January 13, 2026
Stewardship 2026
Second only to the good news of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, which by the way validated his new peaceable kingdom where all are loved forever, I think the church ought to be talking a whole lot more about money. I trust what Paul taught Timothy “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." (1 Timothy 6:10).
Money itself is not evil. Have you been noticing the good this church has been generously doing with money? Wow. Blessed to be a blessing to others. And necessary. Amen, and amen.
But, neither is money holy or sacred. It is not to be loved. We are to love the Lord our God and our neighbors as ourselves, right? Not money.
The Bible condemns the love of money because it leads us away from God and unleashes all kinds of personal and societal pain. We know from history that love of money literally dehumanizes. It can, and has often, turn us and our neighbors into “producers” or “products,” means to a profitable end. Our beautiful made-uniquely-in-God’s-image humanity can be rendered invisible, or even disposable. That is, in fact, the root of a lot of evil in this world right now. Lord, in your mercy, help us to love you and our neighbors more than money.
And that’s why I think we ought to talk, teach, preach much more about the healthy use of money (i.e. “stewardship). Because money is not God, and loving or worshipping money rather than God puts a real hurt on all of us. And if we, who have received so extravagantly from God since the creation of the world itself to the new creation in Christ now, if we don’t teach that, who else will?
Example: I’m working on our gift basket for the February 7 event to equip our youth summer mission trip to Charleston. It’s such a joyous event. I absolutely LOVE that our youth are not asked to “sell” stuff, earn money, so that they can follow Jesus in serving others. I pray that our generosity becomes part of what we are teaching our youth. And, well, each other too.
Another Example: Our annual stewardship campaign began last Sunday and our pledges offered to God in worship on February 8. Three weeks to prayerfully review our personal relationship with money as followers of Jesus and commit ourselves again to be generous in all things. As Pastor John, Pastor Tim and I mentioned in the letter you received, we will be praying for you. Please pray for us as well. And this whole world.
Pastor Jim Wilson
Second only to the good news of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, which by the way validated his new peaceable kingdom where all are loved forever, I think the church ought to be talking a whole lot more about money. I trust what Paul taught Timothy “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." (1 Timothy 6:10).
Money itself is not evil. Have you been noticing the good this church has been generously doing with money? Wow. Blessed to be a blessing to others. And necessary. Amen, and amen.
But, neither is money holy or sacred. It is not to be loved. We are to love the Lord our God and our neighbors as ourselves, right? Not money.
The Bible condemns the love of money because it leads us away from God and unleashes all kinds of personal and societal pain. We know from history that love of money literally dehumanizes. It can, and has often, turn us and our neighbors into “producers” or “products,” means to a profitable end. Our beautiful made-uniquely-in-God’s-image humanity can be rendered invisible, or even disposable. That is, in fact, the root of a lot of evil in this world right now. Lord, in your mercy, help us to love you and our neighbors more than money.
And that’s why I think we ought to talk, teach, preach much more about the healthy use of money (i.e. “stewardship). Because money is not God, and loving or worshipping money rather than God puts a real hurt on all of us. And if we, who have received so extravagantly from God since the creation of the world itself to the new creation in Christ now, if we don’t teach that, who else will?
Example: I’m working on our gift basket for the February 7 event to equip our youth summer mission trip to Charleston. It’s such a joyous event. I absolutely LOVE that our youth are not asked to “sell” stuff, earn money, so that they can follow Jesus in serving others. I pray that our generosity becomes part of what we are teaching our youth. And, well, each other too.
Another Example: Our annual stewardship campaign began last Sunday and our pledges offered to God in worship on February 8. Three weeks to prayerfully review our personal relationship with money as followers of Jesus and commit ourselves again to be generous in all things. As Pastor John, Pastor Tim and I mentioned in the letter you received, we will be praying for you. Please pray for us as well. And this whole world.
Pastor Jim Wilson