Stewardship Letter 2024
Fall 2024
Dear Christ St. Paul’s Family, I greet you in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
The fall season is upon us which means the year is in its final quarter. So many things are happening in this season of festivity with all the holiday parties and family gatherings. A major theme of the season is gratitude. We celebrate the relationships in our lives but also are grateful for the gifts that God has provided throughout the year. This looking back in thanksgiving helps create faith as we look forward to his continued provision in the future. In other words, gratitude helps us trust God with God’s gifts.
I’m writing this letter during the week of Sukkot, the Jewish festival also known as the Feast of Tabernacles. During this 8-day festival, pilgrims in biblical times would travel to Jerusalem and erect tents, aka tabernacles, and eat their meals in them and sometimes sleep in them, remembering the forty years of divine provision in the wilderness. It is one of three festivals that all Jewish men were commanded to attend. This festival also occurs just after the fall harvest was completed and it was from this harvest that they were to bring the tithe and sacrificial offerings to the temple. The gifts of tithes and offerings were multifaceted in their purpose and meaning. To start, the tithes and offerings were used to support the celebration of the festival. It was from the first fruits of the harvest that all the pilgrims coming to worship would eat over the course of 8 days. It also provided for the levitical priests whose livelihood came from working the temple as well as for the care of the temple itself. In addition to these very practical elements, the tithes and offerings were a spiritual reflection of their faith in God, their desire to keep his commandments, and the joy that came from living within God’s provision.
When we read Deuteronomy 8, as Moses is preparing to give the people of God his laws and outline the various festival periods, he tells them that faith and obedience to all that God commands is a matter of the heart. He knew that humans have the capacity (dare I say tendency) to forget where our blessings come from. Multiple times Moses reminds the people of God that their provision comes from God. He says,
17”Beware lest you say in your heart,‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”
This “remembering” where our blessings come from is the point of the Festival of Tabernacles, and the tithes and offerings are the tangible expressions of faithfulness and obedience to the covenant keeping God who provides all things.
As we near the end of the year in 2024, we also need to remember where our blessings come from. We may not put up tents and camp in the backyard (maybe we should!) but we can be mindful of what we consume and especially of what we give. Today we are under the New Covenant in Christ and not under the law, though the principle of tithes and of sacrificial offerings are still very much a part of our Christian spiritual formation. Just as it was in the times of Moses, the tithes and offerings of parishioners today are still practical and spiritual. The financial first fruits that are committed to the church provide for the staff and all the practical things associated with managing the church. Through the faithful giving of church members we are able to accomplish our various ministries, equipping saints and serving the poor. Those same financial first fruits committed to the church are also expressions of faithfulness and obedience of the giver. As people who have experienced the provision of God and trust that he is the provider of the future as he has been in the past, we bring our tithes and offerings to the church for the sake of showing God what is in our hearts: we trust him and are grateful for his provision.
Christ-St. Paul’s is blessed by so many wonderful people who faithfully give of themselves and their financial first fruits. Many are generous with time and energy and money and as your pastor I am extremely grateful. I want to encourage you to continue your faithfulness and obedience to God in this way of worshiping. I also need to encourage those of you who may need to examine your giving. Many times life causes us to neglect things we value and know are important. We, like the Israelites, will often need reminding of where our blessings come from and need encouragement to trust God with God’s gifts. Therefore, I exhort you to examine your heart through examining your giving. Let God’s provision for you be the foundation and fuel for your faithfulness and generosity in giving tithes and sacrificial offerings back to him and his church.
The Apostle Paul encouraged this same examination with the people of Corinth when it came time for them to financially support the ministry of the church. He said to them in chapter 9:6-8,
Remember this: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
I pray that as we end 2024, this wonderful community of believers will show just how much they remember God’s great and many blessings. That through your cheerful and faithful obedience in giving, our church will be found without any need. But more importantly, your willingness to bring the tithe and sacrificial offerings to him will reveal your great trust in him to continue to provide and deliver for you in the future. It is to this end that I pray that you will be blessed abundantly, so that at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work and give glory to our God in heaven, always remembering him and his great work in your life. May we together trust God with God’s gifts.
Your servant in the Lord,
Rev. Kyle Holtzhower+
