{"id":1653,"date":"2021-01-19T14:19:14","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T14:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.presbyterianmission.org\/weekly-offerings\/?p=1653"},"modified":"2021-01-19T14:19:14","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T14:19:14","slug":"with-glad-and-generous-hearts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2021\/01\/19\/with-glad-and-generous-hearts\/","title":{"rendered":"With Glad and Generous Hearts"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chris Roseland<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past year amid a pandemic, protests and politics, I often heard many pastors, elders and mid council staff say that they are having a particularly hard time making ends meet. People aren\u2019t giving the way they used to give. These churches and presbyteries are struggling to do more with less, and it\u2019s the same way at the place where I currently serve, the Presbyterian Mission Agency \u2014 which has had a 40% reduction of our workforce over the past 10 years. In the end, the need is becoming greater and greater.<\/p>\n

And then I read Luke\u2019s account of the early church in Acts 2:44\u201345: \u201cAll who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.\u201d I read this text and I think about how the way we give today is so different than the way it was for the early church. I think about how when things were so bad for them, far worse than they are for those of us today, these early Christians reached in their pockets a little deeper and gave to one another \u2014 even to the ones they didn\u2019t even know.<\/p>\n

\"\"And do you know what happened? They didn\u2019t go into the red. They didn\u2019t lose everything. They didn\u2019t close their doors. They didn\u2019t die.<\/p>\n

Instead, they thrived. Luke tells us: \u201cAnd day by day, the Lord added to their number those who were being saved\u201d (Acts 2:47).<\/p>\n

They grew \u2014 not only in numbers, but also in faith \u2014 in their discipleship to Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an old story about a person of faith who had an audience with God. One day, this follower said to God, \u201cGod, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a vision, God showed this disciple two doors. Inside the first one, in the middle of the room, was a large round table with a large pot of stew. It smelled delicious and made the person\u2019s mouth water, but the people sitting around the table were thin, emaciated and sickly. They appeared to be starving. They were holding spoons with very long handles and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, it was impossible to get the spoons back into their mouths. Even if they set their spoons down on the table to pull it closer, everything spilled out.<\/p>\n

This startled disciple shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering, and God said, \u201cYou have just seen Hell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind the second door, the room appeared exactly the same. There was the large round table with the large pot of delicious stew. The people had the same long-handled spoons, but they were well nourished, healthy and plump, laughing, singing and talking \u2014 enjoying themselves.<\/p>\n

The follower said, \u201cI don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is simple,\u201d God smiled and said, \u201cLove only requires one skill. These people learned to feed one another. Those who are greedy think only of themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Luke wrote: \u201cAll who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day, the Lord added to their number those who were being saved\u201d (Acts 2:44\u201347).<\/p>\n

May it be so for us.<\/p>\n

Chris Roseland is the Lead Mission Engagement Advisor for the Presbyterian Mission Agency, serving the Northern region of the United States.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\"\"\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Chris Roseland Over the past year amid a pandemic, protests and politics, I often heard many pastors, elders and mid council staff say that they are having a particularly hard time making ends meet. People aren\u2019t giving the way they used to give. These churches and presbyteries are struggling to do more with less,… Read more »<\/a>","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":1655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[2590,2591,2294,2592,2593,1733,2589,1939,59,2180],"class_list":["post-1653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-giving","tag-2590","tag-book-of-acts","tag-chris-roseland","tag-discipleship","tag-early-christians","tag-jesus","tag-luke","tag-pandemic","tag-stewardship","tag-stewardship-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nWith Glad and Generous Hearts - Where Your Heart Is...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"May we be inspired by Luke's words in Acts: \u201cAll who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2021\/01\/19\/with-glad-and-generous-hearts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"With Glad and Generous Hearts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May we be inspired by Luke's words in Acts: \u201cAll who believed were together and had all things in common; 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