Our Money Story: Release

Today we continue the worship series, Our Money Story. Money and possessions are one of the most common topics in scripture—Jesus talked about money more than both faith and prayer. Because how we use our money—the way we choose to steward or spend it—is a deeply spiritual practice—it’s connected to what we think about God. Do we think God will provide? Do we think money is power or freedom or security or opportunity or control? Do we think that the money is ours because we worked hard for it, or do we think it’s God’s because everything we have is a gift from God? Our answers to all of these questions make up our money story—a story that has been written by our early experiences with money, and then shapes our beliefs and values surrounding money. Whether we realize it or not, we all have a money story. It might be a story of fear or shame, or a story that our actions won’t have an impact, or that we don’t have enough. The goal of this series is to give each of us an opportunity to pause and acknowledge the money story we’re living into and then wonder, “Is this story helpful?” and if not, “How might God be speaking a new narrative into our lives?” Last week, we began our series by remembering—by noticing our spoken and unspoken money stories and how those stories have impacted our relationship to money. This week, we’re acknowledging those parts of our story that keep us from freedom and wholeness, and practicing release.