Christian Stewardship Program 2020

Stewardship chairperson is Maja Topalovic: maja.topalovic@yahoo.com

The Spirituality of Stewardship

It takes faith to trust that God will continue to provide for our needs.

• The disciples feared the thought of feeding the crowd; they had nowhere near enough food, they said.
• But what is offered to Christ is multiplied and becomes an overabundance.

November is Stewardship Month

Our 2020 stewardship ministry theme is “The Gift of Giving”. It takes Faith to trust that God will continue to provide for our needs. The Old Testament laid down the standard of giving a tithe (more than 10% of one’s income) back to God. This provides us with the true example: giving should be in proportion to our income. Stewards should strive to proclaim the Gospel to the world and to preserve the Church, which Jesus Christ established on Earth so that we could discover the way to salvation and eternal life.

Orthodox Christian Stewardship is based on the teachings of the Holy Bible and the Christian experience from the beginning and through the centuries. The concept is simple:

Who calls us to be Stewards?

• God is the Creator of all things “visible and invisible” as we profess in The Creed.

• He gives us Life in all its fullness and with all its blessings, asking that we be His “co-workers,” good stewards, or “managers” of all that He gives to us. God calls us to Stewardship.
  
  “Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.” Proverbs 22:9“…And Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” St. Mark 12:41-44

What is expected of us as good Stewards?

• As good Stewards, we spend our life caring for all that we have received. To list all these things would be impossible, as everything comes from God, and therefore, we are called to be good stewards of everything…our whole life.
• So, a good steward is concerned with taking proper care of the health of their soul and their body as well as the environment around them; with how they spend their time and their money; with how they use the talents and gifts given to them; and with how they maintain all their relationships, including with their family, friends and even strangers.
• Stewards strive to keep all things good and beautiful, as God created to be. Therefore, good Stewards do no waste any time, money or talents on frivolous, meaningless things. Rather, they take good care of everything, as an offering back to Him in thanksgiving.

What is among the most important of God’s Gifts to us?

• Perhaps the most important gift which we have received and therefore must take good care of, is the Church which Jesus Christ, the Son of God has established on earth so that we can learn the way to salvation and eternal life.
• Taking good care (being good stewards) of the Church is vital to the spiritual growth of each one of us and to the spreading and sharing of the Good News of Salvation in Jesus Christ. This care involves offering our time, talents and money to the community of the Church. We wisely spend our time worshiping God, receiving His Sacraments, uniting ourselves to Him and to each other, sharing our talents for the good of the community, and making our joyful and sacrificial financial gifts to the Church…all out of love for Him and to express our desire to be His “Co-Workers” in the world.

What should we be doing each day?

• God gives us all things, and asks us for just a tithe…just 10% of it as a small sign of our love and thanksgiving and as our proper understanding that it all belongs to Him anyway.

So, we have one lifetime on this earth. Regardless of the number of years that we are given, let’s remember that each day, as life itself, is a precious gift and be sure to take good care to keep it good and beautiful in the site of Him from whom we receive it. This is what good stewards do.