The first part of the post contains the words with which I started worship. Lots of different emotions in the sanctuary as we gathered! We are a "purple" church that has members from a variety of political views, but trying to stay in community is becoming more challenging as the world is becoming more polarized.
The sermon is the first of four stewardship sermons. Each week, as noted in the sermon, we will have a stewardship skit, which will highlight the same topic of the sermon. I'll include the text of the sermon each week as well.
I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s been a difficult week.
Another school shooting.
Another senseless death.
Another week when war raged in other parts of our world
Another week that highlights the divisions in our own nation.
Another week where we are discouraged and feeling both helpless and the urge to respond, but not even sure how to respond.
Another week we gather here in worship.
We do not gather unaware of the world around us.
We all are impacted
But we gather as the body of Christ to worship God.
to proclaim that God calls us into community
to pray together,
to sing together,
to pray together
even to hear a sermon on stewardship.
to live in our community that itself is a group of broken people,
In this moment, I invite you to worship God together this day.
“Stewardship Responsibilities: Church Leadership’s Job”; September 14, 2025; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; I Corinthians 16 1-4
I Corinthians 16: 1-4: 16 Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come. 3 And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany
me.
Introduction: We move from parables to a few weeks of reflecting on stewardship.
Each week, we will have a Moment for Mission in which our Stewardship Troupe will present a skit that highlights that weeks’ emphasis.
This year, we are reflecting on our stewardship responsibilities - the church leadership’s responsibility in stewardship;
the responsibility we have to see stewardship in generational terms;
a member’s responsibility in stewardsip
and finally our responsibility to respond in stewardship.
We begin this week wiht the church leadership’s responsibility in stewardship.
move 1: We look to church leadership for cues.
a. Maybe the newly formed church in Corinth was looking to Paul for direction on what it means to be a Christian,
how they could be involved wiht other communities of faith
how they could go about their giving.
2. Or, maybe not.
3. Regardless, Paul is going to offer them direction on how to give;
b. In his letter, he explicitly instructs them on how to take up the collection for the suffering church in Jerusalem.
1. Each week, they are to set aside some extra to save for an additional offering so that when Paul returns, it will be easy to gather up the collection for the church in Jerusalem.
Actually, a pretty detailed way to give to this offering.
2. His letter also implicitly teaches them about giving and being in community.
As they hear his specific instructions, they also learn:
that giving is an ongoing part of their discipleship.
that giving connects them to other people.
that God provides for them, so they are called to help provide for others.
in this letter, we hear Paul using his leadership position to instruct and guide the church in Corinth in their stewardship.
c. In our Presbyterian tradition, we have a session to provide leadership for the congregation.
1. Yes, we all play different leadership roles in various ways, but the Session is specifically called by God through the Nominating committee of the church to provide leadership for the congregation.
2. As you know, after worship today, the congregation will play its part in that process and elect officers for the coming three years.
3. We will elect deacons, who provide pastoral care and follow the tradition of the early church in caring for the widows and the orphans, so to speak.
4. We also elect Ruling Elders.
you probably know this, but Ruling elder does not mean an elder who rules, as in is in charge, or the boss.
Ruling Elder means one who measures, as in uses a ruler, the fidelity, the faithfulness of the congregation to God’s calling for the congregation.
Ruling Elders, make up the Session, whose job is primarily to not only cast a vision for what God is calling St. Andrew to do,
but provide the tools and resources to live into that vision.
5. Leadership of the congregation, in all areas, including stewardship.
6. just as Paul shared wit the church in Corinth a vision for how they can give,
so our Session has responsibility to share with us a vision for how we can give.
Let’s break that down and look at a few ways church leadership does that.
Move 2: At the most basic level, our church leadership has responsibility for being good stewards of the resources the church has.
a. In other words, the Session has oversight of the funds of the church and the responsibility to make sure the resources given to the church are used wisely and for the purposes for which they are intended.
1. for example, if someone gives to a special offering like the Birthday fund, the Session needs to make sure that it is used for that purposes.
2. If you ever look at the budget or the church’s Statement of Financial Position and think, “who cares? it’s just a bunch of numbers!” be assured that someone on Session cares and has implemented policies to make sure gifts go where they are intended.
b. It also means that the Session watches where and how the church spends its money to make sure we are being as efficient and as effective with our money as possible.
1. Part of the Session’s stewardship responsibility is the nuts and bolts of the church’s finances.
2. making sure we manage our money well.
Move 3: Session also has to ensure that the church is provides opportunities for giving of time, money, and talents,
and engages in activities that reflect God’s calling for this congregation.
a. In other words, the Session has the visionary task of using the resources to do God’s work and inviting us to join in that work.
1. the church is not called into being as the body of Christ to make self-preservation its primary goal.
2. to be the body of Christ, means we are called to act on Christ’s behalf in the world.
3. Christ’s example was teaching,
healing,
calling people ot new life,
giving people hope in the God who is still at work in the world.
4. The church leadership is responsible for making sure that we use our resources to do those things:
teach,
heal,
call people to new life.
give hope.
b. But the church leadership also has to provide opportunities for people to use their time and talents to do those things.
1. The reason the mission committee has engaged in 5th Sunday mission projects or the packing meals for Kids for Hunger is to give a concrete opportunity for each of us to engage in discipleship by reaching out to others in the world.
2. Just as Paul reminds the Corinthians they are connected to the world beyond themselves, so too our church leadership is responsible for reminding us of that as well.
3. if you come to ST. Andrew and just kind of do what the church does, you ought to find yourself having opportunities and experiences to share your financial gifts,
your time,
and your talents to serve others as Christ sends us into the world to do.
