To Our Children
and our Children’s Children
Deuteronomy
4:1, 6-10, 2 Timothy 1:1-7
Stewardship
Sunday
October
19, 2014
Grace
Presbyterian Church
Rev.
Dr. Richard E. Miller
Welcome This morning I invited
a special group of people to worship with us so that we could show them our
thanks for their great contributions to the life of Grace Presbyterian Church.
As I read their names I would like them to stand.
Mr. and Mrs. Claude Z.
Aubuchon, Mr. and Mrs. Zeno Aubuchon, Miss Cora Aubuchon, Miss Maybell
Aubuchon, Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Balsiger, Mrs. Mae Bennett, Mr. and Mrs. L. V.
Black, W. Warren Bradley, Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Conley, Edward D. Danks., Mr. and
Mrs. W. H. Danks, Mr. and Mrs. William Dorsey, Mrs. Henry Edmonds, Mr. and Mrs.
E. L. Fast, D. G. Hill, Mr. and Mrs. William Hewitt, Buell Hewitt, William
Hewitt, Jr., Wallace Hewitt, Ethel Holdinghaus, Mr. and Mrs. P. P. Marshall,
Mr. and Mrs. G. Z. Minton, Mrs. Jesse Perkins, Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Ray, Mr. and
Mrs. August G. Reitler, Mrs. J. Terry, and Mrs. Charles Welsh. Also the Rev. W. O. Davis.
No One Stood Up That’s funny. None of the
folks I named stood up. Oh, wait a minute. I think I know why. These men
and women were the forty charter members of Grace Presbyterian Church when it
was first organized on May 26,1926. Even though they aren’t sitting in our
pews, in a way, each of them is with us this morning. After all, if it weren’t
for them, we wouldn’t be here worshiping. If it weren’t for them, we’d have no
music. If it weren’t for them, we’d have no building. If it weren’t for
them, we might be Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans or Baptists!
Give Thanks to Saints
of the Past But the fact is that we are Presbyterians.
And we are here worshiping in this beautiful building because of those forty
charter members of 1926. And thus it is
most appropriate that we give our deepest thanks not only to them, but to all
the men and women who have ministered in this congregation over the past 88
years. For the teachers who taught, the musicians who sang and played, for the
deacons and elders who served, for the Bible study leaders, ushers and worship
leaders, for the cooks, bakers, apple butter makers, building and lawn
maintainers, and for all the hugs, laughter and expressions of love that echo
through these hallowed halls of Grace.
In
the same way,
each of us here this morning is called to do the same for our children and for
our children’s children who will follow us here at Grace in the years to come.
Cathedrals Fourteen years ago, I visited some of the
great cathedrals in Europe. Many of them took over 500 years to build. The
stone masons, who built the first foundation, spread the mortar and guided
massive stones into trenches that were twenty-five feet deep, had to make sure
the foundation was laid plumb and level. If it were the slightest bit out
of kilter, the walls and spires that later generations were to build would tilt
and lean. Finishing a cathedral to the glory of God depended upon each generation trusting the other. Those
who laid the foundation had to trust the future builders to continue what they
started. And those who built walls, flying buttresses and spires had to trust
that those who had preceded them had left them work that was true and solid.
Grace Presbyterian like
a cathedral In a way, Grace Presbyterian is like those
cathedrals. Our ministries today rest on the shoulders of all the saints that
have gone before us. Each day, we are building on the foundations of faith
which they and many others have left us as a part of their legacy. Their
past faithfulness sustains and enriches our lives today.
As it says in
Deuteronomy, We build on foundations we
did not lay, We warm ourselves by fires we did not light, We sit in the shade
of trees we did not plant, We drink from wells we did not dig. [see
Deuteronomy 6:11]
Paul Paul put it this way in his letter to
Timothy, “I am reminded of your sincere
faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice
and now, I am sure, lives in you.” [2 Timothy 1:5] From Lois, to daughter
Eunice, to grandson Timothy. This transmission of faith down through the
generations is being repeated again and again right here at Grace.
Any Descendants of
Charter Members? Are any of you a child or grandchild of any
of the charter members I named earlier? Were any of you married here? Any
baptized here? Any have Celebrations of Life for departed loved ones here? Any
confirmed here? Would you please stand? Actually, all of us could stand because we all are the children and the
children’s children of those forty charter members for each of us is reaping
the benefits of their labors.
