(704) 599-9810 | Worship Sundays @ 10:55 a.m.
(704) 599-9810 | Worship Sundays @ 10:55 a.m.
💚 “The Best Gift is You” — A reminder that God’s greatest abundance is found in the love and generosity we share.
Stewardship & Seminary Sunday – Worship Service – October 26, 2025
Gospel Reading: Luke 18:9–14 | Modern Lesson: Ada María Isasi-Díaz
This Sunday at Holy Covenant, we celebrated Stewardship and Seminary Sunday — a day filled with gratitude, humility, and the reminder that God’s mercy is our greatest gift. Pastor Christopher Czarnecki preached a heartfelt message titled “More Than Enough: Giving from God’s Mercy.”
Preaching from Luke 18:9–14, Pastor Chris unpacked the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector — two people who come to pray. The Pharisee prays boastfully, comparing himself to others, while the tax collector humbly asks for mercy. In a surprising reversal, Jesus declares the tax collector — the despised outsider — as the one who goes home justified before God.
“This is reality TV-level drama,” Pastor Chris said with a smile. “The Pharisee is devoted, disciplined, and admired. The tax collector is corrupt, hated, and shunned. Yet Jesus flips the script. The one everyone assumes is righteous is not justified — the one who simply cries out for mercy is.”
He reminded us that the parable challenges the subtle and seductive idea that we can earn our way to God. “Sometimes we fall into thinking that our worth or our faithfulness depends on what we do — how much we give, how often we serve, how hard we work,” Pastor Chris said. “But this story shows us that our relationship with God isn’t built on performance. It’s built on mercy.”
We were invited to examine our own hearts — those quiet moments when we might think, *‘Thank God I’m not like that person.’* Pastor Chris named this as the whisper of spiritual comparison, one that can slip into our faith lives and distort our sense of belonging. “If you’ve ever felt like you’re not doing enough or being enough — you’re not alone,” he said. “God’s mercy meets you right there, and says, ‘I still love you.’”
He went on to say that stewardship is not about meeting quotas or proving devotion. It’s about meaning — about giving in ways that reflect God’s mercy and transform lives. “I want to invest in a more just and forgiving world,” Pastor Chris said. “It’s not about how much we give, but about what our giving means — the grace it offers, the love it shares, the hope it creates.”
This message of mercy connected beautifully with Seminary Sunday, as we prayed for the next generation of faith leaders and those discerning their calls to ministry. Pastor Chris reminded us that supporting seminaries, scholarships, and ministry formation is an act of faith in God’s ongoing work through the Church.
Meanwhile, our Little Hands, Big Hearts children’s ministry put generosity into action by creating Christmas cards to benefit Time Out Youth, a Charlotte-based nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ youth. Their creativity and care reflected the sermon’s heart: giving not to prove worth, but to embody love.
The service closed in gratitude and grace — a reminder that we don’t have to earn God’s favor or prove our faith. We simply open our hearts to mercy, and let that mercy reshape how we live, give, and love.
“Our worth is not tied to what we do or give. It’s tied to God’s mercy — mercy that meets us where we are and says, ‘You are loved. You are enough.’” — Pastor Chris
Sign up to receive our weekly newsletter.