John Markum

Tag: tithing

GIVING.

Posted on by johnmarkum

GIVING

As we’re preparing to launch our church plant, we have described our partnership commitments to LifeCity Church in three words:
FAST.
GIVE.
JOIN.

Before you get all weird on me about making a case for you to give money to our church plant, I want you to know two things:

  • If you’re not a follower of Jesus Christ, I’m not asking you for anything. It is the responsibility of Christ-followers to finance God’s work.
  • If you are not trusting God with your money by tithing to your church home, you should start there first.

Now that we’ve got that established let me tell you why you should give to LifeCity Church, and give generously:

  1. Because you give sacrificially to LifeCity Church, the people of the South Bay will  fully experience life in Christ.
  2. God will reward you for investing in His Kingdom. He always blesses generosity.
  3. God will bless and even extend your remaining resources.
  4. You’re not just helping us start a church. Your participating in building a church planting movement.
  5. Your consistent giving will make it possible for us to control our budget, predict expenses, and pay for our church’s needs.
  6.  By helping us secure the finances to do this work, you enable us to spend more time focused on reaching the people of the South Bay, and less time raising funds.

God is going to call different people to do different things with their finances when it comes to partnering with LifeCity Church. Some people are going to give their tax refund. Others will begin tithing to LifeCity in addition to their church home. Some will be moved to give $25 a month, and other will sense God leading them to give $1000 or more monthly. God calls for equal sacrifice, not necessarily equal giving.

We are specifically challenging people to give on one of two levels:

  • $100/monthly: We’ve set a goal of seeing 100 people commit to giving at this level. We’re calling these people our “100 x 100” givers. Some have already started doing this.
  • $250/monthly: Each person doing this for three years will raise 1% of our total giving goal. If 20 people committed to doing this, they would raise 20% of our giving needs alone. To make that number real, it could pay for our meeting space to hold services.

We’re asking for people to consider committing to three years (36 months) so that we have the time to make disciples who begin to tithe to LifeCity Church and own the responsibility of furthering the work of the ministry in their lives.

I know hundreds of reasons why people might not give. I believe God receives greater glory when we trust Him with our resources despite our circumstances. Feel free to email us at: [email protected] if you have more questions about giving to LifeCity Church.

If you’re ready to give now at our secure online giving, click here.

For those of you who do give, I’m very grateful for your sacrifice. We promise to honor your generosity by keeping you informed with how your giving is impacting lives through this step of faith. Thank you!

Blessings,
Pastor John

Challenge #4: Increase Giving

Posted on by johnmarkum

Edgewood Challenge #4: Increase giving by 1%

People in church always act funny when you talk about money. This is the point in my blog when I make it clear that I am only addressing church folk. If you don’t have a relationship with Christ, then the following excludes you. We have way bigger concerns for you than finances, and quite honestly, your money is the last thing we want.

But for those who claim the name of Jesus, we are commanded to be generous, and to trust God in our finances. Jesus taught us that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” God tells us that there is a direct relationship between our heart and our wallet. I can likely guess what you value most with a high degree of accuracy just by glancing over your bank statement. What we are asking is, for our church to increase our giving by 1%. For most of us, that means an increase in giving of $2-$10/week.

Statistically speaking, only about 3% of church goers tithe. That’s it. One of the most fundamental acts of worship, showing gratitude to God for providing for our needs, and demonstrating faith that He will continue to provide, and less than 1 out of 20 Christians are being obedient… We’re better than that, church!

We’re not pushing this challenge because we want something from you. Jesus promised that He would build His church. He is ultimately responsible for meeting the needs in the church, just as He is in your home. So the churches financial needs are going to get met with or without my giving or yours. We’re challenging our church to do this because we want something for you. We want you to experience the fullness of living by faith and seeing God come through for you. We want you to experience the power of relying on God more than 1/10 of your paycheck.

We did happen to notice that there is a recession going on. We know that many people have cut back or completely cut out giving to church as a result of lost hours, wages, and jobs. What better time and opportunity to reach out to God and find that He is enough… just like He promised He would be.  You say that you trust Jesus with your soul and eternity. Doesn’t it make sense that He can handle your offerings as well.

My wife and I went through an intense time of testing a few years ago. Financially, we were strapped. But we were able to experience that God was faithful even when we had a mortgage, 4 mouths to feed, and no clue where our next paycheck would come from. So from experience I’m telling you: God can make 90% of your income go much further than you can make 100%.

For some of you, this challenge means that you take a baby step and simply start to give something. For others, you have been trusting God with your tithes, and this is less of a challenge for you. Regardless of where this challenge hits you, be obedient to what God is calling you to do. Together, through our generosity, we can change the world.

Blessings,

John

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