from improving our outreach to supporting missions to helping out the community to building up future generations, and that’s where joyful and free conversation about money is especially valuable. This year, Concordia has pledged a full 10% of its budget to supporting several missions. That’s phenomenal! What else can we get done?
All of that starts with getting our hearts right about money. Remember, Cain offered a sacrifice to God, but God didn’t accept it because his heart wasn’t right. The routine maintenance that we do on our hearts, thinking again about our relationship to our money, is a helpful step in having right hearts. Lean in to the discipline. Feel the pinch in your sinful flesh as you work on giving your money away, and thank God that he is teaching you to trust in him all the more!
God bless and keep you,
Pr. Buchs
COMING EVENTS:
Wednesday, October 16
8:30 am – Homeschool Choir
9:30 am – Chapel
10:00 am – Bible Study
6:00 pm – Bible Study
7:00 pm – Vespers
Sunday, October 20
9:00 am – Divine Service
10:30 am – Sunday School/Bible Study