As
Isaiah
wrote, “Look to the rock from which
you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.”
[Isaiah 51:1-2]
We Are the Saints Yes, we are in
great debt to the saints of the past. But now we are the saints of the church. We are the workers in the vineyard
- the teachers, and singers, and youth workers. We are the deacons and elders.
We are the ones passing on our faith in our homes. We labor in the vineyard
of our Lord with the hope and expectation that our children and our children’s
children, will have a place to worship, marry, baptize, and bury 88 years from
now. And the reason we’re here is due to those who went before us.
Challenge I am challenging us this morning to invest
our faith, values, time, talents and money to ensure that our children and our
children’s children have a solid foundation of faith and this beautiful place
to worship God. Our children and children’s children are the greatest
reasons we have for investing our time in the church. They are the most
important reasons for investing our talents in the church. And they are the
most vital reasons for us to invest our money in the church. We cannot pay back
those who have gone before us - all we can do is say thanks and pay forward. We
may never live to realize the return on our investment. However, it can and
will be a return which multiplies itself down through the years ten fold, a
hundred fold, and even a thousand fold.
So here’s where we’re
at With me as just a supply preacher, we’re
breaking even financially each month. But when you call your next pastor, your
budget will increase by $35,000 a year. That’s $96 a day increase in our
expenses. The good news is that we’ve got the money to pay for that increase.
The bad news is that it’s still in your pockets. So all we have to do is
transfer it from your pockets to the church. The fact is that if I were a
candidate to be your pastor, the first thing I would look at was your financial
pledges for this coming year. If I saw that you were going to be $35,000 in
debt, I’d look elsewhere.
So is there any one
here who would be willing to donate $35,000 to the church this morning? Please
raise your hand. Hmmm. Didn’t see any hands go up. That means it’s up to all of
us working together to make it happen. That’s where it becomes doable. It comes
out to $1.13 a day increase by each of our 85 giving units. I know. That comes
out to $412.45 a year increase. For some of you, that may not be possible.
Thus, for those of you blessed by God financially, you will need to increase
your giving for our children and children’s children by $1,000 a year or more.
Pledge Cards this week As Bill mentioned earlier, this coming week
you will receive your
2015 pledge card. I expect that we will get 100% of you pledging knowing that
every single one of you believes in pledging whole heartedly. I say this
because you pledge to pay the rent or
mortgage, you pledge to pay
electric, gas, and phone bills. You pledge to make car payments. You pledge to pay
on your credit card each month. And
you pledge to pay your taxes each
year. As you fill out your pledge card, remember:
You are pledging so
that your children will have a place in which to worship.
You are pledging so
that your children’s children will have faith foundations upon which to build
their lives.
You are pledging so
that your children’s grandchildren will be instructed in the Christian faith.
You are pledging so
that all future generations will have a place in which they can marry, baptize,
receive communion, and worship to the glory of God.
We’ll Be the Saints I leave you with
this thought. One day we will be the saints of Grace from whom our labors rest.
Eighty-eight years from now, the members of Grace Presbyterian will be gathered
for worship in this sanctuary giving praise and thanks for you, the saints of
the past, who loved Jesus so much you wanted to make sure this grand outpost of
God’s Kingdom was vibrant and healthy and continued as such through the years. Remember, the Church of Jesus Christ is
always but one generation away from extinction. We must pass the torch of
salvation and redemption on to those who follow. Amen.
Deuteronomy 4:1, 6-10
NRSV
Moses learns that he
will not have the privilege of leading his people into the Promised Land and
that Joshua will do that instead. So Moses takes this opportunity to give some
final directions to his people.
“So now, Israel, give
heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that
you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors,
is giving you.
You must observe
them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples,
who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, "Surely this great
nation is a wise and discerning people!" For what other great nation
has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him?
And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as
this entire law that I am setting before you today? But take care
and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes
have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make
them known to your children and your children's children--how you once stood
before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, "Assemble the
people for me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to
fear me as long as they live on the earth, and may teach their children to do
so"
2 Timothy 1:1-7 NRSV
2 Timothy 1:1-7 NRSV
“Paul, an apostle of
Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in
Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from
God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I am grateful to
God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember
you constantly in my prayers night and day. Recalling your tears, I long to see
you so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a
faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now,
I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of
God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give
us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of
self-discipline.
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