Tag: stewardship

Faith Stories: Elizabeth and Brian Shoup’s Ministry Moment

Faith Stories: Stewardship Ministry Moment Oct. 12, 2014 from St. John’s UMC Baton Rouge on Vimeo.

On Sunday Brian Shoup spoke with his daughter Elizabeth about “Putting God First in Giving & Living.” Elizabeth is a 2nd grader at Wildwood Elementary, and the Shoup family has been worshipping at St. John’s for 3 years now!

Brian –  Elizabeth, when did you start giving at church?

Elizabeth – Kindergarten

Brian – So more than two years huh. If you don’t mind me asking, how much do you give?

Elizabeth – Twenty-five cents per week.

Brian – So if your allowance is one dollar, what percentage of giving is that?

Elizabeth – Twenty-five percent.

Brian – Wow, the Bible suggests we give ten percent, but you give twenty-five?

Elizabeth – How much do you give, Daddy?

Brian – Not twenty-five percent. Let me skirt around that and ask you another question. Besides making us all look bad, why do you give? Is it because Mommy and I taught you to give?

Elizabeth – Yes and no. Yes, you did teach me to give, but I also want to give because I love God!

Brian – I know you do Elizabeth, and that is what makes me so happy. I can teach you to give, but I can’t teach you to fall in love with God. So if you love God, how do you put God 1st in your life?

Elizabeth – Instead of buying a coke, I could give that money to missions and instead of staying home watching TV, I can volunteer at the church!

Brian– That’s really nice Elizabeth. A few weeks ago, I went to a spiritual retreat with people from St. John’s and was reintroduced to a passage from Colossians that sums it up pretty well what I think it means to put God first is giving and living:

Colossians 3:15-17 CEB

The peace of Christ must control your hearts-a peace into which you were called in one body. And be thankful people. The word of Christ must live in you richly. Teach and warn each other with all wisdom by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing to God with gratitude in your hearts. Whatever you do, whether in speech or action, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God the Father through him.

Brian – It all starts with peace. Peace of mind leads to gratitude. Gratitude leads to giving thanks in all that we do! Sometimes it seems hard to put God first, so Elizabeth and I would like to encourage you all with part of a song we sing almost every night:

Our Father, who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Come and let Your glory,
Come and let Your glory fall.
Our Father, who art in Heaven
The rocks cry out Your fame
Come and let Your glory,
Come and let Your glory fall.
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song to the Lord

Brian – Will you pray for us Elizabeth?

Dear Lord, you give us so much. Teach us to sing a new song of gratitude in our hearts. Let the peace of Christ live in our hearts so we can put YOU FIRST! In Jesus’ name, Amen! 

Faith Stories: A Witness on Generosity

One of my favorite stories is when my son was about 4 years old, we walked into church after Sunday school, and he said that he was ready to meet Jesus. The Sunday school lesson was about the church being the house of Jesus. As I started to try to explain, I realized that the church is where we meet Jesus. We learn about his teaching in church, in our Sunday school classes and in our bible studies. We are truly blessed to have this church.

But to truly understand Jesus’ teachings, we go into the mission field where we get to know Jesus by doing. For me, it was the youth mission trip to San Francisco. I spent an afternoon with the homeless people in that city. A homeless man ministered to me, even though I was there to minister to him. I felt blessed. Isn’t that how missions work? We are blessed by helping others. My story is similar to stories of the Shepherd’s Market, tutoring, Opening Doors, angel tree and mission trips for the youth.

We become the feet and hands of Christ through mission work. We are also his pocketbook. When we return to him a portion of the blessings that he has given us, we are blessed again.

Twenty years ago, St. John’s was given the funds for a mission. The mission is to support those students going into the ministry. Hazel and Claude Fendleson gave their entire estate to this scholarship program. We accepted this mission praying that one day someone from St. John’s would answer the call to go into the ministry. And possibly one day, someone that we have supported would come here. Over the years, we have supported between 40 and 50 students. One of those students was Sarah Shoup. Peter and Leah Gaughan, members from St. John’s are receiving the scholarship starting this year. What is even more amazing is the money that we have been able to give towards this mission — more than $500,000.

There are many more stories of inspiring giving to this church. Some stories are still in your heart and are yet to come. The stories of giving inspire us because we know that in giving, we trust in God and when we trust in God, our faith grows and we are blessed. St. John’s is a community of faithful and generous givers.

