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STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY

Luke 6:38 NRSV
38give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.

Love always expresses itself in joyful generosity. The Apostle Paul

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As a woman was driving home after church, she was complaining about everything on the phone with her friend who had also attended church that morning. She said, "The music was too loud. The sermon was too long. The church announcements were unclear. The building was hot. The people were unfriendly." She went on and on, complaining about virtually everything. Finally, her observant friend said, "you've got to admit it wasn't a bad show for just a dollar." lt turns out the friend had observed more than just her complaints!

Luke 6:38 is our scripture for today. lt is a great reminder that what we put out into the world is what we receive back. Business developers in the 1990's and 2000's developed this as a business model and some even developed it into a book and a spiritual success story called The Secret! All along, it was in the Bible: "Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your tap. For with the measure you use it wiil be measured back to you.

Today, severaI of our Riverside members are going to share their thoughts about why they give gifts of time, talent, and resources to the church. The Stewardship Committee agreed to choose people who represented the whole congregation - People of a variety of ages, gender, perspectives, tenure in the church, range of giving and participation.

You may hear some similar things from them; and you may hear some differences between them because they have not compared notes! We thought it would be interesting for all of us to learn from one another about the significance and spirituatity of giving.

l'll end my introduction with another story. SeveraI years ago, one of my colleagues actually received a phone call from the lRS. The IRS agent was wanting to verify that a member of the church had given what he had claimed on his tax return. The amount on the tax return was more than $10,000 in donations to the church for that calendar year. "ls that correct?" asked the IRS auditor. The pastor was not certain, as he was not the one who had the records, but he went on to say... "l don't have the records here, but I can check with out Church Treasurer. But I will assure you of this - if this member did not give $10,000 last year, he certainly WILL!"