I remember years ago, when I was the pastor in another city, we had a man in our church that worked in a local processing plant. His name was Doug. One day, a new guy – a fellow by the name of Mike – showed up to work there, and Doug got acquainted with him and invited him to come to our church.
‘I don’t know,’ Mike said. ‘I don’t much like going to church. All there ever do is ask for money.’
‘Not our preacher!’ Doug said. ‘He never talks about money!’
What Doug didn’t know was that I was scheduled to preach my annual stewardship sermon that very next Sunday! So, what happened? Mike and Shannon, his wife, show up at the First Presbyterian Church, and the preacher is talking about money!