Good morning.  Most of you know me.  I’m Allen Hart.  I’m the pianist here at the church, and I’m a charter member of St. Matthew’s.

I think it was FDR who said, “Be sincere, be brief, and be seated.” I will try to do that, but if you know me, you know that is not my strength!

There are pluses and minuses to being one of the last stewardship speakers of the month.  Several people have gone before me and have all had wonderful things to say!  That’s the plus. The minus is that several people have gone before me and had wonderful things to say!!  What could POSSIBLY be left to say that hasn’t already been said?  So many people have had beautiful speeches and testimonies.  I could talk about all of the wonderful ministries at St. Matthew’s, and there are so many of those.  I could talk to you about how much I love St. Matthew’s. I dearly love this church!  You’re my family.  This church has sustained me through so many things. A couple of years ago, I got very, very ill for a good period of time, and St. Matthew’s carried me through that. They showed me the love of Christ and the hands and feet of Jesus, and it was such a beautiful thing.  But, hang on, because for just a minute I’m going to talk about something that hasn’t been talked about…..the dreaded word…..MONEY!!  

As many of you know, I work for a bank, so the money conversation is not totally foreign to me.  I’m all about money, finance, budgets, and that fun stuff.  So, earlier this year, when those lights over our very heads and, more importantly for me, over the piano started going out, I went to Andy and said, “Hey, we need to fix these lights!!”  Since I had told the preacher, I fully expected it to happen.  Well, it didn’t.  So, the next week I went again to Andy and said, “What’s with the lights?”  He just smiled” and said, “Yeah, we need to do something about that.”  …..Hmmph!..…..Fast forward to week three.  “ANDY, I’M IN THE DARK OVER HERE!”  He laughed and said, “Yeah, I thought about that.”  Then he handed me this!!  (put on headlamp)  Not exactly what I meant when I said we needed to fix the lights.  Well, if we don’t all want to be wearing headlamps, we need to pony up when it comes time to commit!  Let’s keep the lights on.

But MONEY isn’t all that stewardship is about….it’s also about giving of our time and our talents.  When I was a child, I was always afraid that if I prayed for the Lord to use me for his service, he would send me to Africa.  Wasn’t that what people who served the Lord did? Went to Africa and became missionaries?  That thought absolutely terrified me!  Fortunately, the Lord and I both decided that I would be of better use in the music ministry.  After all, it was my passion.  So, my question for you is, what is YOUR passion?  What are you good at?  What brings you joy?  Are you good at organizing?  What about teaching?  Do missions stir your heart?  What about working with children?  We can’t all preach like Andy or lead the singing like Tim, but I encourage you to find what God is calling YOU to do.  He needs YOU and YOUR commitment:  your time, your talent, your gifts, your service, and your witness.  And so does St. Matthew’s.  Thank you.