Glenwood United Methodist Church
Thursday, September 09, 2010
  
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Enough
Dear Friends,
I really hope that you will join me in worship in the coming weeks for a sermon series entitled Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity. Our nation is experiencing what many have described as the “American Nightmare.” Increasing consumer debt, declines in savings, lower income growth, rising housing costs, and a volatile stock market are all contributing to economic insecurity. We live in a society that tells us “you deserve it now,” whether or not we can afford it or really even need it.
I’m sure we’ve all struggled with these issues at one time or another. I know that I have. Beginning next weekend, we are going to explore what the Bible teaches us about financial management. We’ll look at what others have learned by working through financial challenges and watch some informative video clips. Each week I’ll be providing you with some tools you can use to assess your financial situation and develop a financial plan with a biblical foundation.
These are important issues that we cannot ignore. I hope you will join me as we look at how we can manage our financial resources and truly experience that God is “Enough.”
In Christ,
Pastor Pat
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Oct. 4 “When Dreams Become Nightmares” Small-Group Study Begins Oct. 11 “Wisdom and Finance” Oct. 18 “Cultivating Contentment” Oct. 25 “Defined by Generosity” Small-Group Study Ends
Small Groups Opportunities [Call the host/hostess or Church Office to sign-up]
October 11, 2009 Adam Hamilton, Enough sermon # 2 Proverbs 21:5, 20
Glenwood UMC “Wisdom and Finance”
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Proverbs 21:5, 20
5Good planning and hard work
lead to prosperity,
but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
20The wise have wealth and luxury,
but fools spend whatever they get.
I. Where Did All Our Money Go?
Living as Prodigals
From Jesus’ description in Luke 15:11-16, we see that the prodigal son had the habits of squandering and spending. The word prodigal does not mean someone who wanders away or is lost. It literally means “one who wastes money.” A prodigal is one who wastes money, who is a spendthrift. Many of us struggle with that habit as well. We’re not worried about tomorrow. We want it today. The problem with that kind of thinking is that, for most of us, the “famine” eventually comes. It comes when we have spent everything we have and even a little bit of next year’s income. So we use the credit card and charge it, and we go a little further into debt. Finally, we come to a place where we “find ourselves.” We have nothing left, not even any credit, and we can’t figure out how we are we going to make it.
The More We Make, the More We Waste
It seems that the more financially secure we become, the less we worry about spending money here and there. We waste a dollar on this or that, and we forget where it went. Money just seems to flow through our fingers. We’re not as careful with our money as we should be. There are many ways we waste money, but there are two primary money-wasters that many of us struggle with. It is not necessary to eliminate these two things all together, but we should think more carefully about how we spend our money.
Impulse buying
Tips for avoiding impulse buying:
· Never go grocery shopping when you are hungry.
· Shop for what you need only.
· Make a list and stick to it; buy what you need and get out of the store!
· Wait twenty-four hours before purchasing an impulse buy.
Eating out
The issue is frequency. The average American eats out an average of four times a week. By eating out less frequently, we will have more money to save, spend on something more important, or give away.
II. Clarifying Our Relationship With Money and Possessions
We do not exist simply to consume as much as we can and get as much pleasure as we can while we are here on this earth. We have a higher purpose. We need to know and understand our life purpose—our vision or mission or calling—and then spend our money in ways that are consistent with this purpose or calling.
Be Clear About Your Purpose and Calling
Our society tells us that our life purpose is to consume—to make as much money as possible and to blow as much money as possible. The Bible tells us that we were created to care for God’s creation. We were created to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We were created to care for our families and those in need. We were created to glorify God, to seek justice, and to do mercy. Our money and possessions should be devoted to helping us fulfill this calling. We are to use our resources to help care for our families and others—to serve Christ and the world through the church, missions, and everyday opportunities. We have a life purpose that is greater than our own self-interests, and how we spend our God-given resources reflects our understanding and commitment to this life purpose or mission.
