'Tis the season to do lots
of things… things like eating (my wife has been baking!), shopping, wrapping,
partying, and decorating. It’s also the
season for giving.
Christmas and giving go
together. God gave. God sent his only Son to earth on that first
Christmas. Born to die. Born to set us free. His Gift is unequaled. Unmatched.
His Gift is the reason we give.
I want to encourage all of
us (the Crossroads family) to EXCEL in our giving back to God. The verse that I want us to live out is 2
Corinthians 8:7. The
Apostle Paul writes,
“Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith,
your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us —I
want you to excel also in this
gracious act of giving.”
That’s how I want us all to
give. I want our giving to shine…to
stand out.
Don’t get me wrong. Our giving at Crossroads is good. The reality, however, is that we’re not where
we need to be. Hang in here with me…
For Crossroads to operate
we need about $54,000 per week in income.
That 54k covers our missions work in the world, our ministry costs
(children, youth, adults), our properties costs (mortgage, heating, snow
removal, etc.), and personnel costs.
Thus far this year, we’ve been averaging about $7,000 a week short
of what we need.
How have we stayed
afloat? Partly through some reserve
funds we have (savings) and by using a little more of the Ripple Effect funds
than we planned to use (we were hoping to use these funds more to reduce our
debt load than to pay day-to-day bills).
My challenge in this
update is for us all to strive to EXCEL in our giving! How do we do that? 3 key words for each of us to think about:
·
Priority. Is my giving
to God and his work my first priority?
Do I give God right off the top or do I give God whatever’s leftover (if
anything).
·
Percentage. Am I giving a
percentage of my income that is both generous and sacrificial? The Biblical starting point for percentage
giving is a tithe…a tenth of whatever God enables me to make. What’s my percentage?
·
Progressive. Is my giving
increasing each year as I am able?
Want to get on the road of
“excelling” in giving? Focus on the 1st
word…priority. Join with many of us in automating what’s important
through on-line giving. Set things up
via our web site so that your giving (through your checking account or a credit
card) happens automatically. Follow this
link http://www.crossroadschurch.cc/onlinegiving for info and to set things up.
Thank you so much for
investing in this work. God is moving in
amazing ways. One quick example: Just 2 nights ago at our Middle School
ministry, 28 teens made a commitment to follow Christ! That now makes a total of over 100 teens who
have taken this step this year!!!!!!!!
Unreal.
Grateful,
Pastor Phil
Posted on
Thu, December 15, 2011
by Phil Print