To this point in our sermon series, Kingdom Economics, we have considered some general stewardship principles from scripture. This Sunday we are going to consider stewardship on a more personal level as it relates to the local church.
While there are many different denominations in Christendom who deal with finances very differently from each other, we are a Baptist church that functions in the congregational system of church operations. The ecclesiology (big word for how a church operates) of congregational churches is under the Lordship of Christ and through the activity of the church body. Our church operates as an autonomous, self-governing entity. The church members, led by the Holy Spirit, are the decision makers of our church, and when it comes to finances, we are responsible for the income and expenses of the church. The church members decide what the church budget should be to operate the church and therefore, it is the congregation of the church that we depend on to give generously so we can reach our budget goals for the ministry to be fulfilled. There are no outside streams of income to the church. This Sunday, look around at the people attending the same service as you and understand that it is by the generosity of those people, together with you, that our ministry is funded.
Sunday, I intend to share some of the ministry we can do because people like you, under the Lordship of Christ, give proportionally and systematically to this church. Through the offering and the acts of service by people in our church we are fulfilling an Act 1:8 strategy for mission: local to global. Most of our budget goes to the ministry we have right here on Pleasure Island and the surrounding area. We also share in ministry across our state and in missions all over our nation as we support the North American Mission Board. In obedience to Scripture, we are also engaged in supporting missions to the other nations of the world through the International Mission Board. At this time, we are especially focused on the Bengali people around the world, in south Asia and with the help of Russell Abraham in places like New York City. That kind of mission can only be accomplished with the generous financial support of the people that make up the congregation of this congregational church. Join me this Sunday as we lay a biblical foundation for our personal stewardship and the local church.