Stewardship Month at St. Jacob’s

Well, what a strange year this has turned out to be. Who would have ever thought that we would be forced to remain in our homes and not be allowed to come to St. Jacob’s each Sunday to worship our Lord and fellowship together? If anyone would have told you that this could happen, would you have ever believed them? After all, we live in a country that cherishes freedom in every aspect of our lives. That is especially true of our freedom to worship freely.
That loss of freedom also extended to our workplaces, hindering our ability to work and be paid in order to feed and care for our families. But it did happen! And thanks be to God, we are now slowly being allowed back to our places of work, and back to our places of worship, and back to at least some feeling of normalcy in our lives. We are all profoundly grateful.
October is Stewardship Month at St. Jacob’s, and your Stewardship Team has been considering how we might approach Stewardship Month in such a strange time. We still need to consider the how to serve with our Time, Talents, and Treasures, and making a commitment to serve by filling out a Time and Talent sheet, checking off the areas of service where we feel called and comfortable to serve. And we will do that, just as we always do. But we feel that there is some-thing special that we need to do for this strange and trying time.
Our congregation has been stepping up during these trying months with extra effort to support the “We Care” ministry in the community of Chapin. After some discussion within the Stewardship Team, we all agree that we should make our theme for this year, “We Care,” and put our stewardship emphasis on just that, because we care.
John 21:15-17 (NIV)
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “feed my sheep.”
We have chosen John 21:15-17 as our guiding Scripture during Stewardship Month. In these verses, Jesus asks Peter a simple question, “do you love me?” He asks Peter this three times, and each time Peter responds, and Jesus says to him, “Feed my lambs.” “Take care of my sheep. “Feed my sheep.”
The message is clear. One who loves Jesus is expected to care for His sheep, for they are His children. Let us show our community how much Jesus loves them by being good stewards of His kingdom. Let us show them that “we care.”