Caring, as we do, so lovingly for these domesticated creatures, we need also to preserve and rightly use all of God's created beings. Responsibility for God's abundant gifts in nature, as the diocese reminds us, includes also stewardship of our individual time, talent and belongings which are just as much gifts of God. Individually, we are responsible to return to God a portion of what He has given us. In just a few weeks, the last Sunday of this month, you as an individual or a family will have opportunity to commit your dollars to support St. Michael's mission in the year ahead. We invite you to give regularly and generously to our mission, so that the thriving programs we are engaged in here my grow and prosper.
Some folks have the idea that the church is supported by the diocese or other resources.
Our diocese calls us to follow the biblical call to return to God a portion of what He has given us. This action affirms the biblical tithe, one-tenth of what God has given us, as the minimum standard of giving for Christians. If you are already a tither, you know the satisfaction of giving in a steady, proportionate way to the mission of our church. Let us rejoice, as well we may, on this crisp, fall day, for all that God has put into our hands to manage for our good and the good of the world. May we be faithful stewards of those creatures, gifts of nature and our possessions, so that the Lord of creation may not sorrow over how we tend his precious vines.