Set Worthy Goals
Being able to accomplish the greater purposes God has for our lives requires some measure of planning. Taking the time to set goals related to our lives and our finances is crucial if we are to become wise stewards of our God-given resources. Each of us should think about our life purpose and goals and then identify two short-term financial goals, two mid-range financial goals, and two long-term financial goals that are aimed at helping us to accomplish our broader life goals. At least one goal in each category should relate specifically to our faith.
III. The Discipline of Managing Your Money
A. The Necessity of a Budget/Spending Plan
Once we have set some financial goals, we need to develop a plan to meet those goals. A budget is a spending plan that enables us to accomplish our goals. Some people use an envelope system to help them manage their saving and spending and stay on budget. Others use a variety of different approaches. Many people find it helpful to seek the advice of a financial advisor. For those who find themselves in the midst of a financial crisis, a financial counselor can help to work out terms with creditors and develop a workable financial plan. Whatever approach you choose, the important thing is simply to have a plan.
B. Six Financial Planning Principles
The following financial planning principles can help us to manage our money with wisdom and faith:
1. Pay your tithe and offering first.
Put God first in your living and your giving. Give your tithe and offering from the “top” of your paycheck, and then live on whatever remains.
2. Create a budget and track your expenses.
Creating a budget is simply developing a plan in which you tell your money what you want it to do. Tracking your expenses with a budget is like getting on the scales: It allows you to see how you are doing and motivates you to be more careful with your expenditures.
3. Simplify your lifestyle (live below your means).
Because this discipline is critical to the success of any financial plan, next Sunday’s sermon will be devoted to this topic.
4. Establish an emergency fund.
An emergency fund is an account separate from checking or long-term savings that is set aside specifically for emergencies. Dave Ramsey recommends beginning with $1,000 and building that to three months’ worth of income. When you have this amount, you won’t need to use your credit cards anymore.
5. Pay off your credit cards, use cash/debit cards for purchases, and use credit wisely.
As you are building your emergency fund, begin to pay off your credit card debt and start using cash or debit cards for purchases. Some experts suggest starting with the credit card that has the highest interest rate. Others suggest paying down the smallest debt first, experiencing that victory, and applying your payments from the first card to the second, and so on, creating a snowball effect to pay off the cards as soon as possible. Cut up your cards as you pay them down so that you are not trapped or leveraged by your future for present-day pleasure, as the prodigal son was. If you must use a credit card, such as when traveling or making purchases online, be sure to pay off the debt monthly. If you are unable to do this, then it is better for you to cut up your cards and stop using them altogether.
6. Practice long-term savings and investing habits.
Saving money is the number-one wise money management principle everyone should practice. We do not save merely for the sake of saving. There is a word for that: hoarding. Hoarding is frowned upon in the Bible as the practice of fools and those who fail to understand the purpose of life. Saving, on the other hand, is meant to be purposeful. There are three types of savings we should have: 1) emergency savings, 2) savings for wants and goals, and 3) retirement savings.
Resources for Developing a Budget
This is a fun and helpful budgeting calculator that automatically generates a suggested budget based upon the user’s inputs and Crown’s recommended expenditures.
This is another Crown resources site focused on budgeting and financial freedom. There is good information here.
Getting Out of Debt
Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University offers a great deal of online information including his approach to reducing debt found at this site: www.daveramsey.com/the_truth_about/get_out_of_debt_4055.html.cfm.
3 “Statistics About Eating Dinner Out,” by Magali Rheault, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, October 2000; http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1318/is_10_54/ai_65368848?tag=content;col1.
4 The Total Money Makeover, by Dave Ramsey (Thomas Nelson, 2007); pp. 102–08.
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My Life and Financial Goals Worksheet
How would you define or describe your life purpose?
What are three goals that can help you to achieve this life purpose?
What are some financial goals that can help to support your life goals and purpose?
Short-term financial goals (next 12 months):
1.
2.
Mid-range financial goals (2–5 years):
1.
2.
