National Bank of Faith

How Money Can Remind us of our Faith

St. John’s United Church of Christ
Greeley, Colorado
March 26, 2023
Phillip Rhoads, Leaders, and Youth

Phillip-

Money- money is a very necessary, important, and highly sought after part of our world. Not only today but for as long as history exists Money has been something that for better or worse, makes the world go around. Today we will exam how money can be associated with our faith and with God.

Wendi-

In my hands I have a penny, one simple penny. The year on this penny is 1977. A penny is often considered useless, we step over pennies when we see them on the ground, we throw them in jars and boxes, knowing that a penny will get us nothing. Let’s be honest, pennies are an annoyance. But yet, a penny is money, and although it may be the bare minimum, it has a worth and a value. A penny is one cent. By itself it is just one minuscule cent. But 100 of these little guys is 1 dollar, 1,000 is $10, and 100,000 equal $1,000.

We as humans often are like this penny, by ourselves we may feel as if we can’t make a change, that our faith and are actions can’t do any real difference. Yet, we do have a value, and our often small actions, rather it be volunteering, donations, or even a good deed, well….they add up, and can lead others to do the same. God sees this and God knows that small actions lead to big change. Look at King David, once a small boy looked over by his own father, he soon became the greatest king, and a man the Bible labeled “A man after Gods own heart.”

Ryan-

Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul; and he sent for him. Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” (Samuel 17: 31- 33)

So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. (Samuel 17: 48 – 50)

Charlie-

In my hand I have a 50-cent piece, a half dollar. Although rare today, this once popular coin was first minted on December 1, 1794. The Current and last edition of this coin, with John F. Kennedy’s head on one side, was first issued in 1964, a year after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Although once popular, this coin slowly lost value and necessity starting in the 1970’s and was finally discontinued all together in 2002. We could liken Christianity to this coin. Once popular in America, being a Christian has slowly changed and lost its ‘face’ value. We see less churches, less attendance, and less Christ like attitudes in this current world. Yet, just like this coin, Christians still exist. We are here in this room, to hear God’s word, to be with other Christ minded people, and to deepen our own faith. But our faith should not, and cannot be confined to this room. We need to be Christians at the store, be kind when we’re cut off while driving, have patience when the McDonald’s employee forgets to give you the fries you ordered. We must be Christians at all times, not just when convenient.

And although this once popular coin slowly went away, we Christians will never be discontinued. We can, will, and should be the still, small voice—but we must not just be vocal Christians, but physical ones. The one that helps clean a sick neighbor’s house, hands out food at the food bank, and volunteers at church.

Tristan-

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. (Matthew 5: 13- 15)

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! (Psalms 96: 3)

Phillip-

Here in my own hands, I have a 20-dollar bill. This bill is about 10 years old, and has passes through many stores, hands, and purchases. Now, I can’t tell you the history of this bill but I can almost guarantee that this bill’s story is deep. You see this bill has probably been used to buy a coffee, alcohol, toys, it has probably been donated to a church, and has also been used to snort drugs. And through its years and all the purchases it has helped make, it has also been touched and handled by many different hands. This bill has been handled by cops, teachers, prostitutes, preachers, widows, children, and drug dealers.

Now, would any of you want to lick this bill? No, it’s gross, it’s dirty.

But if a stranger walked up to any of you and offered this bill, no conditions, would you turn it down? No, why would you, it’s 20 dollars.

You see, we are a lot like this bill. We’re dirty, we’ve said things, consumed things, done things that we’re ashamed of. If you were to put a list of our sins on the board, well, we’d be shocked and embarrassed of our most guilty moments. But through our pasts, we can faith in this. God loves us, God knows every single thing you have ever done…and that’s big. But just like this 20, our value to God remains the same. You see, God doesn’t throw us away because we’ve made a few mistakes. God forgives, God knows our value even when we don’t know our own. So yes, we have all done things that made God sad. We all, like this 20, have a story, a dirty one, a sad one, but we also have a beautiful one, a good one. But unlike this 20, our value to God is limitless, it cannot be given a number because no number is high enough.

So remember this 20, in two ways:

You are valuable to God, no matter WHO YOU ARE

You can be used in many different ways in this world, you can do and be bad, or you can use your value to do good and be good.

God loves you

~But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4–7).