Register now for the 5th annual
Stewardship & Spirituality Event

It will take place Friday & Saturday, April 4 & 5, 2008 at the Crowne Plaza in Worcester, MA.
This years theme is based on the Ephesians 5:8-10 "try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord"

The event will focus on traditional "spiritual disciplines" - tithing, prayer, worship, scripture, Sabbath, and fasting.

This event is sponsored by the NESC (Northeast Ecumenical Stewardship Council)

It promises to be the best event ever to help congregations boost the stewardship educational programs for all ages and all sizes of congregations!

Registration closes March 8th...So...REGISTER TODAY!!!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE SPIRITUALITY AND STEWARDSHIP EVENT



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Where Your Treasure Is
(from A Stillspeaking Lenten Devotional - Ash Wednesday)

Martin B. Copenhaver

“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:16-21(NRSV)

If we are not careful we might read what Jesus says with a kind of scriptural dyslexia. We might remember him saying, "Where your heart is, there will your treasure be also." That would make ready sense to us because, after all, much of the time our dollars follow our heart's lead. We give to what matters to us. But that is not what Jesus said. Jesus says something more profound and more hopeful than that, affirming that wherever you put your treasure, that is where your heart will end up. To be sure, how we spend our money does reveal something about the kind of people we are. But Jesus seems to affirm that how we spend our money determines the sort of people we become. "Give from the heart," people say. But Jesus speaks of a different dynamic: Give where you want your heart to be, and then let your heart catch up. If you want to care more about the kind of car you drive, buy an expensive one. If you want to care more about property values, remodel your house. If you want to grow in your relationship with God, bring an offering to God. Wherever your treasure is, your heart is bound to follow.