“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” ~ Proverbs 3:9-10

Many of us grew up being taught that you don’t ask people how much they make. It isn’t anyone’s business. Because of this, conversations that revolve around money tend to be avoided because, most of the time, they aren’t comfortable conversations.

This is especially true within the church. Speaking about money is difficult. This is part of the reason I continue to make offering time a portion of our worship service. What we, as the Body of Christ, need to remember, is that we are instructed to give a portion of what we have back to God, because God is where we get our treasure from in the first place.

Early on in our marriage, like most people, David and I lived paycheck to just before the next paycheck. I spent many hours crying because I didn’t know how we were going to make ends meet. In that time, we had stopped giving to the church.

I remember when, together, we decided we needed to start giving again. Once we did, it didn’t matter how hopeless we felt about making ends meet in that month, when we intentionally gave to the church, even a little, something would happen, and we would be able to pay all of our monthly bills. The money just…… showed up.

I remember one time David got a bonus check, and we were very excited because we had some unexpected extra money. That Sunday, I was getting ready to leave church to head home, and when I put the car into reverse, there was a loud thunk! and jerk. The tie bar broke, and we had to get the car towed to get it fixed. But….we had the money to pay for it—when just a week earlier, we would have had to borrow some money! (No, it wasn’t how we wanted to use the money, but we don’t always get what we want. But we do get what we need.

To this day, I still marvel at the miracle of giving back to God. God promises that if we joyfully give a portion of our blessings back to God, we will be blessed. This is part of having faith.

This year, we have had some unexpected repairs on the parsonage, and we know that sometime before winter, we will have to deal with our boiler that heats the basement because it isn’t working. Both of these are big ticket items. And thankfully, we have the money for them—insurance for almost all of the parsonage kitchen, and money in our maintenance reserve fund for the boiler.

But there are other things that need done as well. The deck on the parsonage needs replaced, as the boards are rotting away. Our custodians of 30+ years have retired, and we will need to not only pay someone new, but the Barclays donated almost 100% of all the janitorial supplies we use in the church, which means the church will have to start paying for them.

And the ministries we do here at the church are not immune to price increases—which means they are needed all the more within our community. Food prices have increased, which means we are receiving less food for the Little Food Pantry; and the meat and cheese for making the weekly sandwiches is more expensive.

We are Faith First Community Church. And when we remain faithful, God provides. But each of us has to do our part. As we move into summer, and people travel more, we want to remind you to continue intentionally share your firstfruit with God. There are many ways you can do that. (If you need help—just ask!)

Unfortunately, as we prepare for our 2027 budget, we are going to have to have some very tough financial conversations. My guess is these will be uncomfortable, and probably stressful (especially for the Board—those who have to lead the conversations). But we are called to be stewards of all that we are given, and the money given to the church is included in that.

But let us not forget—like I said a moment ago—we are Faith First Community Church. We have always lived into that name, and we won’t stop living into it now. Our faith comes first. We will continue to trust that, when we follow God’s instruction to give of our firstfruits, we will be given what we need, and then some.

And for that, I offer God all my thanks and praise!

Always Peace,
Pastor Heidi