Long-term financial goals (5 years to retirement):
1.
2.
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Basic Budget Worksheet
Item Actual % Suggested %* Plan for next 12 months
Housing 25–35% ____________________
Transportation 10–15% ____________________
Charitable Gifts 10–12% ____________________
Food 5–15% ____________________
Saving 5–10% ____________________
Utilities 5–10% ____________________
Medical/Health 5–10% ____________________
Debt 5–10% ____________________
Clothing 2–7% ____________________
Miscellaneous 12–23% ____________________
*These percentages are adapted from Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover (Thomas Nelson, 2007).
November 1, 2009 Communion Mark 12:28-34 NLT
Glenwood UMC “What’s Most Important?”
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In a cartoon, Frank and Ernest are standing in front of row after row of shelves of books. On top of one of the shelves is a sign, which reads, “Law Library.” Franks turns and says to Ernest: “It’s frightening when you think that we started out with just Ten Commandments.”
It is sort of frightening isn’t it? We started out with 10 and now we have an estimated 35 million laws on the books in the United States alone. Some of them are very good and deeply needed. But there are some that probably need to be repealed.
For example: Did you know there is a law in Florida that makes it illegal for a woman who’s single, divorced or widowed to parachute out of a plane on Sunday afternoon?
In Amarillo, Texas, it is against the law to take a bath on the main street during banking hours.
In Portland, Oregon, it is illegal to wear roller skates in public restrooms.
In Halethorpe, Maryland, a kiss lasting more than a second is an illegal act.
And in St. Louis, there used to be a law that if your automobile spooked a horse, you had to hide the car. And if hiding didn’t work, you had to start dismantling it until the horse calmed down.
Today we meet a scribe who wants to know which of the 10 Commandments is the most important. He wasn’t trying to trap Jesus. He wasn’t trying to be impertinent. This Scribe was a seeker. He wanted to know which one of the commandments would get him closer to God. It appears that he was running a sort of Spiritual Checkup on himself.1
Jesus knew what was most important, which was the greatest commandment: to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. Unfortunately we don’t all always agree on what is best or what is most important.
Wouldn’t it be great if I won a million dollars? Well, maybe it wouldn’t be so great. Not everyone has the same idea of a great time. One person’s wish may be another’s nightmare. Take, for example, the story of three men who were sailing together in the Pacific Ocean. Their vessel was wrecked and they found themselves on an island. They had plenty of food, but their existence was in every way different from what their lives had been in the past. The men were walking by the seashore one day after they had been there for some months and found an ancient lantern. One man picked it up. As he began to rub it and clean it, a genie popped out and said, “Well, since you have been good enough to release me, I will give each of you one wish.”
The first man said, “Oh, that’s perfectly marvelous. I’m a cattleman from Wyoming and I wish I were back on my ranch.” Poof! He was back on his ranch.
The second man said, “Well, I’m a stockbroker from New York, and I wish that I were back in Manhattan.” Poof! He was back in Manhattan with his papers, his telephones, his clients and his computers.
The third fellow was somewhat more relaxed about life and actually had rather enjoyed life there on the island. He said, “Well, I am quite happy here. I just wish my two friends were back.” Poof! Poof! Everybody’s idea of a “great time” isn’t the same!
So is it true? Are many Americans sitting around wishing, “Now wouldn’t it be great ...if I won the lottery...if I had my dream house...if I was famous....” As Christians...as the people of God...what if instead of wishing for money or fame or success or more “things,” we could just as earnestly wish with all our hearts and souls and minds and strength that we could love the Lord our God and love our neighbor as ourselves?2
So what does it look like to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves?
I think it was Charlie Brown who said, “I love humanity! It is people I can’t stand!” Yet the costly love that Jesus embodies involves an intimate encounter with God’s fierce and holy love. It involves pouring out self for real people, sinners all, with all their real-life quirks, faults, smells, and flesh-and-blood sins.
