I Surrender Some
2022 Stewardship Series
All to Jesus I surrender. All to Him I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.
Many are familiar with the old hymn, I Surrender All (1896). The song summons a genuine heart’s cry. It is a beautiful devotional prayer that invokes a fundamental truth of the Christian life: We give all of ourselves back to God because He has given all of Himself to us.
And yet, our calendars (time) and checkbook (money) can often convey a less-than-whole surrender to God. Before your defenses go up, let’s consider a biblical truth: Every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17). God has created us to be creatures of desire and placed us in a world meant to be enjoyed. Christians should not be a dour and sour people. Christians should show the world how to enjoy life in an unfettered way: To appreciate good coffee, great wine, a rockin’ concert, a moving play, an epic getaway, a stirring novel, a complex painting—all of these are opportunities to praise the Good Gift-giver for what He has lavished upon us. And, of course, also serve as blessings to share with others.
And yet, desires run askew, and loves become disordered when these goods in our lives become gods. We begin, often subtly, searching for significance, status, security, comfort, pleasure, release, relief, love, acceptance, approval, meaning, and purpose in what we buy, where we go, and what we do. Then, these impulses, often subtly, begin to shape who we are. We look around at others and compare and contrast—we might feel better about ourselves as pride, conceit, and contempt take root in our hearts. Or, we feel worse about ourselves, and jealousy, envy, and bitterness then have their way.
God recedes into the background, relegated to a lesser place in our lives. The lyrics of the song are then sung differently, albeit wittingly or unwittingly: “Some to Jesus I surrender. Some to Him I sort of give.”
Our loves become disordered, our deepest desires disconnected from their Source. The result is a life lived frantically, often yielded to a frenetic pursuit of buying things (or experiences) we do not need, with money we do not have, to impress people we do not like.
But God…
(the two most beautiful words in Scripture when placed side-by-side)
There is a way out. There is a way back. It involves recognizing that, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and those who dwell in it” (Psalm 24:1). God is “over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6). God owns it all. We don’t own anything, but are stewards of everything. In Psalm 115:16 the Psalmist exclaims: “The heavens are the Lord’s, but the earth he has given to the human race.” Wow! The poetry penned in the Psalms connects back to the first story of Scripture, the story of the Garden of Eden. There, Adam and Eve were charged by God to “exercise dominion” (stewardship) over all that God had created (Genesis 1:28) and were placed in the garden to cultivate it (Genesis 2:14). Is it even possible to overstate the immensity of this responsibility and opportunity? That we are accountable to God to preserve the welfare and to maximize the potential of all the earth!
Imagine, if this truth begins to take hold of us more and more, how life-giving it would be! Ownership teaches us that what we have, we’ve earned. Stewardship teaches us that what we have is a gift from God. Ownership says what we have we must cling to. Stewardship says what we have is available to others. Ownership says I own my life. Stewardship says my life is on loan from God: “I am not my own, but was bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).
The more we see ourselves as stewards and the less we see ourselves as owners, the less entangled we feel and the freer we will be. The pressure dissipates when we know all we have is a gift from God. Anxiety melts away when we trust in God’s extravagant giving rather than in our earning potential. Joy abounds when we experience generosity breaking our shrink-wrapped heart and growing it bigger and bigger.
This year, in our Annual Stewardship Series, we will explore the Book of Ephesians and what God has to say about stewarding our Time, Talent, and Treasure toward God’s purposes and good pleasure. This Series is in conjunction with our Stewardship Pledge Campaign. We invite all who consider WCPC to be their home church to work through the journal reflections and to make a pledge of intent toward 2023.
Table of Contents
Week 1: Treasure
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
Read the Text
- What am I learning about God in this passage?
- What am I learning about myself in this passage?
Questions for Reflection: On Grace and Treasure
These questions are designed for both personal reflection and community group conversation.
- In what moments in life have I truly experienced the grace of God?
- What sort of practices assist me in truly appreciating the grace of God?
- At what time in my life have I most experienced God, the Giver?
- What sort of emotions did that produce in me?
- Where am I most feeling the pressure or strain to hold it all together?
- What would it look like to allow God to relieve me of that burden?
- With respect to Treasure, have I made the transition from ownership to stewardship?
- If someone studied my checkbook, would they suggest that I live out of this question: “How much of God’s money do I need for me?” Or, this question: “How much of my money should I give to God?”
Week 2: Time
Ephesians 1:1-3; 5:8-15; 3:20,21 | November 6, 2022
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity (redeeming the time), because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
Read the Text
- What am I learning about God in this passage?
- What am I learning about myself in this passage?
Questions for Reflection: On Gratitude and Time
These questions are designed for both personal reflection and community group conversation.
- When have I felt most grateful in my life? To whom? For what?
- What does gratitude feel like to me?
- When I am not in a season or spirit of gratitude, what does that feel like? (Put words to those feelings. Words like dissatisfaction or discontent.)
