"
Just wanted to tell you what happened at church today and this evening as I was reading my Bible.
First
thing at church the pastor was talking about child-like faith and she
gave an example, when the pastor says something like "I have a
headache" or "I don't feel too well", she says I might have to go to
the doctor, her children reply "why don't you ask Jesus to heal you
first!!" I thought that was really funny. She also mentioned things
like finding car spaces in car parks that are full, and reminded us
that these are small miracles that won't change my life but Jesus cares
about every second of our lives. She also said that miracles are
NORMAL, some effects are extraordinary, but miracles happen everyday.
Also
recently at church they bought a piece of land in Bath (which
apparently is really difficult) and their objective this year is to
complete the planning permissions on that land to build a 1000 people
auditorium and start building. She also says something along the lines
of, if she over thought it she would get discouraged and never do
anything, she simply trusted God in a child-like manner and not a childish manner.
Which
started me thinking, you mentioned that you wanted to get a building
for the church in Thamesmead, so I thought this would encourage you
showing that it is possible to do so! Also they have an event coming up
called Rise & Build Sunday, where the offering is purposely put
towards the expenses of a building. I know that the Open Gateway won't
have as big as an offering as this church which has over 700 people (I
think). Which brings me to the Bible passage I was reading this
evening. You might recognize it, Matthew 14:13-21. If God could feed
the five thousand with an offering of five loaves and two fish how much
more can he do with like 50 pounds (which buys a lot more bread and
fish - not much more, credit crunch after all heheheh) or whatever
comes from the monthly offering. I truly believe this is the year that
things will start moving forward in Thamesmead. Just thought you might
want to know.
"
Since then I have heard other things that I would like to share:
'Go1d can do the impossible. That's a fact, but He also expects us to put some work in. We bring in 15% of the work, God does the rest!!' quote from the church I go to in Bath, last week - paraphrased.
Obvioulsy the stats are not exact but all it means is that we show God that we really trust in Him, even if we don't have all the plan, if we start the ball rolling, trust the Lord that he will complete the work.
'1 Kings 5:5a - So I am planning to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord our God, - We do not build buildings so that we can show off, but to try and reflect the Glory of God. As a church we should reflect the culture of heaven, i.e. the humbleness, the forgiveness, the peace, the mercy, the justice, the righteousness. A church building helps us with that as it gives the non-believer a place where they can focus and with our help find God. The temple should be welcoming, to show the love of Christ; his salvation; it should be a house of praise. ' This was my interpretation from the first part of the talk from the Rise and Build service held today at C3 Bath and Bristol.
The second part of the talk was about financial giving. I know that this is something that many people find talking about the issue of offerings difficult, but the fact is that a church, as well as people, cannot survive just on good intentions, money is essential to the continuing of a church and the spreading of the gospel.
No true christian church that I know force people give money, instead they suggest a donation, normally of about 10% of your income, others suggest things like: (ficticious example)
If you earn 100 pounds a week, give 1% of your income - i.e. 1 pound, which leaves you with 99 pounds to spend on other stuff.
If you earn 200 pounds a week, give 2% of your income - i.e. 4 pounds, which leaves you with 196 pounds to live on.
If you earn 300, give 3% - i.e. 9 pounds, which leaves you with 291 pounds to live on, and so on.
Obvioulsy these numbers were used to facilitate calculation. I do not know what the average income is per week, but as you can see, the more you earn, the easier it is to give.
Paul the Apostle suggests at various moments that tithing is different from donations. Donations are something that you risk giving, not being absolutely sure that you can survive without it, but God provides and He will take care of you, if you put your trust in Him. The Bible also says that whatever you do in service of God, be it give financially or in time or any other way, you will be building up treasure in heaven. It also mentions that you should give secretly, do not be like those churches that mention things like, if you donate a certain amount, your name will be on a brick, if you donate more, we will give you a plaque, even more we will build you a gold statue (slight exaggeration with the last one heheheh). If you do something to impress men instead of gloryfying God, you will have already received the compensation on the earth and not in Heaven. Therefore, give secretly, do not make a big deal about it. Put your faith in God, give in any way you can and He is always faithful.
The church should never force you to give, but the church will be grateful.
Nathan
Disclaimer: All the above do not necessarily reflect the churches of Thamesmead, all of the above are my suggestions and thoughts.
"
Since then I have heard other things that I would like to share:
'Go1d can do the impossible. That's a fact, but He also expects us to put some work in. We bring in 15% of the work, God does the rest!!' quote from the church I go to in Bath, last week - paraphrased.
Obvioulsy the stats are not exact but all it means is that we show God that we really trust in Him, even if we don't have all the plan, if we start the ball rolling, trust the Lord that he will complete the work.
'1 Kings 5:5a - So I am planning to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord our God, - We do not build buildings so that we can show off, but to try and reflect the Glory of God. As a church we should reflect the culture of heaven, i.e. the humbleness, the forgiveness, the peace, the mercy, the justice, the righteousness. A church building helps us with that as it gives the non-believer a place where they can focus and with our help find God. The temple should be welcoming, to show the love of Christ; his salvation; it should be a house of praise. ' This was my interpretation from the first part of the talk from the Rise and Build service held today at C3 Bath and Bristol.
The second part of the talk was about financial giving. I know that this is something that many people find talking about the issue of offerings difficult, but the fact is that a church, as well as people, cannot survive just on good intentions, money is essential to the continuing of a church and the spreading of the gospel.
No true christian church that I know force people give money, instead they suggest a donation, normally of about 10% of your income, others suggest things like: (ficticious example)
If you earn 100 pounds a week, give 1% of your income - i.e. 1 pound, which leaves you with 99 pounds to spend on other stuff.
If you earn 200 pounds a week, give 2% of your income - i.e. 4 pounds, which leaves you with 196 pounds to live on.
If you earn 300, give 3% - i.e. 9 pounds, which leaves you with 291 pounds to live on, and so on.
Obvioulsy these numbers were used to facilitate calculation. I do not know what the average income is per week, but as you can see, the more you earn, the easier it is to give.
Paul the Apostle suggests at various moments that tithing is different from donations. Donations are something that you risk giving, not being absolutely sure that you can survive without it, but God provides and He will take care of you, if you put your trust in Him. The Bible also says that whatever you do in service of God, be it give financially or in time or any other way, you will be building up treasure in heaven. It also mentions that you should give secretly, do not be like those churches that mention things like, if you donate a certain amount, your name will be on a brick, if you donate more, we will give you a plaque, even more we will build you a gold statue (slight exaggeration with the last one heheheh). If you do something to impress men instead of gloryfying God, you will have already received the compensation on the earth and not in Heaven. Therefore, give secretly, do not make a big deal about it. Put your faith in God, give in any way you can and He is always faithful.
The church should never force you to give, but the church will be grateful.
Nathan
Disclaimer: All the above do not necessarily reflect the churches of Thamesmead, all of the above are my suggestions and thoughts.