Enough! Discovering Joy Through Gratitude and Generosity
Enough!
Stewardship 2026
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Stewardship Season 2026 runs from All Saints' Sunday, November 1, through Christ the King Sunday, November 22, with Consecration Sunday on November 15.
We Have Enough to Spare
Dear FPC Members and Friends, Every November the Thanksgiving holiday reminds us of God's call to gratitude. The corn and soybean fields around Clarksville are now mostly empty, the harvest gathered into silos. Our refrigerators, freezers, and tables fill up with Thanksgiving fare, and even our clocks "fall back" on November 1, handing us a whole "extra" hour. At First Presbyterian, stewardship season is and has always been a season of gratitude: it is our time to count the gifts God has placed in our hands and decide what portion to return to God in gratitude. We have chosen the cornucopia as our symbol for gratitude. The old "horn of plenty" spills over with apples, grapes, squash and corn. There is always enough, and more than enough on our table.
As Paul said to the Corinthians in our summertime series: "God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work" (2 Corinthians 9:8). The Greek word Paul uses for "enough" is autarkeia, complete sufficiency. Paul uses its close cousin when he tells the Philippians, "I have learned to be content with whatever I have" (Philippians 4:11). For Paul, enough is the soil in which gratitude and joy are planted and grow to generous fruition.
The Heidelberg Catechism reminds us of the source of all comfort, "that I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ." Our gratitude follows this statement of full sufficiency. We give generously, because God first loved us and gave Himself to us.
This Thanksgiving Season: Enough!
November 1 - November 22, our sermons will be based loosely on Adam Hamilton's
(Abingdon Press). [Note: We chose this book more than a year ago, before we learned of Hamilton's political ambitions. Whatever you think of his politics, this is still a good primer on gratitude and stewardship.] Hamilton writes honestly about debt, anxiety and the restless wanting he calls affluenza. Then he points us toward the deeper joy of simplicity, contentment and generosity. His hope is metanoia: a change of mind that becomes a change of heart and, finally, a changed life.
Nov 1 - All Saints' Day (Communion), "Dreams and Nightmares"
Ecclesiastes 5:10–6:2; Matthew 16:21–28
When does the dream of "more" become a nightmare?
Nov 8 - 24th Sunday after Pentecost, "Wisdom and Finance"
Proverbs 21:5–8, 13–21; Matthew 6:24–34
What does God's wisdom teach about the money entrusted to us?
Nov 15 - Consecration Sunday, "Cultivating Contentment"
Ecclesiastes 2:9–26; Philippians 4:4–13
How do we learn the secret of being content?
Nov 22 - Christ the King, "Defined by Generosity (Living the Good Life)"
Matthew 22:34–40
What would it mean to be remembered as generous?
Consecration Sunday: November 15
On November 15 we will again celebrate Consecration Sunday. Our theology of stewardship rests on a few simple convictions:
The giver's need to give comes first. We are not asking anyone to "pay the bills" or "support the budget." We are inviting one another to grow in our relationship with God. As Jesus put it, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Luke 12:34).
The Call: "What percentage of my income is God calling me to give?" We hold up the tithe, 10 percent, as a goal, not as a law but as a faith commitment that God's grace makes possible. Many of us begin somewhere short of it and grow one step each year.
Giving is worship. During worship on November 15, everyone will be invited to complete an Estimate of Giving Card as an offering to God. No one will visit your home to ask for a pledge. If you prefer to leave the card blank or to write a prayer on it and bring it forward, you are just as welcome, and no one will single you out.
Gratitude, not guilt. As Christians, we give because we are grateful to God, because giving is part of our walk with God, because we count it a privilege to serve, and because we love to help others. Duty, guilt, and pressure should not affect our decision to give.
Plan now to be in worship on November 15, and stay for our Celebration Luncheon (our Third Sunday Lunch, a Thanksgiving lunch!) right after. Watch for an invitation to RSVP.
A Prayer for the Season
Hamilton offers a short "contentment prayer." I invite you to pray it every day from now through Thanksgiving: at breakfast, in the car, or before you open a bill or a shopping app.
Lord, help me be grateful for what I have, remember that I don't need most of what I want, and that joy is found in simplicity and generosity.
Hamilton also commends John Wesley's Covenant Prayer, which begins, "I am no longer my own, but thine." Methodists and Presbyterians share this conviction: we belong to God, and so does everything we hold. If you would like to read along, Enough is a short book with one chapter for each Sunday of the series.
For 204 years, the faithful generosity of people who knew they had enough has carried this congregation from one generation to the next. I give thanks for each of you, and I look forward to these four Sundays together.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Greg
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