Dear Crosswalkers,
Here is a wonderful story of faith: A congregation was struggling financially and so they created a separate fund to spread the good news about Jesus locally and around the world. It was a program that challenged the church family to trust God to provide them with extra money that they could give to missions. Twelve years later, the church had given $1,081,528 in local and world missions! They had trusted God and God came through! Their community and the world were blessed in the name of Jesus!
If you haven’t guessed it, this is the story of missions at Crosswalk Community Church!! Last year we passed the one million dollar mark, and now we’re on our way to our second million. It all happens when we seriously and joyfully trust God to provide!
For those of you who are new to Crosswalk, there are three ways you can give to expand God’s kingdom through your church family. First is to our General Fund, which supports our staff, facilities, resources and a host of operating expenses. This is where our tithes go. Secondly, we have designated funds which support special projects. Last year we raised money for our parking lot repair (which will be completed during the last week of April!). Several of you give special gifts to reduce our indebtedness. Thirdly, we support local and global missions through your Faith Promise giving.
This Sunday and next you will have the opportunity to participate by making a Faith Promise. You will be asked to promise by faith to give a certain amount that you trust God to provide. This is a faith promise, not a pledge. You will never be asked to “make good” for the amount you promised by faith. This is between you and the Lord! If God does not provide, you are under no obligation to give! The pressure is on God, not on us!! But after you make a faith promise, the next step is to “watch and pray” for God to provide.
How does God provide for our faith promises? From the experiences of many individuals and churches, there are four general ways God provides:
1. Unexpected Income: These can be retroactive pay raises, bonuses, unexpected gifts, inheritances, a second job, tax refunds, etc. The possibilities are endless!
2. Decrease in Expenses: Loans are paid off, kids educational expenses end, etc.
3. Reordering of our Priorities: When we manage our lives as God would have it, we can generate additional income for the Lord’s work. This would include a commitment to live more simply, to fast once a week and give the money for that meal to missions, or to cut down on unnecessary expenses.
4. Innovative Ideas: There are creative ways to generate extra income, such as having a garage sale and giving the proceeds to missions, using a hobby to generate income, a fun job to keep busy during your retirement, etc.
I know some of you give and then trust God to provide! Others are just so committed to missions that they make Faith Promise a regular part of their giving, in addition to their tithe.
Do Faith Promises work? Yes!! In the 12 years Crosswalk has done faith promises, God has provided a low of 73% and a high of 166% of our Faith Promises! The average over those years is a remarkable 99%!! This year we have received 72% of our Faith Promises, with one more Sunday and the rest of this month to raise our percentage! I’m asking that we give “by faith” between now and the end of the month to raise our total!!
In that wonderful day you will sing: “Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the nations what he has done. Let them know how mighty he is!” - Isaiah 12:4
This Sunday our message is “Building Bridges to Display His Splendor!” Our speaker is missionary Angel Hernandez, currently on home leave with his family but returning to Paraguay in July. At noon we will feature our popular International Potluck!! It's going to be great!!
See you Sunday!
Blessings,
Pastor John
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