WE SHARE WEEK 3Can you believe it is week number three already on our weShare2010 Journey? After 16 days, I have identified $89 that Joyce and I could have spent on individual beverages this month. That is a lot of money.
Did you know if you can come up with $89 a month and invest it at 6% return, in 50 years you will have over 1/3 of a million dollars? Can you imagine how much impact $333,000 would have on fulfilling the Great Commission in Africa (or even in the United Sates)?
This impact would be the result of a simple sacrifice like giving up purchased beverages. Here is a link to a little calculator from Crown Financial Ministries to help you see how much can be accumulated by consistently saving a little over a long period of time. I always liked the way The Living Bible translated Proverbs 21:5 "Steady plodding brings prosperity". Isn't it amazing how practical the Bible is for our everyday life?
I would like to share one of the greatest examples of sacrificial giving I believe that I was privileged to witness. About seven years ago, Pastor Keith led our church through a campaign to pay off our church mortgage. Very simply the message was that $12,000 each month would be more effective in fulfilling the Great Commission by supporting missionaries than it was being sent to a local bank. The church agreed. The multi-year campaign included teaching on tithing, sharing from abundance and then the focus moved to sacrificial giving. The culmination of the campaign was Sacrificial Sunday.
On Sacrificial Sunday I was counting offering. It was an exciting time to be on the Finance Committee. My specific job that Sunday was to count the cash. There was a lot of cash. To be more specific, there was a huge pile of cash. But in the cash pile I came upon a plain white envelope full of $10 and $20 dollar bills. Not just a few, there were a lot of ten and twenty dollar bills in that envelope. I thought this was odd; if someone wanted to put a cash donation in the offering, they would of withdrawn a few $100 bills and stuck them in the offering or in the envelope, but why all the $10 and $20 bills?
I then looked on the front of the envelope and saw the words "Vacation Fund". I don't know who put that envelope in the offering that day, nor do I know the story behind it. But it appears someone in our church realized getting the mortgage paid off and getting more missionaries in the field was worth sacrificing their vacation that year. That is sacrificial giving!
In our Sunday School class last Sunday we talked about the disciples, Paul and Mary and how they sacrificed their life plans and goals to follow Christ. It reminded me how small my sacrifice of a few soft drinks and coffees is compared to what they gave up. There are many other examples of sacrificial giving in the Bible. I would still love to hear your thoughts on the greatest example of sacrificial giving in the Bible. -- George Hutchison serves on the Board of America's KESWICK and writes our weekly blog, STEWARDSHIP INSIGHTS. He is also an instructor with Crown Financial
Dig This Quote: Christ is in all His redeemed, as the soul of their soul, the life of their life. He is the pitying heart and the helping hand of God with every needy, praying spirit in the world. He is the sweet light of the knowledge of God that breaks in upon every penitent heart. He is not only with those who believe in Him and love Him, but also with those who neither believe in Him nor love Him, that He may be to them also Jesus their Saviour. The Christ of God is in thy heart, waiting and aiming to get the consent of thy will, that He may save thee. Wherever man is, there also is Christ, endeavoring to free him from the law of sin and death, by becoming Himself the law of the spirit of his life. John Pulsford
Determined Digging: Level 1: Proverbs 5:12; Level 2: Psalm 86:11-13
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