PERSONAL BUDGETING
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”—1 Timothy 6:10
This verse is highlighted in CROSSROADS T.E.A.M. Membership Manual in the section where the topic centers on budgeting. At first glance, this may seem like an odd verse to associate with this topic. However, when you think of it in light of “cause and effect”, it makes definite sense.
If a person doesn’t know where their money is going and plan accordingly, at some point they can easily get behind. When this occurs, the focus is on obtaining more money which can not only cause griefs, but can cause a wandering from the faith. The takeaway is this:
God wants us to steward our money with Godly priorities.
Do you have a budget? How do you decide where to spend your resources? Consider budgeting with this simple algorithm personally and in your family:
Receipts· God Blesses Us and Gives Us Everything
Disbursements· We Give Back to God· We Give the Government Its Part· We Incur Our Living Expenses· We Invest in the Future
· We Enjoy Our Abundance
SAVING “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.”—Proverbs 21:20 “And I'll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”—Luke 12:19-21 Saving without hoarding frees up a Christian to have resources in the future. The takeaway is this:
Save wisely – retain some but don’t hoard and worry about the future.
Contribution Tip…
When submitting a check or an envelope with cash, please note what it is for.
Preferably, it would be:
1. General Fund
2. Building Fund
3. Designated Fund (note which one)
4. Purchase (books, peaches, pizzas, rummage sale, etc 2008 Expenses
Most money which is given to the church is for the General Fund. For 2008, it is estimated that these types of expenses will total $379,000 proportioned as noted below:
WHY DO WE PAY APPORTIONMENTS?
CROSSROADS has paid out over $18,000 in what are called Apportionments. Since many questions often arise on this topic, we are sharing the following excerpt gathered from the web site of the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church "Apportionments are a means of sharing our resources in order to spread the gospel more effectively. Jesus taught us to go into the world and make disciples, feed the hungry, heal the sick, and clothe the naked. As long as there are people who are hungry, sick or naked; as long as there are people who are less fortunate, as long as there are people who feel alienated from God, we are required by love and by faith to reach out to them.
John Wesley asked Methodists in his day to share when he instructed those in class meetings to donate a penny per week so that a new Methodist gathering house could be built. Class leaders personally made up the difference when a member was unable to donate. By sharing our resources through apportionments, we can make a huge difference in our world, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. We can do so much more effectively by sharing our resources than by trying to do so alone. Apportionments also allow an effective United Methodist presence in activities of ecumenical organizations such as the World Service Fund, a General Conference-apportioned fund.
Finance Team Members
- Pastor Paul Marzahn (Staff Director)
- · Rob Wassell (Chair)
- · Adam Berry
- · Brett Smith
- · Chris Koher (Staff Support)
- · David Mitchell
- · Jeff Clemon
- · Steve Spychalla
