Some people think the church talks too much about money.  That's an interesting thought given that Jesus talked about money all the time, and more than 2,000 verses in the Bible talk about money.  Why so much talk about money?  The short answer from Jesus is: Either God or money will rule our lives.  Those who get upset when the church talks about money are usually--but not always--those who are ruled by money.  I say that because when we're ruled by God, we know money is a tool to be used to glorify God and it's also a "thermometer" that measures our temperature for God.

Some churches never talk about money, because they don't want to offend people.  I've always held the belief that it is better to offend people than God, and God is offended when church leaders fail to help all believers grow closer to Him, and we never grow closer to Him until we become givers.  When we learn that all we are and have come from and belong to God, we hold loosely to things and even our own lives, and tightly to God.  We become givers instead of takers, and our lives become richer and fuller.

On the other hand, some churches ALWAYS talk about money, and particularly how our giving is the key to GETTING more.  The doctrine that if we give more we'll get more is poor theology.  We don't give to get.  We give to glorify God and to participate in advancing His Kingdom.  When we do that and receive a "return" on our investment in this life, that's a blessing.  There is always an eternal "return" on our investment when we give.  At New Life we DO talk about giving.  Nearly every Sunday before we give our tithes and offerings Pastor Brad or I comment on the importance of giving as a way we show our love for God, as a vital part of our worship, and of the biblical mandate to give.  Our goal is to be faithful to teaching the word of God, and to discipling everyone--including ourselves--to become more and more like Jesus.  We also periodically offer series of messages on giving (stewardship), to equip all of us to become more fully devoted followers of Jesus.

We also have C.L.U.B. (Come Let Us Build) updates once a month to make folks aware of the progress we're making on the process of building our Mission Outpost at 127 Knoch Road.  The goal of those updates is to thank everyone for your faithfulness, and to inform everyone of what is--and sometimes what isn't--happening with the process.  As lead pastor of New Life, I am so grateful for the faithful giving of so many of you, and want to urge everyone who reads this post to continue putting God first in every area of our lives including the giving of our time, talents, money and lives.  As we do, we show God we love Him, AND we advance His Kingdom.  Take a moment right now and consider this question:  If a stranger found my checkbook and calendar (Day planner, PDA, etc...) what would they learn about my love for God through my giving?

Let's pray:  Heavenly Father, Thank You for loving us so much that You gave Your only Son, that we may have salvation!  Fill us with Your Holy Spirit that we, too, may be givers.  This we pray in Jesus' name.  Amen.