Cost, Price, Value, and Worth

Here is the Call to Stewardship from this past Sunday.  Some of you had asked to see it again:

Commodities, things, labor, experiences and gifts all have
cost, price, value, and worth.  Cost is the
amount of money it takes to plant and harvest, mine, produce, or generate
whatever it is.  Price is the amount what
we think we should get in exchange for it, which will include whatever profit
or reward or return we can manage to get. Value is a somewhat objective, but
also subjective, assessment of whether price and cost are in reasonable
relationship to each other.  And then
there’s worth, which has, to say the least, an unpredictable connection to
considerations of cost, price, and value. 

What is it worth to see your daughter’s smile; to watch
your son pursue his dreams; to share a quiet evening, after a long and
stressful day, with a loved one who understands; to hear an encouraging voice
when your spirit is low; and to know you made a difference for someone who struggles? 

When we give our gifts to the ministry of Jesus through
the church, we’re investing in worth.  In the church, as in your household, we
juggle cost, price, and value, and we try to make the most impact from every
dollar.  What we’re going for, though, is
deepest and highest worth: for people to experience God’s love, to know that
they are God’s sons and daughters, to have hope, to experience joy, and to
experience life as God means it to be.