Those fortunate enough among us, when we were in school or possibly at home learned about such things as finances, how to balance a checkbook, how to set and follow budgets, the importance of cash, the perils of debt, and how to save for the future.

If we were really fortunate, we learned that everything worth having comes from God. And that God desires for us to be fruitful and generous and good stewards of all he provides for us, and that he will always provide us with what we need – no matter what.

I believe that churches face a great challenge to bridge the gap between such earthly concepts as fiduciary duty, positive cash flow, and balanced budgets and spiritual concepts such as God’s faithfulness, prayer, and good stewardship.

I suggest three steps to be successful in this challenge;

First – realize that, as AW Tozer wrote in a devotional;

God doesn’t want us to give back to him because he needs our gifts, nor because he can’t do the work on his own, nor because we can wipe out world poverty with our gifts. He wants us to give back a portion of our blessings to give him glory and demonstrate our thanks to him.

Second, God wants us to be prosperous and successful, and to be good stewards of the blessings he gives to us. He doesn’t want us to be wasteful with our money. He expects even more from those of us who have been blessed more richly. If we are blessed with children, he wants us to raise them in Jesus’ likeness. If he has given us the gift of organization, he wants us to bring order where there is chaos; if we are blessed with the ability to teach, he wants us to instruct others; if we have been given the skills to heal he wants us to share that gift with those who need healing; and so forth. And part of our stewardship responsibilities is to use our financial skills to create well thought out, responsible budgets for our families, our businesses and even for our church.

Third, realize that God doesn’t ask us to do his work on our own. He is there to help us every step of the way. We only need to ask for his help. When Jesus was preparing to feed thousands, he asked his disciples; "How many loaves to you have?". "Seven", they replied, "and a few small fish." (Matthew 15:34). They were grossly short of the resources to get the job done. But Jesus worked a miracle and they had leftovers when they were finished with the meal.

God demonstrated his faithfulness to us again over this past year in our church finances and in the successes of the missions and ministries of the Petoskey United Methodist Church. We had moments of doubt about our bottom line. We had moments of doubt about initiatives and activities we undertook. But we did our part to "bridge the gap" between our faith and our attention to the bottom line, and God did his.

We need to keep our church focused on giving glory to God in our missions and ministries; to be good stewards of the many blessings he has given us; to pray for his direction and intercession on our behalf; to use the blessing he has given us to give him glory and demonstrate our thanks to him; and give back to God as he teaches us in the Bible.

As we do these things the gap between our faith and the finances of our church will disappear, and God will bless our church in ways we haven’t yet imagined.