Let’s talk giving. No really, let’s.

There are some topics that preachers aren’t supposed to touch and giving is at least two of them. Tempting as it is to say that I don’t really know why, I do know why. Money is a touchy topic almost everywhere; the church is no exception. For better or worse, and mostly worse, there is a lot of bad examples of churches and money. From fund raising scandals to manipulative appeals to misuse of funds, the list goes on and on. The problem is that the way to deal with something that is wrong isn’t to stop talking about it entirely or to pretend that it never happened but rather to talk about how to address the problem; how do do it right.

These sermons are about giving and how much we should give but not from my perspective, at least not mine alone. These words are drawn from Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth, 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 to be exact. Paul talks about giving not from the perspective of “how much” but “how” and “why” give at all.

I hope you get some value from these sermons. The Knox sermon is shorter than the St. Mark’s as it was a very full service as we celebrated 60 years of wedded bliss enjoyed by Jean and Gordon Cameron. It was a lovely service, I wish more of you could have been there.

Knox Presbyterian How much should I give?

St. Mark’s Presbyterian How much should I give?

As always, feel free to comment on any aspect of what I have to say, I’d love to talk about what you think.

Blessings,