· That harried young mother in the doctor’s waiting room (or maybe the next pew): perhaps loving her as yourself means offering to watch the toddler while she feeds the baby.
· That person in line at the bank who’s stumbling over the English language and struggling to understand deposits and withdrawals: could loving him mean stepping out of line and helping him get it straight?
· That next-door neighbor struggling to keep his marriage together,
· that daughter who pushes your buttons every ten minutes,
· that husband scared of being laid off
These are the ones who desperately need the strong saving love, the compassion and mercy, the challenge and holiness and presence of Jesus.
In those moments, dare to risk being rebuffed or inconvenienced. Dare to look foolish and make mistakes. Dare to love God and that person, even if it wrings your heart with pain to do so. It’s what we’ve been created, redeemed, and commanded to do. Hang your whole life on love, for the truth is, it’s God’s love, active in you. And his love will never fail3
Indeed, to love God with all that we are and our neighbor as ourselves, we need to love as God loves, and we need to give as God would give.
A rabbi was asked, “Which act of charity is higher--giving out of obligation or giving from the heart?”
All in the class were inclined to respond that giving from the heart had something more in it, but they knew the rabbi was going to say just the opposite, because in spiritual teaching nothing is logical. They were not disappointed.
“Giving from the heart is a wonderful thing,” the rabbi said, “It is a very high act and should never be demeaned. But there is something much more important that happens when somebody gives charity out of obligation.
“Consider who is doing the giving. When somebody gives from the heart, there is a clear sense of oneself doing something; in other words, heartfelt charity always involves ego gratification.
“However, when we give out of obligation, when we give at a moment that every part of us is yelling NO! because of one reason or another--perhaps the beneficiary is disgusting, or it is too much money, or any of thousands of reasons we use to avoid giving charity--then we are confronting our own egos, and giving nonetheless. Why? Because we are supposed to. And what this means is that it is not us doing the giving, rather we are vehicles through which God gives4
We need to love as God loves, to give as God gives, and to live as Jesus lives.
When Robert Allen was at Drew University in New Jersey, he became friends with a Catholic priest named Sean O’Kelly. Sean was redheaded and always seemed to have a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. He spoke with a heavy Irish brogue because he had only been in America for a few years.
While he was in school, he was also pastoring a Catholic church in the heart of Newark, New Jersey. If you want to talk about urban blight and poverty and hunger, all you have to do is to take a trip up and down the streets of Newark.
On one occasion, Sean heard that a family in his parish was hungry. Because of a bureaucratic foul-up, a mother with five small children had no food and no hope of getting any until the end of the month.
Although the family was not Catholic, Sean O’Kelly went to the grocery store and bought a supply of groceries. There were three full sacks, and he went to the apartment building where the family lived. After carrying the groceries up four flights of stairs and walking down a long hall, he came to the apartment. He rang the doorbell, and a little boy about seven years old answered the door. He looked at Father O’Kelly’s clerical collar and the sacks of groceries, and then screamed at his mother: “Mama, Mama, come quick. Jesus brought us some food!”
In telling about that incident, Sean said, “I will never forget that child’s comment. At that moment, I realized that I was the Christ for a hungry child.”
If we are to be the neighbors that God calls us to be, then we need to understand that you and I are expected to help those we have the capacity to help. The opportunities for service are almost endless in every neighborhood - even yours. There are a dozen ways or more for you to help people if you are willing to be the neighbor God calls you to be! Religion in a nutshell means that you really are expected to be “Jesus” to your neighbors when they are in need.5
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1. “It All Started with 10 Commandments” Billy D. Strayhorn, Is That All? www.ChristianGlobe.com, 10-30-2009.
2. David Beckett, Wouldn’t It Be Great? www.eSermons.com, 10-30-2009
3. Cathy A. Ammlung, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost, CSS Publishing Company
4. David A. Cooper, Entering the Sacred Mountain: A Mystical Odyssey, Bell Tower
5. Robert L. Allen, The Greatest Passages of the Bible, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.
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