Silver and Gold Have I None


I think it is great when God challenges a church or individual to contact me and offer to help with events that we are planning. They almost always start off with an apology about not being able to support our church plant financially, but...

While financial support is important for our church plant during the first 3 years, please don't feel that you need to apologise for not being at the point where you can help. There are 3 important parts of supporting church planters and church plants:
  1. Give - if you can do this, wonderful. God has given some the resources with which they can bless others. Some people are called by God to stretch themselves spiritually by sacrificially giving more than they thought they could. Many people start with our Dollar a Day challenge and commit to something that costs them less than a cup of coffee for the sake of reaching the lost and unchurched in Annapolis.
  2. Pray - This is the most important thing you can do to support church planting. We need prayer warriors that will lift us up daily. Pray that God provides for our needs so that we can focus on reaching the lost. Pray that God opens up doors of communication with the people of Annapolis. Pray that we find local Christians that would be willing to join our core group to help equip new Christians and work toward a launch date for worship services.
  3. Go - Some people need a hands on experience before they can capture the vision of church planting. God may be calling you to come to Annapolis for some short term or long term mission projects. God has given some people the opportunity to have the times and resources that they can travel and serve others away from their home.

If you feel that God is calling you to do any one of these or a combination, please contact me (steve@elevateannapolis.com). And don't feel you have to apologise because you are not able to support financially just because you see or hear us asking for money. Peter and John did much more for the lame man who was asking for money.

God knows what we need and He will provide through those who have the means and those He wants to stretch. Listen to His voice and do as He tells you. Are you being called to give, pray, or go?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dirty Feet

Image
“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news.” Isaiah 52:7 (NIV) I have never been very comfortable in shoes. It really doesn’t matter whether they have great arch support, ultra extreme amounts of cushioning, or how much they cost. The first thing I do when I arrive home is take off my shoes and stretch my once imprisoned feet by bending them at the arches and wiggling my toes. I then remove my socks and begin to feel my feet relax as the fresh air washes over my tingling, sometimes sweaty, toes. Pretty picture, I know. It must be the right thing to do. A billion Chinese could not be wrong. My mother could not be wrong. After all, she was the one who always told me to, “Take off your dirty shoes before you come in here. I just finished mopping this floor and I don’t want mud tracked all over my clean house.” It became a normal ritual around our house to put the dozen or so shoes away before company was expected. My mother didn’t want dirty f
Read more

Pampered and Pacified

Author J.M. Barrie created the character that never wanted to grow up. Peter Pan, also the title of his famous book, did not want to become an adult and be forced to deal with all of the stress and struggles that came with the transformation. So Peter found his way to Neverland where, along with his lost boys, he could remain a carefree child forever. But those who know the story also know that carefree was not all that it promised for villainous Captain Hook constantly lurked around the corners, and then there was that tantalizing Wendy who stole Peter’s heart before he even knew what hit him. Millions of Americans have seemed to follow in the footsteps of Peter Pan. We have become a nation that no longer values the virtues of adulthood: especially responsibility, strong work ethic, self-dependence, selflessness, and community awareness. You don’t have far to look in our American society before you see lost boys, and girls, running around everywhere. Grown men and women who want
Read more

Silent Lord's Supper

Image
I planned this service in 1995. ====== Please enter into tonight’s service humbly in silence and meditation. There will be no words spoken, so you need to follow the bulletin closely. We pray that this service will be a meaningful one for you. Come in …be seated …be still for a season …pray …and reflect with us upon the matchless love and grace of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Not a word will be spoken during this entire service. The only sound will be that of the piano as some familiar hymns of Christmas and Calvary are played. “Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord.” (Zechariah 2:13 KJV) Prelude “Kings of Orient” Removal of the Cloth “What Child Is This” Scripture Meditation “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” (John 8:12 NIV) “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people li
Read more