Sunday, March 27 Temple Talk from Brian Stewart.  You can also watch the video here.

Hello, my name is Brian Stewart.  My wife Jamie and I joined with our family in 2003 after moving from Chicago. We have raised our daughters in this church, Annika was baptized here 6 months after we moved here, and both kids were confirmed here.

So, when Connie asked me to do this temple talk for the annual giving campaign, she said no more than 5 minutes and I said I could do 17 and Toni Firmani will love it.  She said that probably wouldn’t work so we cut it down to 3:13 seconds.  Initially, I had no idea what I was going to talk about.  She suggested that I tie it in to pastor’s sermon, but clearly, I do not have a cool robe from my father, or I would have worn it today.   Looking for ideas, I decided to talk with my wife.   She asked me to start with asking the question – Why? Why do we give as a family to Christ Lutheran Church? So, after thinking about that question, I decided to talk to you about my “Why,” as you are considering what you can donate and why to Christ Lutheran Church. 

Recently, I have not been feeling well.  I am going to be going through some testing in the next couple of weeks, and hopefully we will know what is going on soon.  This is where the first part of my “Why” comes in.  I did not attend much church until I met my wife.  We went until I was about 7 or 8 years old and then my dad decided we were not going to church any more.  I still had my bible and thought about God.  One day when I was around 10 years old, I decided I was going to start going to church again.  My dad said it was fine and I could go to the bus stop to be picked up.  It had been years since I had been to the bus stop, but I had my bible, and I was ready to go.  I crossed the railroad tracks and was ready to be like to prodigal son returning to my church home.  As the bus approached, I waved my bible and the bus driver honked his horned, my excitement grew and then the bus blew past me as kids were waving out the window at me.  I don’t think it even hit the brakes.  So, the non-Prodigal son walked back across the railroad tracks and put his bible back in his dresser and that is where it stayed until I met my wife. After we were married, we attended church although sporadically at best - sorry Jesus.  But when we moved to Zionsville, we immediately joined Christ Lutheran Church, and we instantly felt like we had a family. This was amazing because our closest family members live in Northern Illinois.  As our kids grew up and were involved with activities – cheerleading, softball, karate, and dance, we met many people who we call friends.  But we realized, that as our kids changed activities those friends and acquaintances would come in and out of our lives.  The great thing about Christ Lutheran Church is that it has been here for us the whole time.  It is our constant, even when we couldn’t attend as often as we would have liked.  We have met and become friends and family at Christ Lutheran Church though faith.  It is home for us, this is family.  I know no matter what the results of my tests show in the coming weeks, this family will be here. 

But the most important reason for why I give is that this is home for my kids and your kids, our future.  Although mine are off at college, along with several of your kids, they know that no matter what is happening in their lives this is always home for them in their faith. I am sure that some of them gave up their Saturday night parties so they could be on the zoom call watching service this morning.  I bet if I asked Greg to look if they are on the zoom call we would see them, just kidding Greg we have Life 360 to track them.  All joking aside, we must look to the future and how we are going to serve the faith needs of our members as well as our future members. Although I look at Christ Lutheran Church as the place that I have built my faith, I want it to be a place where families can build their faith for generations to come.  That is my true “Why.” 

As you evaluate your giving, I encourage you to ask “Why?” and remember, your Why is what makes Christ Lutheran Church amazing.