Dear Cornerstone family,
On Wednesday evenings this fall, we are slowly making our way through the Lord’s Prayer. This last week we came to the series midway point to the petition, “Give us our daily bread.”
Introducing the petition, I told a story about my grandfather on my father’s side. He was not a follower of Christ, and one of the reasons why was this petition. What do I mean? To pray, “Give us our daily bread,” felt like a lie to him. “God does not give us bread,” he’d say, “Every piece of bread I’ve ever eaten I had to earn. I spent my hard-earned money for bread, eggs, milk, a house, cars, and everything else.”
Now, in a sense, my grandfather was right. He did “earn” all those things. However, in the ultimate sense, he couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Christian theology distinguishes between primary and secondary causes. To illustrate the difference, let’s consider the breakfast you ate this morning. I’m going to assume your breakfast did not fall from heaven like manna. You very likely purchased the food at the store. Then, you scrambled the eggs and made toast or poured the cereal and milk into a bowl. In other words, God used secondary causes—namely, your efforts—to provide breakfast.
But notice how I said that—God used secondary causes. Underneath all your effort, there is a primary cause: God. Because he gave you the ability, energy, know-how, and health to work, which led to getting a job, which led to getting a paycheck, which led to purchasing food, which led to you this morning preparing and enjoying a delicious breakfast. In the ultimate sense, it’s all a gift from God.
When Jesus teaches us to pray, “Give us our daily bread,” he simultaneously deconstructs the earning paradigm we operate in 90% of the time. He’s stripping away our worldly assumptions about earning and owning. It’s God saying to us, “Look at your clothes. Look at your food. Look at your home. It’s all a gift from me.”
When we really believe everything is a gift from God, our grip on money and worldly possessions loosens, and we become generous people. We start to give in the way God has given to us.
With that in mind, I want to thank you, on the behalf of the Cornerstone Leadership, for giving so faithfully to the work of ministry. Our fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30, which means we just closed the book on the first quarter. We finished the first quarter pretty close to on target. God is providing for Cornerstone through you!
Please take a few minutes to review the numbers below. As always, if you have any questions, please reach out to Whitney Ruff in the church office at admin@cstonepres.org.
Your servant,
