09/07/2026
What a beautiful beginning to our Stewardship Month at Lafayette Park.
This Sunday, we began our new series, The Giving Church, with Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 5 to go the second mile. We were reminded that generosity does not begin with a pledge card, a budget, or even an offering plate.
It begins in the heart.
The question Jesus places before us is bigger than, “What is required of me?” The deeper question is: “What could love make possible?”
Generosity is more than giving something away. It is allowing grace to reshape what we want, how we respond, and the way we live. It is learning to move beyond obligation and toward joy. It is trusting that the God who has given us so much is still forming us into people with open hearts and open hands.
We also had the joy of welcoming Cheryl Aylesworth into the membership of Lafayette Park United Methodist Church. Her commitment reminded all of us that membership is not simply about belonging to a congregation. It is about covenant, discipleship, and choosing to follow Jesus together through our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.
What a fitting way to begin this series.
As we move through September, we will keep asking what it means to become a truly generous people—not only with our finances, but with our words, our actions, our time, our gifts, and ultimately our whole lives.
This week, may our prayer be simple:
Jesus, make my heart generous. And may that prayer lead us farther than obligation ever could.
