One For All And All For One!

"One For All And All For One!"

2 Corinthians 8:1-7

During the months of May and June we spent four weeks seeking to gain a deeper understanding of "God’s Amazing Grace" and how the Lord has so freely showered every one of us with His abundant blessings. We learned that we were not born by mere coincidence or happenstance, but that the God of all creation took time to knit us together in our mother’s womb. He has created us with purpose in mind. The reason God has given us life is so that we may live in fellowship with Him, bring glory and honor to His holy name, and share His saving grace with everyone we meet so that they may know Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives.

God has set us in this world as people of purpose and He has also provided every blessing we need to fulfill our purpose and enjoy Him all of the days of our lives. Every aspect of our lives is a gift from God - from life itself to the air we breathe to the relationships we enjoy to the health we are experiencing to the beauty of His creation. God’s grace is truly amazing! God’s grace is a constant reminder of His love for you and me.

The study of God’s amazing grace was a breakthrough for many of us who have struggled with important questions like, "Why am I here? What am I supposed to do with this life I am living? Is there anything of lasting meaning in this life?" As we came to understand God’s answers to these important questions we were challenged by God to answer an important question. When God gives us insight into the truths of His Word He then asks for a response. We must answer the question, "How shall I respond to God’s grace freely given to me?" Will I respond by simply shrugging it off and going on about my business? Will I respond in humble gratitude and seek to know Him more and more, serve Him with all of my heart, and commit my life, my time, and the material blessings God has given me to honor Him each day?

It is now four months since we studied these deep truths of God. I am convinced that many of us were moved to action by God’s Spirit I believe we have heard God’s voice calling us to get off the sidelines and into the game of honoring and serving the Lord. You may ask, "What makes you think you know our hearts and what we do when we are away from the church?" That is a great question and the answer is that nobody knows the heart of a person except the person and God, but I see the fruits of the commitments that many of us have made. I see new people who have signed up for Bible study on Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, Tuesday mornings, and Wednesday nights. I see more people volunteering to serve the Lord by serving His people. We had forty people who willingly signed-up to help with the "Game Day Witness" last Sunday. You signed-up to serve our guests because God moved upon your hearts. I watch the Chimes each week to see how we are doing in keeping pace with the budget our Stewardship Committee has set for the church and I see how faithful you are in your commitment to tithe to God’s work going on at Britton Christian Church. I see fruit coming from our studies and it thrills my heart.

Our Stewardship Committee made the decision back in June to move our budgeting process from the fiscal year to a calendar year. This is being done because in May and June we were having to fit things in between Mother’s Day and the end of school when families were going on vacation and attendance is generally lower. As a result of their decision we are going to do a mini-stewardship study for the next two weeks so that we can seek to discern what God is leading us to do for the calendar year of 2000. I have to confess to you that at first I thought to myself, "Those folks who say the church has always got their hand out will have a field day with this one. Two stewardship studies in less than six months will be a tough sale." The more I have prayed about our second stewardship study the more I have become convinced that God’s hand is in this and it is His desire that we reexamine our commitments. One of the big reasons my hesitation and reluctance has turned into excitement is because I have studied the number of us who filled out and turned in a "Covenant Commitment" during the last stewardship study. In a church that averages almost 300 in worship we had less than 100 people who filled out a "Covenant Commitment" and made their stand in their commitment to the Lord’s ministry here at Britton Christian Church. This should not be.