Kingdom Business

I have to confess, when I attend meetings and functions outside the church, I love it when people ask me where I work. “Oh, I work for a church,” I say. “Really? What do you do at the church?”  “I’m the Business Manager.” Huh? People look so puzzled; I mean what kind of business needs attending at a church? One of the first expressions I learned when I started working at Peace was “Kingdom Business.” I love that phrase!  There is a lot of business to attend to at Peace, through this blog/newsletter I would like to share with you what I have learned about Kingdom Business.  Not only what it means to me, but what it might mean to you as a member of Peace. 

There is so much I have learned working here at Peace, I decided the first place to start was Worship and yes, offerings. During the offering on Sunday Worship, the pastors often say “We now worship the Lord with our offerings.” I don’t think it gets any clearer than that! One way we worship our Lord is through our offerings. First fruits. Tithe. Giving. These are a few of the names for the Lord’s offerings.

I am excited to share with you that the leadership at Peace has instituted something new to our cash-flow management.  That is, our Mission projects will be paid out of the first fruits of our offerings! So for example, if the deposits for the week total $28,000, then 10% (or $2,800) of that will be paid towards one of our budgeted mission projects. This is exciting for me and our leadership to determine when and how to pay mission projects. Our leadership has prioritized the mission line items and every week as we total the plate and online offerings, we will know exactly how much to distribute to God’s kingdom!

 I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about offerings, and one of my favorite phrases, “Kingdom Business”.  Over time I will share more (kingdom) business “tidbits” that I have learned being a part of this staff. Like your own household, our Lord’s house has bills and a budget. Even in Kingdom Business things have a cost. I am so thankful that as brothers and sisters in Christ, we know that the ultimate cost is the cost of sin: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23).  May our Father in heaven pour out his blessing on Peace’s Kingdom Business, as we offer our first fruits to Him. May we always remember the ultimate offering, his son, Jesus Christ, on the cross at Calvary.

Thankful to be of His service and yours,

Patti Ninneman

Business Manager

pninneman@peacelutheran.net

If you would like me to address a certain aspect of church business, please feel free to call or email me at the church office!

Known By Love?

What’s the hardest thing about being a disciple of Jesus?   Love.   Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:34-35

We are to be known as Jesus’ disciples by how we love one another.  Just think about that.  There are so many other things Jesus could have said His disciples would be known by.  He could have said we are known by our faith.  Then we could carry a big Bible, wear a Christian T-shirt, memorize some church teachings and be known by our faith.  That may not be easy, but compared to being known by love, it would be a breeze.  Or Jesus could have said that we would be known by our morals.  Being known by morals would give us an achievable standard.  That may not be easy, but it would be easier than being known by our love.  Morals are good and we should teach them.  But they are not what we are to be known by.

Jesus said that what we are to be known by is love.  And then He gives us a standard:  “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”  Wow.  That’s hard.  How do we begin?  By getting to know the God of love. 

Come get to know the God of love in a Bible class, in a small group, at LifeTree Café, in worship, in fellowship and service along side other brothers and sisters in Christ.  Together we seek to be known by love.

Polly Wegner,

Director of Discipleship

pwegner@peacelutheran.net

303-424-4454

The Punches Hurt

I recently attended a Conference that didn’t hold back the punches.  We church workers were hit with realities of the coming years… and the punches hurt.   The statistics showed that 80% of next generations will not go to church.  Today on surveys nearly 20% of Americans are already selecting “no religion” as their affiliation preference.  These punches should knock us to our knees praying for God’s mercy and direction for His Church on earth.  How can we equip tomorrow’s believers to reach the 80%, that some may be saved?  How can we, who have been entrusted with the great commission to “go, baptize, teach” reach those today whose preference is no religion?  I would love to hear what your thoughts are on this. 

The reality of these statistics is what makes the LifeTree Café approach very exciting to me.  The safe environment offered at LifeTree Café allows you and me to invite those we know who have questions, those who struggle with spiritual stuff, those who have chosen “no religion”.  LifeTree Café weekly presents an experience packed with stories, fascinating video testimony on trending topics, and lively conversation that feeds the soul.  It is just one way we may reach the 80% who will not go to church.  It is an easy and safe way to listen to others and share God talk with them.  I pray as this opportunity becomes available at Peace, that you will take the challenge to reach out and invite a searching soul to come along with you for some God conversation.  “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”  John 20:31

Worshiping, Connecting and Serving with you  –

Polly Wegner, DCE

Director of Discipleship

Peace Lutheran Church

pwegner@peacelutheran.net