9/27 - Money is Spiritual

Church Family 

This week, our worship invites us to recognize that stewardship is not simply about what we give; it is about how we live with what God has entrusted to us. We begin with Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, singing verses 1, 3, and 4. We praise God as the source of creation and salvation, the God whose goodness sustains us and whose grace equips us for the work before us. Everything we have begins as a gift from God, and gratitude is the first response of a faithful steward.

From gratitude, we move toward formation with Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love, singing verses 2, 3, and 5. The hymn expands our understanding of neighbor, reminding us that our neighbors are rich and poor, near and far, and that every person is someone we are called to love and serve. Christ does not simply ask us to feel compassion; Christ forms us into people whose love becomes action. We are shaped by God's love so that our lives, our choices, and our resources can become expressions of that love.
In Matthew 25:14–30, Jesus tells the parable of the talents. What has been entrusted to us is not meant to be hidden away or treated as though it belongs to us alone. The parable invites us to consider how faithfully we use what God has placed in our hands. We then sing In My Home, Lord, Be Glorified, bringing the message of stewardship into the ordinary places of our lives. This leads us into our sermon, “Money Is Spiritual,” where we consider the truth that our relationship with money is also part of our relationship with God. Our financial choices reveal our priorities, shape our relationships with our neighbors, and can either participate in God's work of justice or turn us inward toward ourselves. 
The choir offers “I Am His Child” by Moses Hogan, reminding us that before we are owners, earners, givers, or stewards, we belong to God. Our identity does not come from our bank accounts, possessions, accomplishments, or financial security. We are God's children. From that identity comes the freedom to hold our resources differently, to receive them gratefully, use them faithfully, and share them generously.
Finally, Send Us Out by Matt Osgood brings the worship to its natural conclusion. We have received the gift, been formed by love, confronted the spiritual dimensions of our resources, and remembered our identity as God's children. Now we are sent. Stewardship becomes mission when what God has placed in our hands becomes part of what God is doing in the world. We leave worship not simply asking, “What should I give?” but asking, “How can everything God has entrusted to me become an instrument of God's love, justice, and mission?”
Gift → Formation → Justice → Mission. This week reminds us that what we do with our resources is never separate from who we are becoming as disciples of Jesus Christ.
In Love, 

Music Tom

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