In last week’s sermon I challenged everyone who considers Hope Fellowship their church home to take a good hard look at their giving towards the church budget and to prayerfully consider giving through the “pre-authorized debit” program that we’ve dubbed HopePAD. Currently, only fifty-six households do their giving this way.
I made this request against the background of not meeting last year’s budget. That’s right. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, we found ourselves $50,000 short. Consequently, our treasurer was unable to send away the full amount of promised ministry shares that support our denomination’s missionaries, church planters and agencies. It also became difficult to pay our operating expenses. It was only thanks to the steady and reliable source of income from the fifty-six households on HopePAD that we made it through the summer with all the bills paid!
Candidly, our giving is consistently short of the amount needed to fund our ministry initiatives. This reality has prompted our church leadership to ask, “What’s going on?” In response, our treasurer supplied us with a non-disclosing Contribution Range report that summarized the different levels at which people have given in the last ten months. I shared it in last week’s sermon; it is reprinted on page 2 of this issue of the Sun. And it is very revealing!
Of course, statistics never tell the whole story. A small donation may represent a huge sacrifice; a large donation may only be a drop in the bucket. But our contribution stats indicate that the bulk of the budget is supported by a faithful few. They also imply that many of us may be poor, poor givers or just poor managers of the Master’s money. Ouch!
Please study the Contribution Range report on the next page and ask yourself three questions. Where does my level of giving fit? Why? And what does the Lord want me to do about it?
The biblical model of stewardship teaches us that all of our income belongs to God and that the first tenth, what the Bible calls a tithe, is to be given away, to the church and to charities. If we were to do this, we would experience financial peace at Hope Fellowship and even exceed our budget.
The world’s financial advice is “Pay yourself first” by saving the first ten percent of your income. Then use the remaining 90% for yourself. The scriptures, however, tell us to “Give to God first” by setting the first ten percent of our income aside as “first fruits” that are used to advance God’s kingdom and help others. Then use the rest is to pay down debt, to save, and to cover emergencies and lifestyle expenses that may include Christian education.
This biblical model has worked well for my family. There were years when paying Christian school tuition made it difficult to give or save more. But in those expensive yet rewarding years, God showed us how to live within our means and rely on him more, important lessons that taught us to be content with less.
Our treasurer had an interesting nickname for the fifty-six households that donate by means of pre-authorized debit. She called them “lifesavers” because it was only their consistent income that allowed her to pay the bills.
We need everybody to be “life savers” who will financially support Hope Fellowship’s ministries and maintenance, even when they’re out of town for social or business reasons. That’s why our church’s leaders are prayerfully hoping that many more households will come on board and return their pre-authorized debit forms to the HopePAD Drop Box at the Info Centre.
- Pastor Peter
I made this request against the background of not meeting last year’s budget. That’s right. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, we found ourselves $50,000 short. Consequently, our treasurer was unable to send away the full amount of promised ministry shares that support our denomination’s missionaries, church planters and agencies. It also became difficult to pay our operating expenses. It was only thanks to the steady and reliable source of income from the fifty-six households on HopePAD that we made it through the summer with all the bills paid!
Candidly, our giving is consistently short of the amount needed to fund our ministry initiatives. This reality has prompted our church leadership to ask, “What’s going on?” In response, our treasurer supplied us with a non-disclosing Contribution Range report that summarized the different levels at which people have given in the last ten months. I shared it in last week’s sermon; it is reprinted on page 2 of this issue of the Sun. And it is very revealing!
Of course, statistics never tell the whole story. A small donation may represent a huge sacrifice; a large donation may only be a drop in the bucket. But our contribution stats indicate that the bulk of the budget is supported by a faithful few. They also imply that many of us may be poor, poor givers or just poor managers of the Master’s money. Ouch!
Please study the Contribution Range report on the next page and ask yourself three questions. Where does my level of giving fit? Why? And what does the Lord want me to do about it?
The biblical model of stewardship teaches us that all of our income belongs to God and that the first tenth, what the Bible calls a tithe, is to be given away, to the church and to charities. If we were to do this, we would experience financial peace at Hope Fellowship and even exceed our budget.
The world’s financial advice is “Pay yourself first” by saving the first ten percent of your income. Then use the remaining 90% for yourself. The scriptures, however, tell us to “Give to God first” by setting the first ten percent of our income aside as “first fruits” that are used to advance God’s kingdom and help others. Then use the rest is to pay down debt, to save, and to cover emergencies and lifestyle expenses that may include Christian education.
This biblical model has worked well for my family. There were years when paying Christian school tuition made it difficult to give or save more. But in those expensive yet rewarding years, God showed us how to live within our means and rely on him more, important lessons that taught us to be content with less.
Our treasurer had an interesting nickname for the fifty-six households that donate by means of pre-authorized debit. She called them “lifesavers” because it was only their consistent income that allowed her to pay the bills.
We need everybody to be “life savers” who will financially support Hope Fellowship’s ministries and maintenance, even when they’re out of town for social or business reasons. That’s why our church’s leaders are prayerfully hoping that many more households will come on board and return their pre-authorized debit forms to the HopePAD Drop Box at the Info Centre.
- Pastor Peter
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