Up Next…
Those who are attentive to a matter will prosper, and happy are those who trust in the Lord. (Proverbs 16:20 NRSVUE)
Do you remember the TV guide as a child? I remember being fascinated by the brightly colored boxes on the page. Green for sports, blue for news and weather, and more. When I was a child the internet existed, but one did not simply Google to find an answer. You had to rely on printed resources and advertisements. You had to plan ahead, especially if you wanted to set your VCR to record what was going to be on TV. Sometimes planning ahead was not that easy. If your parents made plans for you and did not tell you what was happening, you might find yourself somewhere other than in front of the TV on a Sunday when the wonderful world of Disney showed movies or on a Saturday morning when your favorite cartoons aired. You had to be paying attention, plan ahead, and communicate so that what was up next was not a surprise.
It is not a surprise that there is a budget shortfall for the end of this year. Many churches run at a deficit heading into December, but that is not the healthiest financial state for anyone, much less a church. Despite generous and increased giving, we still have a budget shortfall for 2023. The gap is closing, but we still have financial obligations that we must pay that we will not be able to meet based on what is currently in the bank accounts. This is part of why we have asked for each family and individual in the congregation to consider how they will give to the church in 2024. We want to do more to plan ahead and be fiscally responsible so that our ministries and witness here in this community will continue for many years to come. We are using conference resources wherever and whenever possible. There is a strong desire to be good stewards of the resources in the church. We want to pay attention to God’s will, plan ahead for financial responsibilities, and communicate clearly with the congregation where and how funds are being used to nurture the children of God- body, mind, and soul.
Pledge cards and letters were handed out to most over the last few weeks. If you or your family have already returned your pledge card, thank you. If you have not yet turned your pledge card in, we hope that you are prayerfully considering how much you can commit to giving in 2024. If you have not yet received your pledge letter and card, please let Charlie Bingham know.
The best place to return your pledge card is in the offering plate. When we put our tithes and offerings into the offering plate, we do so as an act of trust in God, so where better to put our hopes and dreams for 2024?
Looking ahead requires just a little looking back into history. John Wesley wrote about money often and had a sermon for us ordinary folks and a sermon for the wealthy, but the message ultimately was the same. The love of money is no good. Thankfully, Wesley had some very practical advice for budgeting:
“If you desire to be a faithful and wise steward, out of that portion for your Lord’s goods which he has for the present lodged in your hands, but with the right of resuming whenever it pleases him, first, provide things needful for yourself- food to eat, raiment to put on, whatever nature moderately requires for preserving the body in health and strength. Secondly, provide these for your wife, your children, your servants, or any others who pertain to your household. If when this is done there be an overplus left, then ‘do good to them that are of the household of faith.’ If there be an overplus still, ‘as you have opportunity, do good unto all men.’ In so doing, you give all you can; nay, in a sound sense, all you have. For all that is laid out in this manner is really given to God. You ‘render unto God the things that are God’s, not only by what you give to the poor, but also by that which you expend in providing things needful for yourself and your household.”[1]
To bring us back to the beginning, there is no TV guide for what will happen this year, even if the calendar is color-coded. Nobody knows what will happen next in Valley View except the Good Lord above, so we have to do our best to trust and obey. To be present at the right times and the right places to serve. To seek God’s will at every turn and use our resources to the glory of God. My earnest prayer for the end of the year is that we will find a way to meet the shortfall AND a way into 2024 that sets us up for success in every way: spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially.
[1] Wesley, John. 1987. “The Use of Money” in John Wesley’s Sermons: An Anthology, ed. Albert C. Outler and Richard P. Heitzenrater (Nashville: Abingdon Press), 355.
