faith

Faith

Faith

This sermon is based on Galatians 5:6. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: To have a favorite or not to have a favorite, that is the question. Okay, “Hamlet” is loaded with possible favorite quotes, and it is hard to pick just one. But if I had to, it would be when Polonius interrupts Hamlet in the library and asks, “What do you read, my lord?” And Hamlet replies, “Words, words, words.” Now, Polonius is an accomplice of the evil king and Hamlet is feigning insanity, so we can’t take everything that is said here at face value. In fact, we all know that something is rotten in the library. Besides, if Hamlet didn’t believe in the power of words, he would never have uttered a single soliloquy. No, methinks the lad doth protest too much here. See, words matter. They are

The Last Blog I’m Giving on Giving

Giving advice is all around us. Some good. Some bad. Some terrible. Consider: “The Lord loveth a cheerful giver. He also accepteth gifts from a grouch.” --Catherine Hall “You should give according to your income, lest God make your income according to your giving.” --unknown “Blessed are those who can give without remembering, and take without forgetting.” --Elizabeth Bibesco “Do yer givin’ while you’re livin’, so you’ll be knowing’ where its goin’.” --unknown “There is no grace in a gift that sticks to the fingers.” --Seneca “You’ll never be as lazy as the guy who named the fireplace.” –unknown Okay, the last quote wasn’t about giving, but I found it encouraging. And when you talk about giving, you want to be encouraging. Today, I want to encourage you by answering the question, “What does giving do for us?” As it turns out, it does all sorts of things. First, giving,

The Loose Ends

Author Lance Morrow wisely noted that “a rattlesnake loose in the living room tends to end all discussion of animal rights." Loose ends, like loose snakes, can’t be a good thing and should be quickly dealt with (when you know you can’t end a sentence with a preposition, but have no other way to say it, well, that’s why God created the parenthetical remark). So today, we round up a few “loose ends” on tithing and giving as we start to bring this series on giving to an end. And to do that, let’s look at one of the premiere passages on tithing in the Old Testament, Malachi 3:7-12. The text reads: “Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are