October 1, 2009
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From The Pastor‘s Desk:
Tough Times, Tough Decisions
It‘s been said that there are two types of financial givers in the church: those who tip and those who tithe. I‘ll be honest with you, before becoming a Christian I attended church but only put a tip in the offering plate on Sunday. In many cases it was more than the actual tip I would leave in a restaurant. There was no connection in my mind and heart between what I earned and the One responsible for the talent and opportunity to earn what I did. It wasn‘t until I had committed my life to Christ that I was taught and embraced the true concept of the tithe. There were times when it was difficult for Helen and me financially and sometimes the place we cut was the tithe. But eventually we were convinced that God was to get our tithe first, even if it meant scrimping and scraping to get by. God proved to us that if we were faithful He would be too.
Unfortunately, even today, many in the church do not embrace the Biblical principle of the tithe. If more people did, I maintain we would not have the budget problem that we currently have. Projections are that receipts (offerings) for this year will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $25,000 below expenses. What this means is that unless there is a commitment by the congregation to give more, the budget for 2010 will have to be much less than the budget for 2009. Currently some areas of the budget will have to face serious cutbacks. The place to start on a solution to the problem is for everyone to tithe.
Beginning October 11th, we will be starting a three Sunday emphasis called, Be An Encourager: Tithe. Each of the three sermons will be on tithing and stewardship culminating with a special emphasis on Sunday, Oct. 25th . I am calling that day, Demonstrate the Tithe Sunday. Each Sunday School class, including the children, will have a special lesson on tithing. Then, in the worship service, I am asking each of you to bring an offering equal to at least the tithe (10%) of one week‘s income. If we all do this, we will see the encouraging potential of giving in our church.
When Christians tithe God is glorified and we bear witness to the world of the life-changing power of the Gospel. God owns it all, so let‘s be obedient to God in recognizing His ownership and then responding by giving the tithe to God. He will fulfill His part if we obediently do ours.
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
