Strengthening our Stewardship

As we continue to navigate this pandemic and work towards resuming in-person services, let us take a good look at our personal and collective stewardship here at Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church. Often at the onset of a New Year, we set resolutions, ambitions, and desires for the New Year. We aim to lose weight, save more money, exercise more, quit smoking, and the list goes on. But seldom do we hear about strengthening our service for the Lord through the Church. As Christians, our service to the Lord and the Church is for the body's edification through our STEWARDSHIP.      

Stewardship is the responsibility of every Believer within the body. It involves the accountability and duties of managing our time, talents, and tithes. We are overseers to the "apple of God's Eye," His Church, and it is our responsibility to ensure our actions in the service are such that they are pleasing to the Lord.  The Church does not belong to us. It belongs to the Lord. Our responsibility is to oversee its affairs through Spiritual worship, sound giving, the unchanging study of the Word, and hands on involvement through lively, effective ministries. 

We must evaluate our service to the Lord through the Church. We can ask ourselves; how is my time spent in ministry, how is my giving in tithes and offerings, am I using my talent for the lifting up of the Church.  With that being said, let's set S.M.A.R.T. goals. S.M.A.R.T. goals are obtained by taking small action steps to accomplish the overall goal. The S.M.A.R.T. acronym stands for:

Specific – Measureable – Attainable – Relevant – Time-Bound

For example, if you wanted to improve your Sunday School attendance, this is a specific goal, begin by attending once a month (measurable); make sure you can do it (attainable); is it relevant to your Christian growth,  and you can measure your goal from month to month to evaluate how you are doing. After several months of meeting this goal, aim for twice a month.  You can apply S.M.A.R.T. goals, action steps to your giving, ministry attendance, and many more Church-related responsibilities. 

We must continue to motivate and encourage each other to strengthen our stewardship to enhance and heighten our service to the Lord through the Church body. Try setting some simple small goals. Do it with a group within a ministry and watch the Lord move in the congregation. He is trusting us to be good stewards of His Church.  

Your Son in Christ,       

Johnny M. Vance