Move 4: the church leadership also has a responsibility to model for us what it means to live in God’s abundance.
a. It is easy to get caught up in the weekly expenses,
to worry if the income will cover the expenses,
and, if we’re not careful, we begin to see the world as having limited resources which demands limiting our ministry.
1. But we know God’s promise to provide for us.
2. We know that God has provided for us in the past
and God will provide for us in the future.
3. The call is not to curtail our ministry,
but imagine the possibilities of living into the abundance God has.
the Session is called to lead us in imagining what we can do with God’s abundance.
b. I hope you have heard about what the Session did this year.
1. We probably haven’t publicized it very well, so this may be the first time you have heard about it.
2. At the Session retreat early in the year, it was noted that the Session Discretionary fund had a healthy balance.
The Session discretionary fund is there obviously for discretionary use,
it is often seen as emergency fund, there to save us if money gets tight.
3. But the Session decided to take up to $50K and use if for new projects that might grow our ministry in meaningful ways.
3. Three different ideas were discussed initially - some of which grew out of conversations the congregation had at its annual meetings - and groups were asked to consider who those funds could be used to further the ministry.
4. Two of the ideas came back with committees having made plans for how they could use the money in to grow into future ministry.
UKirk - a college age ministry; and The Children’s Place had ideas for how to use the funds.
in fact, the proposals came back with a $60K price tag,
and the Session approved both.
5. The abundance the Session saw in the discretionary funds put to use to further the ministry of the congregation.
Church leadership living into its stewardship responsibilities.
Conclusion: In the old days, the Book of Order, the rule book of the Presbyterian church, gave the Session the responsibility to help its members each year review how they were living into their membership as a reflection of their calling as disciples of Christ.
I remember one year asking the Session how we were going to have our members review how they were living as members.
the question was met with silence.
Now in the Book of Order, that idea has shifted from Session responsibility to a member’s responsibility.
IN fact, here is exactly how the Book of Order describes it:
Membership in the Church of Jesus Christ is a joy and a privilege. It is also a commitment to participate in Christ’s mission. A faithful member bears witness to God’s love and grace and promises to be involved responsibly in the ministry of Christ’s Church. Such involvement includes:
….reviewing and evaluating regularly the integrity of one’s membership, and considering ways in which one’s participation in the worship and service of the church may be increased and made more meaningful.
the session is no longer responsible for asking you to review how you are doing in your stewardship,
but they are responsible for providing you ways to live out your stewardship and calling you to live into God’s abundance.
Stewardship Skit:
Lisa: Each of the four weeks we reflect on Stewardship responsibilities, the Stewardship Troupe will present a skit. We thank them in advance for sharing with us each week.
(David and Dan walk in wiht their chairs and sit down in the chancel. Sarah comes down and stand in front of the lectern on the carpet.)
Lisa/richard: Imagine, you are at an Annual Meeting down in the Fellowship Hall see january Sunday.
Lunch has been eaten, a few desserts have been auctioned off as part of the Youth Auction, and now they are going through the reports.
The budget for the next year is being presented; the mission giving report has shared with the congregation, the Annual Report that describes all the activities of the different committees and groups of the church has been read.
Everyone is paying rapt attention to the speakers, well everyone except for David and Dan - they are sitting at the back of the Fellowship Hall and seem a bit distracted.
David: I can’t believe the Annual meeting is on a Sunday when the Cowboys are playing at 12:00 noon. We’re stuck here at this meeting instead of being home watching the game.
Dan: Well, since I’ve got the game on my phone and some pie I just bought at the auction, it’s not too bad a meeting.
David: Hey, you wanna give me a bite of that pie?
Dan: (Dan stands up with his arms in the TD sign) touchdown!
David: Did the Cowboys score?
Sarah: Excuse me. Could you two keep it down over here. We’re trying to listen to the budget presentation.
Dan: why do you care about the budget presentation? the Session has already approved it, anyway.
Sarah: Because the budget tells me what the church thinks is important.
David: Like what?
Sarah: Like mission. did you see all the groups the church supports each year?
Dan: I haven’t looked.
Sarah: Or listened! But take a look at the mission part of the budget. Our mission committee is doing lots of great stuff in the community.
David: I heard someone mention the 5th Sunday mission that was in the budget. I showed up one time and backed kits for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and backpacks for kids another time.
Dan: My kids loved it too. and those breakfast tacos they had sure were good.
Sarah: Yep, the mission committee works really hard to give us opportunities to give money andd time, and even materials to help others.
Dan: did they say how much we gave to help out after the flooding in Kerrville and the fires in west Texas?
sarah: I don’t think so, but that’s another great way the church has invited us to give to help others.
David: Ok, that’s some good information, but I’d still rather sit back here and listen to the game than listen to them talk about how we never have enough money and everyone needs to give more!
Sarah: Well, maybe you’ve been listening to the game more than the presenters because I haven’t heard anyone say we never have enough money.
In fact, they were just talking about how the Session offered to spend 50K from the Session discretionary fund this year for some new projects, and they ended up with two great ideas that needed 60K, so they decided to increase the spending to 60K and do both projects.
Dan: Really? What projects?
Sarah: A project for The Children’s Place and a project to build up our college ministry.
David: That’s kind of cool. I guess the Session isn’t worried about not having enough money.
Sarah: maybe the Session is telling us that God has given us plenty of resources, and we need to figure out how to use them to do ministry.
Dan: I sure wish the church leadership would let me know all this stuff.
David: no kidding.
Sarah (Walking away): maybe you are not listening!
