Pondering Pastor “Leverage Your Passion!” In a recent commentary by Frank DeFord he talked about the chancellor at UNC Wilmington who, responding to the outcry by supporters of the sports programs of that university, agreed to resist eliminating 5 programs otherwise announced as slated to be cut, for various reasons. In his response he challenged them to “Leverage Your Passion!” In other words, as DeFord points out, “Put your money and participation where your mouth is." A loud majority of people connected to the sports programs of that university were outraged at the prospect of eliminating any program for reasons this article is limited to raise, but the bottom line was lack of funding and attendance at events. It takes support in participation and funding to make sports programs flourish at the university level. Churches are not different. If a church wants a strong worshiping environment, it costs human effort (time and talents) and funding to pull it off effectively. If a church wants a strong youth program, it costs human effort (time and talents) and funding to pull it off effectively. If a church wants a strong administrative basis wherein the function of communication, organization, maintenance, and care for the facility and the people that utilize it is optimized, it costs human effort (time and talents) and funding to pull this off effectively, too. Do you see where I am going with this? If you want the ministry of Abiding Presence Lutheran Church to flourish, impacting lives for the sake of Jesus Christ, you need to leverage your passion, and together with passions leveraged, we can do amazing things! So, ask yourself, “Do I do all I can do to support Abiding Presence by showing up, participating in, and giving generously to the ministry, leveraging my passion for what God can do through Abiding Presence?” If you answer with anything other than a resounding “Absolutely, yes!”, what’s going on? Consider your worship patterns. Are you worshiping consistently, honoring God, and growing in faith? Or, are you satisfied to worship infrequently? The biblical standard is to at least worship weekly (remember the 3rd commandment - you shall honor the Sabbath to keep it holy?). But, I can tell you I do not see all of you weekly. Where’s your passion for worship and showing honor to God? Are you finding other things to do with your time on “The Lord’s Day?” Why? What could be more important? Are you giving consistently and generously of your income? It costs a lot of money to fund the church. But, based on the biblical mandate of first fruits giving (10% of a household income is the standard) we should have a budget of over $650,000. You read that correctly! Our ministry budget is just over $300,000, but ought to be more than twice that. Obviously, we are not, as a whole, leveraging our passion financially for the ministry of Abiding Presence. So, what might be holding you back from generously and sacrificially leveraging your passion for the ministry of Abiding Presence when it comes to doing your part to fund it effectively? I hope you answer that question for yourself, then find ways to make some changes which will both benefit you spiritually, and the church, financially. When each of us does our part to leverage our passion for the ministry of Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, watch out Fuquay-Varina. This church will be the kind of ministry you want to belong to and continue to be enthusiastic about, and the kind of ministry that is poised, indeed, to impact lots of lives in the name of Jesus Christ. Leverage your passion!!! Peace,Pastor Jeffrey Ingold
Posted on: Sat, 20 Jul 2013 14:00:00 +0000
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