Winterim 2014January 26th

9:30am

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4 I am the Church, you are the Church, we are the Church together.”

We lift our voices, we lift our hands, We lift our lives up to You, we are an offering.”

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4

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…

Let us run the race not only for the prize. But as those who’ve gone before us, let us leave to those behind us The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives.”

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4 Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

May the fire of our devotion light their wayMay the footprints that we leave, lead them to believeAnd the lives we live inspire them to obeyOh may all who come behind us find us faithful.”

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4Take my life and let it

be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;

Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise”

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4Take my silver and my

gold, Not a mite would I withhold;

Take my intellect and use Every power as Thou shalt choose.”

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4The Church in America

is dealing with a seismic shift toward a post-Christian culture.”

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4 18% of the population in the USA attends church (i.e. worship) in a given week.”

85% of U.S. churches are not growing—or are dying.”

In 50% of churches last year, no one came to faith.”

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Only 2 in 10 young adults who had been active churchgoers in high school are now in church regularly.”

80% of the congregations of the LC-MS reported 3 or fewer adult confirmations in 2010.”

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4

Challenges (Opportunities) facing our congregation:

Lack of clarity in our vision for the future.

Lack of involvement of members in worship and ministry.

Space.Staffing.Updating our facility and

maintaining it.Funding.”

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4Lack of clarity in our

vision for the future.”

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4Lack of involvement of

members in worship and service.”

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4Funding.”

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4 Christian stewardship is the free and joyous activity of the child of God and God’s family the Church, in managing all of life and life’s resources for God’s purposes.”

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4Brothers and sisters,

the challenge we are facing at Trinity is greater than a lack of information about the financial condition of our congregation!”

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4The biggest challenge

to funding in our congregation is the culture in which we live.”

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4 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” (Luke 8:14)

The Parable of the Rich Fool: This is how it will be with

anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21)

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4 A consumerist culture has infected and afflicted the Church in America.”

Since 1929/The Great Depression, Americans are 450% richer after taxes and inflation…

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4 …But giving as a % of income among American Christians (to their congregation) is lower today compared to the height of the Great Depression.”

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4The human heart is

the greatest challenge or threat…”.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

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4 There are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, the mind, and the purse. Of these three, it may well be that we moderns find the conversion of the pocketbook the most difficult.” (Martin Luther)

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4 Demographic study of congregation indicated that the Financial Potential of membership…also labeled Estimated Congregational Household Median Income was……

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4Almost 37

million dollars!”

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201

4 @ 2%=$735,000 @ 3%=$1,102,000 @ 5%=$1,837,000

@7%=$2,573,000 @ 10%=$3,675,000

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4 What does this mean?”

It means our congregation has the capacity to ask an amazing and exciting question on July 1st of every year.”

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4What are we going to

do with the surplus giving from the past fiscal year?”

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4Video: The Plate”