We, The Church: Stewardship Is Sacrificial

Each week Pastor Sarah offers a devotional reflection to connect with the South Shore UMC Family. Use this entry as a way to prepare your heart and mind for worship. See you Sunday!

---

Sunday’s Scripture ~ Philippians 2:5-11. Devotional Scripture ~ Psalm 33:4.

--- This Sunday, Rev. Zig Bays will share with the South Shore UMCommunity about how stewardship is sacrificial. I am deeply grateful for Pastor Zig’s ministry partnership and his commitment to serving God at South Shore. May God fill you with grace and peace as you prepare and lead!

---

The summer of 2012 introduced me to Matt Redman’s song, “Never Once.” When I reflect on God’s faithfulness, Redman’s refrain quickly comes to mind,

Scars and struggles on the way But with joy our hearts can say Yes, our hearts can say Never once did we ever walk alone Never once did You leave us on our own You are faithful, God, You are faithful

From the moment God met Adam and Eve in Eden, God has been meeting humanity in the gardens of life, be they luscious and lavish beauties or icky roadside ditches full of standing water. God meets us. God will always meet us. In honesty. In compassion. In accountability.

And most importantly, in hope.

Hope for our wholeness. Hope for our transformation. Hope for our future.

When God makes a covenant, God makes a covenant. That is an enduring, unwavering commitment. Not even death can tarnish or compromise it. In our communion liturgy we acknowledge, “When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast.” God’s love delivers us from captivity to sin and death. God’s love delivers us to purpose and promise, which intentionally begins in relationship. We walk with God. And God intends we walk with one another. In honesty. In compassion. In accountability.

And most importantly, in hope.

Hope for our wholeness. Hope for our transformation. Hope for our future.

In an extended season of isolation and separation, of not only feeling alone but actually being alone, it is good to be safely re-membered with others. In meeting together, we remind one another that God meets us, too. That God meets us first.

Our God is not far. Our God is near. Our God sees, knows, and walks alongside. Our God’s faithfulness, like God’s mercy, is new every morning. It will not fail. In this we can believe. In complete honesty. In complete compassion. In complete accountability.

And most importantly, in complete hope.

Reflection: Identify an image that is a reflection of God’s faithfulness to you. Share that image with a friend.

Prayer: "Let every kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial ball, to him all majesty ascribe, and crown him Lord of all. To him all majesty ascribe, and crown him Lord of all."* Amen.

*"All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name," The United Methodist Hymnal 154. **Devotional Resource: The Weekly Faith Project by Zondervan.