FORWARD BY FAITH
By Grover Wallace

During the short time Jesus spent upon this earth teaching and preaching, he gave a lot of guidance and commands regarding giving. In both the books of Matthew and Luke, he gave commands about loving your enemies and giving to the needy; including being generous and giving to others. In Luke’s account of these topics, Jesus said, “Give to everyone who asks you; and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do unto others as you would have them do to you.”

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But if you love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back, then your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap, for the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Luke 6:32-38 (NIV)
(Also read Matthew’s words on the same topic in Matthew 5:43-48 and 7:1-6)

In the New Testament, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John each give their historical account of Jesus’ life upon this earth—from His birth to His death and resurrection. The Gospels tell the story of Jesus and the birth of our Christion religion which started as a result of His teachings.

The preceding passage by the disciple Luke is a very strong message about sharing and giving. As with all of His messages, Jesus is very firm about the topic of sharing.

Following the Gospels, we find the Book of Acts, written by Luke, letters written by Paul to the Christian delegations and to Timothy and Titus, followed by the writings of James, Peter, John and Jude. In almost every letter by Paul and others there is a message of giving to support the Christian church and to share with those in need. In one of his letters to Timothy, Paul wrote, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasures for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
1 Timothy 6:18-19 (NIV)

Going back to the Old Testament, we find God commanding Moses, “The Lord said to Moses, Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give. Then have them make a sanctuary for me and I will dwell among them.”
Exodus 25:1-2 and 8 (NIV)

In the New Testament, little is written concerning giving to build new churches. Most of the writings were commands or guidance to give to support the new Christian movement, to help and share with other churches, but mainly to help those in need. However, we all assume that Christian converts gave generously to build, maintain, and operate their worship facilities as well as sharing with the needy.

As we find in Exodus 25, God gives Moses a command to tell the Israelites to bring an offering to build a sanctuary. Were it not for the generosity of the people drawn to Christianity by our Lord Jesus Christ, would the young Christian movement survive?
Were it not for the support and generosity of the Christians in the congregation of Gold Canyon United Methodist, would our church survive? Of course, we know the answer in this case is no.

During our annual stewardship campaign each February, we all have the opportunity to submit pledges to pay our mortgage obligations and pledges to our annual operating budget. The money we pledge to the building fund is committed to be used for our required payments on our $3,500,000.00 mortgage. The money pledged to our annual operating budget is committed to be used to maintain and operate the wonderful facilities God has provided for our worship services, and for salaries, supplies and services, educational and music activities, along with many other programs.

There are also some allocations in the budget for other activities such as the food bank, youth activities, special educational programs, etc. However, many of these programs depend on contributions from our congregation to supplement the budget allocations for operating these programs. For example:

 -  Our food bank depends on gifts of food to provide for the needy
 - Our Pastor’s Discretionary Fund depends on Communion Sunday supplemental      donations to help those in need to pay rent and utility bills.
 - Our St. Andrew’s program depends on donations to help the children from Mexico      requiring medical attention.
 - Our youth group depends on donations to support their summer to travel to other      places to help people recover from disasters.

This list of programs at our church that require supplemental donations to be successful could include many additional activities. However, our congregation has always been willing to contribute over and above their pledge amounts to the building fund and operating budget to ensure success of these programs requiring supplemental funding.
May God Bless you for your willingness to support our church and its many programs.

Duing April, you contributed $28,417.00 to our “Forward by Faith” (Building fund). For the first two months, our campaign contributions totaled $70,329.00, or 14.06% of our annual goal. Contributions for the first two months averaged $35,165. To reach our goal for the stewardship budget year, contributions should average $41,700.00 per month. If we are to succeed in paying off $500,000.00 or our mortgage.

“Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another...”
Romans 13:8