Money and finance may be words that church members do not want to hear. But all of us want to have heat, air conditioning, lights and a man of God to be there to preach the gospel.
In God’s word, II Corinthians 9:7, it says, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
It takes all church members working together to provide what a church needs. We are also to help in the mission field to be able to promote and tell of God’s word.
The word tithing is in the Bible several times; each of us should give to the church all that we can. We need to search our hearts and pray earnestly about this. This is my feeling—I do not believe God has a calculator using it to see if we are giving ten percent of our earnings.
What we have comes from God and it is his. He is letting us use it, but we should always give and support the church.
My grandson, Will, taught me a lesson. Our family was on a trip; the son-in-law’s, grandsons and I were waiting in the lobby for the ladies, so we could go out to eat. I saw a quarter on the floor and I said, “Will come here, see the quarter? Pick it up and you can have it.” Will said back to me, “No Grandpa, it is not mine, I don’t need to get it.” A lesson taught to me by my 5-year-old grandson.What we have belongs to God and we should always remember that.
My Dad was a deacon at Old Union Missionary Baptist Church. I can recall the deacons having to pitch in to pay the minister. Old churches did not have many expenses. The church building was paid for, insurance was cheap, heating was done by a pot belly stove and we had outdoor toilets. Members donated their time to start the fires, clean the church and mow the yard. They gave their time to the Lord. Things have changed; we have mortgages, utilities, insurance, janitorial services, websites, sound systems plus the minister. Living expenses for our minister have increased.
We should always support our pastor and never put a hardship on him and his family. He is doing what God called him to do, and we should support him in our prayers, our attitudes, our church attendance and in monetary means. God, I feel, in turn blesses all of us.
The report was read by Tony Thornton.
Prayerfully submitted,
Tony Thornton
Jim Holland
Kenneth Masse