The Church Needs You!

The Church Needs You!
by
April 23, 2021

This Sunday, April 25, is Commitment Sunday. We are asking for our members to make a financial commitment to support the mission and ministries of the church for another year. These commitments are simply “estimates of giving” for our next church year (July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022). We set the operating budget based on the results of this campaign. The Bible talks about the tithe, or 10% of what we earn should be given back to God. Not everybody has achieved that but it’s a worthy goal for all Christians.

Everything that we do at Woodmont depends on the generosity of all of us – worship, sermons, music, The Bridge, children’s ministry, youth ministry, Room In The Inn, Walk Thru Bethlehem, Fall-Hamilton Elementary, Habitat, AA, Al-Anon, Woodmont Christian Preschool, Stephen Ministry, Guatemala, Heart for Africa, disaster relief, taking care of the old and new building, small groups, Sunday School, fellowship – EVERYTHING. Churches that shy away from the subject of stewardship do not do well. Churches that talk about why it must be a spiritual practice will continue to change lives and spread the love of Christ.

Because of the pandemic, we have not had a stewardship campaign in two years – the last one was in April of 2019. This campaign is very important as we look to the future. Throughout his life and ministry, Jesus talked about money and material possessions all the time. Why? It’s not because he was raising money for the church but because he knew we would all struggle with this topic. Money issues bring great stress and anxiety. Money also makes a great servant but a terrible master. He reminds us in the Sermon on the Mount, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt 6:21) He was telling the absolute truth. We are emotionally invested wherever we invest our money and our time.

If the challenges of this past year have taught us anything, it’s that we need the church community. Many of us have missed the church community and all that it has to offer. And the only way to make sure that the church remains vibrant is to support it.

In his book called The Path, Adam Hamilton says this: “Our giving is a form of self-denial, a form of worship, a means of serving, a way of recognizing that all of life is a gift, an attempt to give back, an expression of love and gratitude, and a means of following Jesus.” Winston Churchill famously said, “We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give.”

Giving matters and is liberating. I hope you will join me this week in making a commitment to Woodmont. Every single commitment matters and makes a difference. Everybody has different financial capabilities but we all play a role. Below is a graph that shows our stewardship history in recent years and many of the ministries we support through our outreach giving. Thank you for your ongoing generosity!

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