In the first message of the new series “Our Money Story,” Pastor Bert Cloud opens with a meditation on how deeply stories shape us, the ones we inherit from our parents, the ones we forget to tell ourselves. Returning to the familiar account of manna and quail in the wilderness, he points to the parts of the story most of us skip past: that God provided not just bread but meat, that the Israelites were told to take only enough, and that a double portion was given on the sixth day so the people could rest.

Reflecting honestly on his own instinct to stockpile, Costco runs and all, including a recent discovery of his brother’s overstuffed paper towel supply while staying with him during the week for cancer treatment, Pastor Bert invites the congregation into a different story about money, one rooted not in scarcity but in God’s provision of just enough. This is a warm, funny, and thoughtful opening to a series on stewardship that asks us to remember what our own money stories have taught us about faith.