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It’s a New Year!
By Pastor Chris DeGraff
With 2007 behind us and a new calendar on the wall, it’s a fresh start, a clean slate and a time of new beginnings.
What do you hope for in 2008? And no, I’m not suggesting you come up with a new year’s resolution. Those can be so pervasive, so secular, and so unrealistic that thinking of one may be counterproductive. Or, you come up with a great one but by the end of January you’ve already blown it and it becomes irrelevant to your life for the next eleven months.
But, what are you dreaming about and longing for in the year ahead?
Here are three areas I’d ask you pray about and consider as you begin 2008:
Managing – Take some time to reflect on how you’re managing what God has given you, and finances happen to be the most important resource for most all of us. The beginning of the year is a great time to think about how we can improve in this area. It’s also a time of year when many of us are looking at budgets and spending for this year, while at the same time faced with significant credit card debt from Christmas shopping. It’s a huge felt need and we need help!
One of the ways to get help, regardless of how well or not-so-well you’ve handled money, is to attend the Money Management Course on January 18 & 19. You’ll get practical, hands-on assistance in learning how to better manage what God has blessed with, in addition to gaining insight to the mind and heart of God when it comes to finances. All of us will one day be held accountable by God for how we managed His stuff, and we all want to hear Him say, “well done, good and faithful servant”. And all of us would love to be financially free…where are you on the journey to financial freedom?
Giving – For some of us, we may already be pretty good managers of what God has blessed us with, but aren’t fully honoring God with our money and need to work on growing our level of generosity to the Kingdom. Pastor Andy Stanley has noted that after having tithed ever since he was a kid, he thought God might expect him to ‘bump up his giving’ as he’s grown into adulthood. Many of us are not as generous as we’d like to be, for a variety of reasons. A new year is a great time to look at that. Author Randy Alcorn has a list of 31 questions to ask God about our giving. Question #2 is:
“Father, could it be that You have raised me up—with the financial assets You’ve entrusted to me—for just such a time as this? Is it more than a coincidence that You have entrusted me with such resources just at that point in history when an unparalleled number of people have such great needs and there are unprecedented means and opportunities to help them?”
Please let me know if you’d like all 31 questions and I’ll get them to you.
Training – In keeping with our theme of spiritual fitness, this is an excellent time of year to sit down with the Bible and the list of Seven Habits of Effective Discipleship. Where are you at individually with each one in your faith walk? Where do you want to be on December 31, 2008? What do you need to work on? How will you do it? Pray for God to guide you, not only in what areas you need to work on, but also how you’ll accomplish it. Most of all, this is great time for focused prayer on where God is leading you as you grow as a disciple of Jesus in 2008.
For His Kingdom,
Pastor Chris
Books
Recommended books on stewardship
It All Goes Back In The Box by John Ortberg
God And Your Stuff: The Vital Link
Between
Your Possessions and Your Soul by Wesley K. Willmer
Fields Of Gold by Andy Stanley
Secrets Of The Generous Life by Gordon MacDonald
Money, Possessions And Eternity by Randy Alcorn
The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn
Outside Links
Good $ense
Good $ense Money Management
Crown
Financial Ministry
startribune
Money section
cccsatl
Consumer Credit Counseling Services
Luther Seminary
Luther Seminary Stewardship page
Giving Calculator »
Downloads
Guide for Giving (pdf)