Giving

As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. 1 Peter 4:10

As Christ followers, we receive God's gifts gratefully, cultivate them responsibly, share them lovingly in justice with others, and return them with increase to the Lord.

Stewards of God's gifts are not passive beneficiaries. We cooperate with God in our own redemption and in the redemption of others. We are also obliged to be stewards of the Church—collaborators and cooperators in continuing the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, which is the Church's essential mission. This includes giving of our times and talents, not just finances.

Why should we give? God wants us to give because it shows that we recognize he is truly the Lord of our lives. In James 1:17, it states that every good and perfect gift is from above. When we give, we simply offer God a very small portion of all the abundance he has already given to us. In I Cortinthians 16:2, we are told that we should give according to our income. Acts 20:35, states that we are blessed when we give, and in Luke 6:38, “when we give freely, we receive freely from God”. As it states in 2 Corinthians 9:7, giving is meant to be a joyful expression of thanks to God from the heart, and not a legalistic obligation. We rob God when we fail to give offerings to him (Malachi 3:8). The picture of our financial giving simply reveals a reflection of our lives surrendered to God.

The church is where you are fed God’s Word and nurtured spiritually, and the giving of your time and talents as well as financial support provided to the church goes to build up the storehouse (Malachi 3:10), and support serving locally and in the world.