This past Sunday Oct 16, 2011 is one of the best Sunday’s that I have ever had the privilege to be a part of. From the “This Is How We Do It” contest, to the booger talk, to the topic of tithing, to the testimonies about tithing, to the celebration of a wedding, to the celebration of people coming back to God, to the weeping of a father as he read scripture before his daughter’s baptism, to his daughter saying “daddy stop embarrassing me”, to watching my wife take a girls confession of faith, ultimately baptizing her into the name of Jesus.
Sunday was pretty amazing.
One thing has stuck out to me very clear and it is the idea of STORY.
Through both services, I was blessed to be able to not only my own story about tithing, but the stories of others. You know, the “normals.” In other words, I am the PASTOR, I am supposed to say those things, but when a “normal” speaks their story, something just comes to life.
God is working in people’s lives.
God is working in the lives of people who allow themselves to be woven into the plot.
I am so glad we got to hear the stories of tithing, and faith, and trust, and hope.
All of that got me to thinking, “What will your story be?”
What will your story be?
As we spoke about tithing, we heard people say things like “i USED to give what was leftover, but now I will give to Him first,” or “when I had my checkbook, the kids knew I was going to church,” or “i will now put EVERYTHING into God’s hands,” or “we feel God’s blessing more when we are giving.”
These are just a couple samples about God’s faithfulness. We also heard a story about someone tithing off of their “unemployment” check, never missing a payment, going hungry, or being put on the street.
These are just lines from people’s individual stories.
What will your story be?
Will we be stingy, or generous?
When you think about tithing, what will your story be?
What is your CURRENT story? How will it end?
——-feel free to leave your story here to be shared for God’s glory——–
UNBELIEVABLE. God is so AMAZING…..
After posting this earlier today, Shannon called me after she got home from work. By God’s divine grace, mercy, and accounting, we received a refund check from our mortgage company. it’s a BIG one.
If you remember on Sunday, I said that our TITHE was hard to give because money was constantly tight, and our tithe would buy us quite a few of the things that we wanted.
This week was/is no different. Money is tight this week, but now, this check will allow us to pay off a couple of annoying bills, and is showing us that God is so faithful to what he says.
To top ALL OF THAT off, our monthly payment on the house is going down by 75 bucks.
That is MY STORY, and the STORY of my wife and Kids. We love you Jesus, and we are so thankful that you give us, not only our daily bread but some Jelly to spread on top.
Thank you thank you thank you.
waYne
Great to hear man. Stay faithful!
Praise God! He is so faithful to provide for our needs, and sometimes our wants too