First Congregational Church of Cheshire

The 2012 pledge material will be posted as soon
as it becomes available

Forms provided in Abobe® PDF format may be viewed and printed out using Adobe® Reader. If you do not have Adobe® Reader, you may obtain it free by going to the Adobe® website or clicking on the logo below.

Cheerful Giving

Many folks think that serving on the Board of Stewardship is like working for the IRS or the giving police. This year’s Board is made of up volunteers who are convinced otherwise, and you’ll be hearing from several members in the coming weeks about the joy of giving.

2 Corinthians 9:7 reminds us that “God loves a cheerful giver.” Feeling guilty and greedy won’t get your emotions in order to be lovable. Here are some ways of looking at giving that can help the cheerfulness factor:

Looking forward to returning to God a part of the wealth He has given to us;
Helping the congregational accomplish its goals, including hiring a wonderful new senior minister;
Making the world a better place through your generous giving of time, talent, and treasure;
Giving to those in need around the world, starting in Cheshire and ending in places where the need is great.

The Stewardship season is a time for thanksgiving and cheer—the ultimate attitude adjustment.

Ask, Thank, Tell by Charles R. Lane

This is a book that the Board of Stewardship has been reading and has passed around the boards and committees of the Church for their reading and discernment.

The book’s main idea is that everything we have is God’s, and He has made a gift of everything to us. We are simply His stewards, the managers of His wealth. We’ve been trusted with everything, but nothing is ours alone. There’s been no transfer of ownership as God gives humans dominion over His Kingdom.

So the giving question then is not, “How much can I spare to give to God and his Work?”

The real giving question is, “How much do I dare to keep for myself? None of what I have is mine to begin with.”

We’re not giving to God, we’re returning the wealth with thanks and praise—and profit.

Sure, the church needs our time, talent, and treasure—but since neither the time, talent nor treasure is ours to begin with, we need to keep what we need to take care of our obligations, and return the rest to God with a good increase for all He does for us.

Growing in discipleship and relationship with God means focusing on God rather than on money—as Jesus reminded us, we can’t serve two masters, and God comes first.