Please consider your estimate of giving for 2022. Please click on Stewardship 2022 Estimate of Giving and fill out a simple Estimate of Giving card online.
Please click on Grow One Step 2022 to download copies of the Grow One Step charts.
You can set up automatic recurring electronic giving by clicking on Duluth First UMC Online Giving.
News Alert! God is
Generous…So We Can Be Too!
Have you ever seen one of those pop-up messages on your
phone that said, “Breaking News,” or have you seen something like that on
TV? Sometimes the network will break
into the middle of your favorite show and say, “We interrupt this broadcast for
a special announcement.” When you hear
those words, it captures your attention right away. You become glued to the screen because you
want to know what’s going on that is so important. In fact, it has been said that few words in
the English language have the power to capture the attention of so many people
so quickly.
What if you looked down at your phone, or looked at the TV
screen, and saw that the “breaking news” was actually a message telling you
that God is generous and, as a Christian, you can be generous, too? Would that special announcement come as a
surprise to you? I hope not.
As Christians, we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and
Savior, and we carry His light inside of us wherever we go. Hopefully, as we learn more about Him and
grow closer to Him, we find out just how generous He really is.
There are lots of examples of God’s generosity in the
Bible. The most important one, of
course, is seen in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one
and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but will
have eternal life.” God tells us to be
generous, too. In the book of Acts, the
apostle Paul says, “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed
to give than to receive.’” In Matthew
6:19-21, it says “do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…but store
up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”
Hebrews 13:16 says, “And don’t forget to do good and to share with those
in need. These are the sacrifices that
please God.”
As Christians, we are called to be generous. A by-product of having the Holy Spirit
dwelling within us is that feeling we have, that nudging, to help others who
are in need. It feels great when we can
help someone else and shine the light of Christ in the world. Our church has lots of ministries that we can
participate in to fulfill that call. In
fact, our church is a storehouse of blessings!
Did you know that in the book of Malachi 3:10-12, God tells the people
to “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my
Temple. If you do, I will open the
windows of heaven for you. I will pour
out a blessing so great, you won’t have enough room to take it in!”
In addition to being generous with your time by participating
in the ministries of the church, you can also be generous with your
giving. How are you doing with
that? Are you tithing, giving 10% of
your income, which is the standard that God calls us to? If not, are you growing one step each year as
you work your way toward the tithe? Now
is the time to start thinking about your giving plans for 2022. In the coming weeks, we’ll be hearing from
fellow church members as well as the clergy staff at all the services. You’ll also be receiving your pledge card. Think about how generous God has been in your
life, and pray about how you can continue to grow closer to Him through your
own generosity.
We don’t really need a breaking news special announcement to
know that God loves each and every one of us and that He is generous with His
blessings. I hope we’ve all felt His
presence in our lives and experienced His generosity in countless ways. As we grow closer to Him, let us all heed the
call to love our neighbors as ourselves and to be generous as we shine His
light wherever we go.
In His service,
Bryan Johnson
Duluth First UMC Stewardship Chair