Dear Church Family,
The Apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians 9:7 "Each man should
give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under
compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." By now, you have noticed
that our recent morning messages have hit upon the subject of stewardship.
What these messages have tried to convey is that giving to the Lord
is an aspect of discipleship. God has a claim upon our time, talent
and treasure. This goes far beyond our immediate senses.
The good news is that our potential is great. Christian financial advisor
Ron Blue states, "Eighty percent of the world's evangelical wealth
is in North America-and the total represents way more than enough to
fund the fulfillment of the Great Commission."*
The bad news is that we are not stepping up to the plate (forgive the
pun). By and large, Christians today don't give that much. George Barna
reports that the average donation by adults who attend U.S. Protestant
churches is about $17 a week. That would be a tithe if you made almost
$9,000 per year. But with the median income in the United States at
$42,409*, that means Christians generally give .02% of their income
to the church, at best.
And yet the need is never greater. David Barret reports that the church
has grown more in the 20th century than in all the previous 19 centuries
since the time of Christ combined, with almost 2 billion adherents worldwide.*
Thus, there is the need for more missionaries, more pastors, more funding
and more action.
With the recent disasters of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf
region, along with last year's Tsunami disaster, not to mention the
ongoing need to support our missionaries, we see a desperate world around
us. This is not to mention our church's needs. At a recent board meeting,
it was revealed that our envelope giving for this year is running almost
$30,000 behind in the budget and our Mission's envelope giving is behind
nearly $22,000.
With all this information, I want to challenge you to consider the
amount you give to Central Schwenkfelder Church this year. Not only
do your tithes and offerings go toward keeping the lights on, but we
give generously to 14 local mission agencies, five U.S. agencies and
ten overseas agencies. Without your help, we could not do this for the
kingdom of Christ.
Never will we know just how far God uses our gifts. The Evangelist
Billy Graham once said, God has given us two hands - one to receive
with and the other to give with. We are not cisterns made for hoarding;
we are channels made for sharing. Such a statement is full of meaning,
especially when we live in the world's wealthiest nation.
May God bless you as you give to His work.
Yours Because of Him,
Pastor David
