Friends in Christ,
You have nothing
that God needs.
Before God created
the world, he wasn't sitting in heaven pining away for companionship.
Within the Trinity, God has infinite community and love. God didn't
need creation—it was an intentional act of divine grace, an
overflow of boundless love.
God has created
each and every person on this world intentionally. None of us are an
accident. God wanted to create us, and he wants the best for us—he
wants to welcome us into the infinite community and love that he
experiences in the Trinity. He wants us to join the overflowing joy
of eternal life.
And he wants you
to experience that here and now, in this life. We aren't meant to
sit around and wait for heaven—our lives are meant to be busy
creating heaven on earth, joining in with God's ongoing renewal work.
God wants abundance and joy and peace and growth for you.
I say all of this
because we're going to be talking about money in October, and the
church hasn't always been great about explaining why we give money to
God. We're perhaps guilty of leading people into thinking that God
needs your money. God doesn't. God wants you to give money to the
church because it will teach you how to handle money and how to be
grateful. Scripture teaches us that giving money is one of our many
responses to the God who gives us everything, including our money and
our ability to work. Giving away money is a bold statement of faith
in the God who provides. Putting God first in our lives includes
putting him first in our finances, which is just as important as
putting him first in our marriages and jobs and relationships and
play. God must always come first.
As other pastors
have said, “God doesn't need something from you. But God wants
something for you.”
God loves you and
wants abundant & eternal life for each of us. May we respond
with grateful praise.
In Christ, Keith
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