- Is it hard for me to be grateful toward God? Why? Or, why not?
- Who is someone in my life that I should say “thank you” to right now? Give them a call or write them a letter.
- I will set a timer for ten minutes, and make a list of everything that God has done for me. I won’t stop until the ten minutes are up. Then I will pray that list back to God. What did this experience evoke in me?
- With respect to Time, what does it mean to steward my time to the glory of God?
- Where do I “spend” most of time? Where do I “use” my time wisely? How might I move some time over from “spend” to “use”?
Week 3: Talent
Ephesians 1:1-3; 2:8-10; 4:7-13; 3:20,21 | November 6, 2022
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
Read the Text
- What am I learning about God in this passage?
- What am I learning about myself in this passage?
Questions for Reflection: On Generosity and Talent
These questions are designed for both personal reflection and community group conversation.
- Would I consider myself to be a generous person? Would those closest to me agree?
- What do I hope people will say of me at my eulogy?
- What might be inhibiting me from cultivating a growing generosity?
- “Generosity is what God wants for me and not from me.” Do I agree with this statement? Why or why not?
- With respect to Talent, what does it mean to steward my talents to the glory of God?
- What do I do well? What have I been trained to do? What am I passionate about? How can these “talents” be stewarded for others?
Pledge Campaign Pre-Work Consideration
As you settle into this pre-pledge work, it might be helpful to approach it as you would other financial considerations in your life. For example, if you are attempting to get out of debt, save for retirement, or buy a car or home, then you will likely sit down with a trusted family member or friend. They might help you set some goals and will offer necessary perspective. How odd most of us never even bother doing this with our giving. But what if you were to have a conversation about setting goals that will help you become a generous giver? Don’t be afraid to try it!
Days 1-3: Spend 10 minutes in prayer each day over your pledge commitment.
Day 4: Have a conversation about next year’s pledge of intent with your spouse (if married) or a trusted friend in your community group. Pray together.
Day 5: On a scratch piece of paper, write down the amount that you intend to give weekly, monthly, or annually for 2023.
Day 6: Revisit the amount and ask God: Does this seem like the appropriate amount? Should I consider giving a bit more? Or a bit less? Write down the final amount on the card.
Day 7: Bring your card to church with you on Sunday, November 20th or the 27th,
and place it in the blue offering box. Alternatively, pledge online or mail it to the church office. Only the Stewardship Team, comprised of elders elected by the congregation, will know the nature of your pledge. These matters are treated carefully and with confidentiality. We will offer a prayer of consecration over all of the pledges.
Why do we have a “Stewardship Pledge Campaign”?
Perhaps you have experienced a Capital Campaign in church–the church was raising funds to build a community center, to improve the sanctuary, or to expand the Fellowship Hall. You gave a gift in response to a particular vision or unique need. You have also, no doubt, experienced capital campaigns in schools and nonprofit organizations.
A Stewardship Pledge Campaign is not a Capital Campaign. Instead, a pledge campaign happens yearly and informs our church’s “every day” giving towards the general fund budget. Each November, every person that calls WCPC their home church submits a giving pledge for the following calendar year (January through December). This pledge is a “pledge of intent”–what you intend to give for that next year. Sometimes unforeseen events or circumstances might cause you to need to give less, while at other times, they may allow you to give more. Only God knows the future!
Taking time to complete a pledge card is a faith commitment. It allows you as an individual, or as a couple, or even as a family, to invest some intentional time, effort, and prayer in determining how much you will be able to give. This exercise may put you on the journey of giving for the first time, or on the path toward giving more consistently, generously, sacrificially, and joyfully.
The pledge campaign not only helps you to plan well but also allows our church to be both prudent and faithful in the building of a budget. An annual pledge campaign helps ensure we aren’t merely surviving year to year, but thriving–not clinching our fists while holding on for dear life, hoping that we “make budget,” but rather, open-handedly building our budget wisely. Our general fund budget is built to support our local congregation – as we care for the sick and hurting, support children and families, develop and encourage our students with the gospel, provide excellent and reverent Sunday worship, train our people in Christian formation, and equip for ministry as we love and serve our city and world. Generous support for local and global mission partners is also included in the General Fund.
This Stewardship Season and Pledge Campaign is also a moment for us to consider the pledging of, not only our “Treasure,” but our Time and Talent as well. At WCPC, we believe that Christian Formation involves the mind, body, and soul—it includes our time, talent, and treasure. It is a season where we seek to, by God’s grace, surrender all…
How do I become generous?
Here are some suggestions:
- Start Early– Generosity does not begin when you are moving up the ladder in your late 30s. It begins when you are in college or when you take your first job at hardly minimum wage. This practice will allow you to build a habit that will last a lifetime. Being generous with your giving at an early age will also train you to not live up to the very limits of what you have. To live over your means is to get in “debt to debt.” To live within your means is to be prudent. But to live well within your means is to create space for generosity. And, it is actually easier to give when you have less to give. If you were to take the tithe, the giving of 10% mentioned below, as an example: It is much easier to give $10 of $100 than $100 of $1000 than $10,000 of $100,000 than $100,000 of $1,000,000 because there is a lot more you can do, buy, or be with $10,000 than with $10!
