Dear
Church Family:
God
loves a cheerful giver! Paul writes about this in 2 Corinthians 9:7 - You
must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or
in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” We
all have something to give that would help another person. Some of us have
money that we could give to someone. Most of us have a skill that would help
someone. All of us have time to be with another person to care for them, to
listen to them, and to simply be there for them. And all of us can pray for
another person. This is giving.
Giving
isn’t always convenient or easy. Sometimes it takes real sacrifice to give.
So, how do you give cheerfully? How do you give without reluctance or not in
response to pressure? It is the life of Jesus Christ that will propel us to give
without reluctance or not in response to pressure but in response to love. Jesus
gave his life for all to have life, eternal life. He lived his life as a gift to
all. This should propel us to live our life as a gift to others. So,
let’s “Live to Give.”
The
Live to Give Challenge this summer will stimulate our Live to Give lifestyle. It
will help us as a church family to dive in, to get started, to “prime” the
pump. And, it will be a lot of fun. So here’s the challenge:
Read
the Book Challenge. Let’s read the book “I Like Giving” by Brad
Formsma. We will be selling these books in the church lobby starting on July 13
for $15 each. Note that when you buy a book, $3 of the $15 will go towards the
Give Bikes Challenge.
Give
Bikes Challenge. Let’s give bikes to children in our community. Here are
the 3 ways to give: (1) you can give money directly to the Give Bikes Challenge
(we will be collecting funds from July 13 through July 27 and then
will purchase bikes), (2) you can buy an I Like Giving book (see the Read the
Book Challenge above), and (3) you can give a bike. On August 3, we will
randomly select “Givers” during the worship services (you must be present to
be selected). Each Giver will have the opportunity to give a bike to a child in
our community. We will report back to the church family on the following Sunday
on the bikes that were given.
Give
$10 Challenge. Let’s give $10 to people in our community. On August 10,
17, and 24 we will randomly select “Givers” during the worship services (you
must be present to be selected). Each Giver selected will receive a $10 bill
that they then will give to someone in our community. We will report back to the
church family on the following Sundays on the $10s that were given.
So
please join us in this fun-filled challenge. Let’s Live to Give.
Throughout this challenge let’s all pray this prayer – “Heavenly Father,
propel me to live to give to bless others.”
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