Dear , 
  
                                        DEFINING OUR LIVES!
How would you define your life? Is it a life based on wealth, possessions, or on faith? Many in America, perhaps some of us included, live with a sense of scarcity, feeling that we must gain all the possessions we can and hoard them for some "rainy day." Do we focus on gratifying ourselves with little or no concern for others? God's word, through the scriptures, promises joy and blessings for those who choose a different kind of lifestyle.
During this five week period, which began on October 11 and continues until Consecration Sunday November 8, we are examining the financial challenges facing our nation and the world, and consequently, our individual lives during these days. We are looking at our own spending, saving, and giving habits. We are looking for direction found in  the principles of financial management  in the Bible. We are seeking to "Discover Joy through Simplicity and Generosity." We are asking, When is ENOUGH, enough?
It will be helpful for us to set some personal goals for the months and years ahead. Here are some suggestions:
(1)   I will thank God daily for all my blessings, spending time each day in Bible reading and prayer.
(2)   I will seek to be content with what I have, living within my means.
(3)   I will move to break free from the bonds of debt and credit.
(4)   I will manage wisely the gifts which God has given me, my time, my talents, my money, my service, and my witness.
(5)   I will invest and save for the future.
(6)   I will worship God each week and make my gifts , tithes, and offerings, acknowledging that everything that I am and have is a gift from God. I will seek to please Him in all things.
This Sunday in Sunday School and Worship we will share together around the theme "Cultivating Contentment." Think on the following messages from the scriptures:
Hebrews 13:5-6  - "Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, 'I will never leave you or forsake you.' So we can say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.'"
Luke 12:15  - "And Jesus said to them, 'Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.'"
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11  - "Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure.... Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind."
 
I began this message by asking you, "How would you define your life?" A better question is "How does God define your life?" Based on the way in which you respond to Him and others, does God define your life as one of DISCONTENT  or of  CONTENTMENT?
May we so live in Simplicity and Generosity that God will find us faithful, living lives of true contentment.
Life is better when it is defined by God, rather than being defined by the world. Better to spend our time CULTIVATING CONTENTMENT!
                                                                                                                        
                                                                                              Dick Reese