Prayer: Dear Lord, Thank you for the community of St. John’s. Thank you for the facilities that we have to meet you and the missions to get to know you. Thank you for the blessings that you have given to us, so that we can return a portion for your glory to make a difference. We are so blessed. Amen.

Barbara Lively 

Faith Stories: Stewardship Reflection

My name is Bryan Adams, and I love St John’s. My wife, Cindy, and I have been members for about 20 years. To be honest, I don’t remember ever not coming to St John’s. It has been such an integral part of our lives. It is where our children were baptized and learned about Jesus and where we learned to love teaching youth and seeing these kids grow. We’ve grown as Christian disciples since being here and have wonderful friends who we’ve leaned on during both rough times and happy times.

Where do I see God moving/working through us at St John’s? 

Shepherd’s Market – It started by listening and seeking God’s will. Who would have thought that this ministry would be feeding hundreds of families and people in need in south Baton Rouge today? This is a perfect example of “one door closes, another door opens.” It takes great leadership (faith) and the actions of many people in this church body (faithfulness) to make this kind of impact. And we’re not doing it alone — we have a network with the Baton Rouge Food Bank to supply us goods in addition to the contributions of many generous people and organizations who feel led to donate not only materials, but also their time and effort. Hey, they even grow their own vegetables! If you haven’t seen it in action, I encourage you to drop by and see the love taking place.

Tutoring Program – St. John’s has been supporting this effort for many years. Our pool of tutors includes professors from LSU, mechanical/chemical engineers from local industry, and college students who are looking for ways to make a difference. I have had the pleasant experience of witnessing young adults who “made it” through high school and thanking me for getting them over the hurdle. It does make a difference. Within the last two weeks we’ve had two new engineers who have began tutoring at St. John’s — and they love it! We are always in need of new tutors and I encourage you to try it.

Music Ministry – How blessed we are to be able to hear the Spirit moving through Terry’s playing! To hear all voice parts of an anthem being sung by our wonderful Choir! To see the joy on the faces of the children playing in the Bell Choir — watching their arms moving in sequence to numbers on a page! The special music being played by flute, guitar, saxophone, trumpet and songs being sung that praise and give glory to God! This doesn’t just happen — it takes time, effort and practice. Those involved in the music ministry are truly a blessing to this congregation.

Bible Verse: Numbers 20:7-8

And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, “Take the rod and you gather the assembly together, you, and Aaron your brother, and you speak unto the Rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and you shall bring forth to the them water out of the Rock so you shall give the congregation and their beasts drink”.

Prayer: Dear Lord, please continue to bless our wonderful church. Give our Pastor and church leadership the wisdom of how you want our ministries to grow. Provide us all the faith to engage in the activities that make this church such a special place. During this time of stewardship, may we all be faithful in the giving of our time and resources to perform your work.

Bryan Adams

Faith Stories: Stewardship Reflection

At the start of this Stewardship campaign, I reflect on my experience at St. John’s. I’ve been here my entire life and the one thing I keep thinking about is the life of the church. The people and congregation within the church are what make up and define St. John’s. If I could take the time to thank every person in my life at St. John’s for helping me become who I am, I would have to write a novel. 

But one woman who comes to mind because she helped me transform into the woman I am today is none other than Ms. Pat Newsom. She was our Children’s Education Director for a very long time and taught me so much about what it was like to be a child of God. She taught me and many others around my age that God loves me and she would always have us excited about life as a Christian. 

A couple of years back, Ms. Pat passed and it came time for her funeral. I thought for a long time about how I would express my appreciation for the life that she lived. We decided we would sing “This Little Light of Mine,” which was one of the songs that she had taught the youth over the years (among other songs). As everyone was invited to the front to sing along with me, I expected maybe 3 or 4 children from over the years to get up and join me. All of a sudden, it felt like half the congregation stood up and walked to the front. It was a surreal moment for me, as kids that she had touched over the years stretched across the front of the funeral home and sang the song she had taught us. God was so evident in that moment and I knew she was looking down and smiling. 

This is just one of many examples of what St. John’s is for me. I grow closer to God as I grow closer to members of the church. As we grow and change in this time of the year, I invite you to think about what St. John’s means to you. How has it touched you? How has it changed you spiritually? As we think about investing, invest in others around our church and the community. I hope lives are transformed like mine was by Ms. Pat. Let’s grow and change in the “St. John’s way” and love and support one another even more than before.

Thanks be to God for this church.

Mary Hannah Prevot