- Start your Kids Early– As a parent of three teenagers, my most consistent hope and prayer for each one is that they would know the grace of God, would respond in gratitude, and would lead generous lives. Each of my three daughters had three jars ordered and labeled in this way: Give, Save, and Spend. The first part of every dollar went into the “Give” jar. And this leads me to my next piece of practical advice…
- Give First– If you were hosting a celebrity or dignitary in your own home for dinner, I would imagine that you would not rifle through the fridge to find the leftovers stacked in the back–yesterday’s roast beef or last week’s cottage cheese. Instead, you would give of your best and first fruits–you would plan the menu weeks in advance, and shop at the “fancy” grocery store. God wants your first and your best, not your last and leftover. Consider making your generous giving the first check you write or first autopay draft after you receive your paycheck. Cultivate the practice of over-giving rather than over-spending or over-saving.
- Consider 10%– There are plenty of complex, biblical interpretations that endeavor to erase the “first-fruits giving of 10%,” called the tithe. These teachings view the tithe as “old school”–under the law of the Old Testament rather than the grace of the New. And yet, the plain and simple reading of most texts (e.g. start with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount) might suggest that the giving of 10% is actually “the floor and not the ceiling” (Tim Keller) of generosity, the “training wheels” (Randy Alcorn) of generosity. Here is a suggestion: Make this a five to ten-year goal for you and see what happens. You might even find yourself one day stretching well beyond the tithe.
- Start Somewhere– It might be a mistake on your part and unloving on my part if I were to suggest that you must start with the tithe. You might have a lot to sort out concerning your finances, so don’t be paralyzed by what might feel like a large number, an unattainable impossibility. Instead, start somewhere! Give 1% this year, and try to give 2 or 3% the next.
- Tell Stories– If you are a “seasoned veteran” in our church, please tell us your stories of generosity! People in their 40s, 30s, 20s, and teens need to hear that God provided for you–that He cared for you every step of the way. We need to be inspired by stories of sacrificial and joyful generosity. Tell us all about it. We want to listen!
But why should I give to the local church?
I readily acknowledge that the church can have a littered history of financial malfeasance. As with any institution, the church can be riddled with sin and evil that becomes greater than the sum of its parts. And when the church fails, she should ask forgiveness. Yet, when she is singing the way Jesus intended her to sing, the church can do mighty things. In fact…
The Church is God’s ordinary means of doing extraordinary things!
Jesus built the church and pledged that even hell itself would not prevail against her (Matthew 16:18). Jesus loved the church so much that he gave himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25). And, the Apostle Paul was on a mission to change the world. Paul’s world was more war-torn and impoverished than ours. There were fewer educational opportunities for all, there was poor sanitation in the cities, there was more injustice in the streets. And what did Paul do to address these ills? He planted churches all over the known world. Paul knew that the church was not merely a limited “Social Service Provider” (SSP) as she is called in our day, but instead, was a “Direct Service Provider,” a DSP that offers baptism (re-creation), communion (restoration), teaching, pastoring, counseling, the formation of children and students, service and outreach both locally and globally, and the list goes on and on.
Further, the church is both sustainable (a 2000 year organizational history) and strategic (the premiere social network!), making her a worthy investment. Malcolm Gladwell once wrote that social networking online does not bring full revolution because the ties are too weak; instead, activism must involve “strong ties and real presence.” Look no further than the church: The church builds social, relational, emotional, financial, and spiritual capital that grants strong and lasting impact generation after generation.
And, just in case you are wondering, people that give to their local church are far more generous to other causes (see Robert Putnam’s American Grace). Yes, you read that correctly. Christians that prioritize giving to their local church give more generously to many other noble causes. Why? Because generosity begets generosity. It’s contagious.
Ron Sider’s challenge in his book review of “Passing the Plate: Why Americans don’t give away more Money,” is a fitting conclusion:
“Imagine what Christians could accomplish if they would just tithe. If just the ‘committed Christians’ (defined as those who attend church at least a few times a month or profess to be “strong” or “very strong” Christians) in America would tithe, there would be an extra 46 billion dollars a year available for kingdom work. To make that figure more concrete, the authors suggest dozens of different things that $46 billion would fund each year: for example, 150,000 new indigenous missionaries; 50,000 additional theological students in the developing world; 5 million more microloans to poor entrepreneurs; the food, clothing and shelter for all 6,500,000 current refugees in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East; all the money for a global campaign to prevent and treat malaria; resources to sponsor 20 million needy children worldwide. Their conclusion is surely right: ‘Reasonably generous financial giving of ordinary American Christians would generate staggering amounts of money that could literally change the world.’”