#3. Good stewardship is a virtue that empowers ministry. Our new facility is one third the cost of our present place of worship. One third! Remember that it is the ‘love of money’ not money that is the root of all evil! Using our resources wisely actually brings honor to God and increases our joy. Our new worship facility fits our size and offers plenty of room to grow. This move will empower us to minister from a position of financial strength. I know a pastor whose small church now meets in a nice new building, on acreage. With a million dollar mortgage hanging over their heads, they must grow simply to pay the bills! Needing or wanting to grow in order to pay the bills tends to blind us to the ministry God calls us to do. I mean that. Most of my life has been lived in the shadow of the 'church growth movement'. When your highest motivation is to grow, you naturally reach out to those who are strong believers with healthy marriages and healthy finances. Hm...so much for Jesus concern with the spiritually poor & needy!
A position of financial strength should not make us less motivated to reach out - just less desperate and more able to share the free love of Christ freely, free of payback expectations! We live in a community that needs Christ. We seek His transformation from the inside out so that He will use us. We want to grow - not to pay off a mortgage - but to see God’s inworking and outworking in our community, in his timing!
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