Let Me Put It This Way - A Stewardship Message

Here is one of the Stewardship messages I've written. I gave this message about four weeks ago. Edited slightly for better reading.

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When Pastor Heidorn has collected the offering each week, he speaks these words that are so familiar to the people in my congregation now:

“We give Thee but Thine own, whate’er the gift might be. All we have is Thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from Thee.”

I really like those words. They’re very poetic, memorable and meaningful.

Sometimes, words we hear over and over get lost, though, as they become routine. So, to help us focus on their meanings, I offer a few new ways to say much the same thing.

• Hey, God, I know you gave this to me, but I’m sure you can use it better than I can. Don’t worry, I have enough for me.
• Wow, thanks for giving me all this, God! Here! I brought you a gift to show you my thanks. Use it however you think best.
• God, you promised me my daily bread, and you gave me that and more! Let me give some back so other people can learn to be as thankful as I am.
• Father, I know you gave me this, but some of my brothers and sisters could really use it. Would you mind getting it to them?
• God, you trusted me to hold onto this for a while. With what you gave me, I was able to make even more, and I want you to have some of it.

I’m sure there are many more ways we could rephrase that meaningful prayer. I thought about trying to do it in different dialects. You know, Surfer Dude (Whoa! Awesome!), Five-year-old (Thanks, Daddy), or Rocky Balboa (Yo, Adrian, um, I mean, Holy Father) but I’m not a Surfer Dude, or a Five-year-old, or Rocky, and I don’t think many of you are, so I hope you get the point and I hope one of those helps you focus on the meaning of “We Give Thee but Thine Own…”

We’ve all been given so much. But when all is said and done, it is God’s. He owns it all. As good stewards of His things, it’s important for us to realize it, and give Him thanks, however we say it.