We value missions at SRC, and this morning I had the privilege of having breakfast with 2 missionaries who are close friends. Many SRCers know them, because they were sent out of our former church Pasadena A/G.
Dan and Sue Maksim serve at the U.S. Center for World Missions, in Pasadena, California. The USCWM makes its primary task the mobiliztion of missions to new frontiers around the world. They are a resource organization that produces training material for multiple denominations and missions organizations around the world.
They met to share what was happening at the Center, to inform us of resources available to churches, and to offer themselves as a resource for SRC in helping us value missions. Since they know many of our launch team, they were very interested in learning about our church, and how things were going. They are available to pray for us, and are going to be signed up on our prayer partner list.
I told them how excited I would be to add them to our partnership with missionaries, and that in just a few months, we'll be supporting them monthly. I recently met with a pastor who said that his church wasn't growing financially, so he couldn't give anymore to missions. To me that is faulty logic for any church. Jesus said, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” When you have to sacrifice in order to give is exactly when you should give. It opens the way for God to bless you.
--Ben
2 comments:
"For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Folks so often miss this part. If they thought of it this way, The measure (scoop) you use is the measure (scoop) that will be used for you, it would change a lot of folks' attitudes. This isn't to say that if you give God must give to you, but He says if you don't give He doesn't have to.
I couldn't agree more with your logic Ben. My example for giving as a church has always been my home church in Bowie. It was always modeled exactly the way that you described.
Also, it's not only the way a church should give of it's resources but it is also the way that we should handle our personal finances as well. Thanks for making supporting missions work a priority for SRC!
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