Stewardship

God's Promise of Enough

Nothing is impossible with God

15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 20 And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. (Matthew 14:15-18, 20 NRSVue)

Dear St. Andrew Family of Faith,

The world tells us that we live in a time of scarcity. If I have something for me and mine, then that means you can’t have it for you and yours. We are fed the lie again and again that there aren’t enough resources to go around.

God invites us to reimagine our lives around the promise of enough. At first, it seems like it’s an impossible promise. We see those who live in poverty, experiencing homelessness, food insecurity—even when working working working so hard. We see our schedules, with commitment after commitment that eats away at our precious time and leaves us drained. We see how awesome someone else is at sharing their gifts and talents, but think ours just aren’t enough so why bother.

Rev. Emmy Kegler writes, “God’s promises are at the core of the witness of Scripture, but often we live in the in-between, liminal space between the anticipation of what might be possible and the inheritance of God’s goodness.”

What then does it mean to live in that liminal space and to be good stewards of our time, talents and treasures?

It takes every facet of stewardship to make our mission and ministry what it is, and who God is calling us to be in the world. But so often stewardship season is 3-5 weeks long with it all leading up to Commitment Sunday and your household’s financial commitments for 2026. We don’t mean to lose sight of the Time and Talents portion of stewardship, but it often ends up happening because of our structure.

So this fall and early winter, we’re focusing on our Time and our Talents without putting the pressure of leading up to Treasure just yet. Not because money is an uncomfortable word—although for many of us it can be—but because we want to try a different approach for St. Andrew.

In the next couple of months, we’ll take time (ha, no pun intended) to learn more about spiritual gifts and what each of ours might be. What are your talents and gifts, and how might God be inviting you to share them with the body of Christ?

We’ll celebrate YOU—all of you—who have made and are making St. Andrew the church God has called us to be. On November 16, join us for Giving Thanks for the Hands & Hearts of St. Andrew Sunday. We’ll start with worship at 8:30 and 10:45, and then share in a meal provided by the church to say thank you.

December brings with it the opportunity to resist the ever-growing consumption monster as we slow down and focus on preparing our hearts and lives for the birth of Jesus, even as we step in and out of Advent to celebrate that birth a bit early through fellowship and celebrating our children’s ministry and their Christmas program.

Throughout January, church leadership will be sharing the plans for our annual meeting and annual budget. As part of that presentation, I will prepare and share a Narrative Budget for the congregation—how do the dollars and cents support the mission and ministry? How might God be calling us to move into the next year and years to live out his plan for us?

And then, following the annual meeting in February 2026, then we will do our annual commitment Sunday. When we approve the annual budget, we are committing to that financial plan. So, as a congregation, we will spend time in prayer and discernment so that each household can then determine their giving ability to make that budget happen.

When God sent the Israelites into the wilderness following their escape from Egypt, the people wondered just what they were doing. Even slavery was better than living in the desert—or so they thought. But God’s redemption of God’s people doesn’t end at the Red Sea. It continues through manna from the sky, water from a rock, and birds in an arid, treeless land. It continues on and on for 40 years until they reach the promised land. It continues on through Jesus as he helped them to feed a crowd of more than 5,000 people when they started with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. It continues now through us. God’s promise of enough seems impossible to us, but to God it is the only way forward.

Join us in the Impossible Promise of Enough, and see just how abundant God’s goodness and provisions are.

In Abundance,

Pr Jenna Pulkowski, St. Andrew Stewardship Team, St. Andrew Church Council