Ministries:
Adult | Teens | Children

Pastor's Pen's:
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001

Sermon Series:
Following Jesus
Earthly Cross
His Name Is
Apostles Creed
Dealing with Feelings
Jonah
Get Real
Promised Land Living

Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Email:
Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2005

Grace Church of Burlington November 13, 2005 “The core problem is not that we are too passionate about bad things, but that we are not passionate enough about good things.”   Dr. Larry Crabb             They weren’t exactly gone in sixty seconds but it did take just twenty minutes for all of the tickets for White Sox home World Series games to be sold out. Those who were not able to get tickets through the White Sox, often paid as much as $1000 a ticket. During the playoffs one man offered to trade a used Mercedes for tickets and one person was even offering sex for tickets. Even after the series and the big win, collectors are paying $100 to $300 on e-Bay for used stubs from games at U.S. Cellular Field and Houston's Minute Maid Park.             It just goes to show that if you really want something, no price is too high. If something is valuable to you, you’ll make the investment. If something is a priority, you will make sure that it happens.             So let me ask a vital question, how important is it to us as the Grace Family to really make an eternal impact in this community? Do we really believe that it is important to reach lost people? Do we really understand and believe that in this culture a building is an essential tool to be effective and to fulfill our purpose? While many of us would be willing to meet anywhere and put up with many discomforts and inconveniences, lost people are not going to do that. To be honest, even meeting outdoors each week at a local park wouldn’t phase me. I know however, that in the culture God has called us to minister, such a decision would make us ineffective.             Folks, I love you. God has called me here. That’s why I’ve invested my life, my blood, sweat and tears here for over seventeen years. Land and a building are not optional for effective ministry. We must buy land. We need to buy enough to be able to minister for the future as well. We are going to have to build. Our current situation must be temporary.             But none of this is going to happen unless it becomes important to all of us. Believe me, if I had it, I would write a check for the whole thing. And I’ll be honest, the recent Powerball was a little tempting but that’s not God’s way or will.             Our church has all the money and financial resources that it needs. The problem is that it is still in our pockets. Too many at Grace have a religious/mainline understanding at Grace. Though they have truly come to know the Lord, their wallet has never been converted. They tip rather than tithe...just like they did before they were saved. Aa a result, they are missing out on the blessing and rewards of faithful stewardship. They spend more on cable TV, Internet access, eating out, health club memberships, hobbies, etc., each month than they give. They waste money on the frivolous instead of investing in the eternal.                         Some would have no problem with having fund raisers and having lost folk from the community financially underwrite us. They truly do not comprehend that giving is an act of worship and faithfulness. They don’t understand that puts us on the level of a religious social club and muddies the water when we seek to communicate that salvation is free and cannot be bought.             Some have rationalized that they are waiting until we have a firm plan or they feel right or they see everything. Maybe they hope that things will never come to fruition so they can hang on to their money. Though they do not realize it, they are also questioning the integrity of the leadership of our church. They are suggesting that we would raise funds for this and then use the funds somewhere else. That would be both wrong and unethical. And if you do not trust our leaders to be godly, honest and ethical, then to be very frank, you need to find a ministry that you do trust. Faithful stewardship is your Biblical responsibility and you need to support the ministry to which God has led you.             Folks, the time is now!! We are on the verge of making some very serious decisions and commitments. But we cannot do what we believe that God is leading us to do unless our church family works as a team and is also committed. This is the time for committed giving...sacrificial giving.             So please obey and let the Lord be the Lord of your checkbook. Don’t miss out on the blessings of being a faithful steward of what He has entrusted to you! Instead of asking, “How much can I afford?” Pray and ask your Lord, “How much do you want me to give?”             God is working in our church. We are on the verge of some phenomenal things!! Will you be part of it? Please don’t miss out on the blessings!! Invest in something that really matters.