Luke 8:1-3 says this ‘Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, 2 along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; 3 Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples‘.
The Bible gives some helpful principles to guide us in how we think about and how we give our money:
1. God owns everything and gives His things, including money, to whom He chooses. All we have is from God. He gives according to His purposes and plans. The question should never be “How much of my money should I give away?” but “How would God have me use His money?”
2. How we spend and give away God’s money is a fundamental aspect of worship. When we spend and give our money, we must be confident that what we’re doing glorifies God and honours Him. This includes our charitable giving to the church and other gospel ministries.
3. Giving to the church and the ministry of the gospel is commanded by God.
4. Giving is to be done with thoughtfulness, sacrifice, generosity, and joy. We often think about how we spend our money each day, but do we think much about how we give to God’s work? Sacrificial giving is never easy – even in trialling times we should give in response to God’s goodness and faithfulness. We are to be “cheerful” in our giving. It’s easy to be joyful when singing praise songs to God. This same joy should be present in our giving.
Investing in the Future
We constantly desire to be moving where God is leading us. Following him means leaving behind our doubts and worries, trusting in him for all things, not leaning on what we think is the right direction, but acknowledging that he knows best, and confident that he will direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5). The following detailed document outlines areas at present that we ask you to consider investing in.
Ways to give
We would really appreciate your ongoing commitment to the ministry life of our church. There are many ways to give. Freewill Offering Envelopes can be requested from the Church Office, but we find now in a more electronic society that people are much more used to standing orders and payments by card. Here are electronics methods to donate.