Smile in the Glory of the Lord

 

 

God's Glory can be seen in the smiles of God's children.

 

Stewardship Thought
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20

And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything, and may provide in abundance for every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

 

 

Feast on the Glory of the Lord

 

A church picnic often feels like the appetizer to the Great Feast we will all enjoy around God's throne when we fully enter the Glory of the Lord.

Stewardship Thought
We should travel light and live simply. Our enemy is not possessions, but excess. John Stott (1921-2011 ) Anglican clergyman and writer

 

 

 

Seeing the Glory of the Lord

The wondrous yet simple beauty of Resurrection's pumpkin patch on a fall afternoon reminds us that the Glory of the Lord is all around us if we have but eyes to see. Picture by Leslee Donovan.

Stewardship Thought
I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditures excludes them.  C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), English author and scholar

Flow in the Glory of the Lord

The high school mission trip last summer took a break by rafting in a white water stream.  It got them into the flow of God's Glory.

In the Holy Land are two ancient bodies of water. Both are fed by the Jordan River. In one, fish play and roots find sustenance. In the other, there is no splash of fish, no sound of bird, no leaf around. The difference is not in the Jordan, for it empties into both, but in the Sea of Galilee: for every drop taken in one goes out. It gives and lives. The other gives nothing. And it is called the Dead Sea. William Sloane Coffin, former pastor at Riverside Church, New York City

William Sloane Coffin, former pastor at Riverside Church, New York City

Promise in the Glory of the Lord

 

We were visiting Pearl Harbor a very sad place to visit when you think of all the lives lost. I looked across the water at the memorial and this rainbow was there as if God is just wrapping His arms around this graveyard. It really was an amazing view.  Nicole Hanselman

When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.  Genesis 9:16

Giving is more than a responsibility—it is a privilege; more than an act of obedience—it is evidence of our faith. William Arthur Ward (1921-94), American educator

Together: the Glory of the Lord

The Blissenbach family works together on a devotional project at family camp.  Together they seek to see the Glory of the Lord.  In the same way Resurrection trusts, lives and serves together so as to recognize and respond to the Glory of the Lord.   Together we are fellow servants and not simply religious consumers.

One of the reasons churches in North America have trouble guiding people about money is that the church’s economy is built on consumerism. If churches see themselves as suppliers of religious goods and services and their congregants as consumers, then offerings are ‘payment.’ Doug Pagitt, author in the Emerging Church movement and pastor

Path to the Glory of the Lord

Jim and I feel God in the gentle whisper of leaves on a forest path.
Jeannie LeMere

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. John 14:6.

Some people say, “Give till it hurts.” But God recommends that we give until it feels good. God loves a cheerful giver! Brian Kluth, pastor, generosity speaker and author

Looking Up Into The Glory of The Lord

I will lift up mine eyes to the hills-
from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.  Psalm 121:1-2

Garth Natwick  Chugach Mountains, Alaska

Thought for the Day:
A Christian is one who does not have to consult a check book to see how wealthy he/she really is.

 

 

Praising the Glory of the Lord

"Even the youngest of God's miracles can praise the Glory of God."
Polly  Okeson-Chapek

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven.   Psalm 148:13

Thought for the Day.
Christian stewardship begins with God at the center. When stewardship revolves around any other center, it is misconceived. The institution of the church is an inadequate substitute for the incarnate body of Christ. The church as institution is a means to the end of the church as the fellowship of all believers. Stewardship is servanthood to God through the church, not to the church institution.

Dan R. Dick in Revolutionizing Stewardship in the 21st Century: Lessons from Copernicus

Watching the Glory of the Lord

Be Still and Know that I am God. (Psalm 46)

The love that my three kids displayed by while they watched God's glory in the sunset. In all their lives I do not think they had seen such a sight and could not stop watching.
Nicole H.

Today's Thought
God looks at the heart, not the hand—the giver, not the gift.

Love Expressed as Glory of the Lord

"I saw God's Glory in the children I met when I went a trip to Africa in support of a nonprofit organization supporting education for poor or orphaned children." Brian T.

Love can be a powerful expression of the Glory of the Lord.

Today's Thought
You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving. Amy Carmichael (1867-1951),
missionary to India

Harvesting the Glory of the Lord

When I see the bounty of a fall harvest -- and a happy little boy (my nephew Kai) playing in the corn -- I am in awe of God's power to continually make the world new again.  Kari Bjorhus

Stewardship Thought
The world asks: “What does a person own?” God asks, “How does a person use what he or she has been given?”