Giving it all

Giving doesn't come easy to me, and if we're honest, many of us. Don't get me wrong, I/we give, but sometimes it is with a sense of duty, that we must because we're Christians, or a feeling that somehow we can buy our way into heaven. Sometimes to be honest, I/we miss God's freeing grace for us in our giving through a misunderstanding of what He wants from us.

This coming weekend, 1st March, is the first of two ‘Special Offering’ Sundays, the second being on the 8th March.  What better opportunity to take a quick look at what God has to say about our giving.

When Jesus speaks to His disciples about the heart of a giver He tells the story of a poor widow.  When Jesus speaks to us, His disciples, He uses the same story found in Mark 12.  It reads:

”...Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury.  Many rich people threw in large amounts.  But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.  Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury more than all the others.  They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had to live on.’”

What an awe inspiring story. The profound hidden reality of this story is two fold:

1.    Jesus has given everything so that we might have everything.

The blood that Jesus shed on the cross has paid the wages of my sin, meaning I have no debt to pay to God - it is already paid!  I cannot buy my way into heaven with my cash - He has already paid for it.  The story teaches us that whatever I choose to give to God and His church has no bearing on whether or not He forgives me, blesses or loves me.  This means I am free to give without guilt, pressure or duty.  I am free to give with joy, without a hidden agenda of settling a debt.

2.    Jesus has given everything so that we might give everything.

Our only response, given the price paid for us in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is to give our everything.  The widow didn’t give what she could afford, the surface scraps of her lifestyle, she “put in everything - all she had to live on”.  Does this mean I have to put all my wages and bank balance into the offering bowl?  No!  It means that God wants my heart to be trusting in Him, not my bank manager.  He wants me to trust Him for my rent, my food, my spending money and even my giving.  Ultimately, Jesus is asking His disciples to trust in Him, and give Him everything.

So, how much should I give this weekend?
The short answer, for some of us rather uncomfortably, is everything - my whole life!  The old hymn writer put it like this: “Take my life, let it be, consecrated Lord to Thee”.  I pray this week that God would be receiving our whole lives.  That we would trust Him with everything including our wallets and bank balances and that He would impart faith in us to pray for money we don’t have and give everything we do have, remembering that it’s about us joyfully giving ourselves to God of which our finances are only a part!

Special Offering Thoughts

In 2 Corinthians 6:3, the Apostle Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah and says “…I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” I believe God wants to remind us of this promised blessing in this season of church life. So, as we start Alpha (which had over 100 in attendance on Wednesday) and as we ask God for £70,000, we need to experience God’s favour financially and trust God to bring salvation today!

Personally I’m sensing faith to pray for money for my family to give away.  And I’m trusting God to give all of us the grace we need for giving away generously and sacrificially.

Last week at Mosaic we handed out a letter giving the details of our special offering this year that begins on Sunday 1st March and runs over to the following week, Sunday 8th March.  This is the summary of the letter:

Over the last 4 years we have seen God form and shape us into a church now gathering over 300 people each week in two services.  We are just as committed to loving God, each other, our city, the underprivileged and the nations just as much as when we first began.  Our hope is that this special offering will give us the opportunity to deepen our impact on the city, enlarge our investment in people and engage those needing to hear about the love of Christ.

The Goal is £70,000
The Focus is People and Projects.

Part of our offering will be to invest in People, especially children.  We want to create the best kids ministry we can offer to families, and support our outreach work with young people in Holbeck and Cottingley. 

Our other focus is Projects.  We are looking to support our counselling ministry and facilities, finalise phase three of the building (includes replacing our borrowed PA system) and invest in church planting; initially in Paris but hopefully in many other cities across the globe.

So, we are asking you to pray now about what God would have you give, over and above your regular giving, to this special offering.  Each year we seek God together for His provision and each year he has been faithful, in fact we believe he “…is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”(Eph 3:20-21).

With love and thanks,

Matt Hatch
Lead Elder

On behalf of the Mosaic Eldership team
(Steve Vaughan and Chris Mason)