Give-12

My children have often been surprised when they compared their earnings from part-time or summer work to the bills we pay each month as a family. The difference suddenly makes their hard-earned dollars seem like a much smaller amount, even though it is significant for them.

Something similar can happen with the annual expenses of Faith Lutheran. The proposed budget for 2012 is $737,750, a figure that is so far beyond our personal financial reality that it is hard to fathom. It will require an average weekly offering of $14,000 — which is still several months’ income for most of us.

When that amount is spread across all the households of Faith, however, it can be reached and even exceeded. The amazing response to the 3-PEAT challenge at the end of 2011 proved that.

It is also important to realize what that money accomplishes each week of the year. It provides a place where people of all ages can gather to grow in faith. It provides staff members who can be present to minister when other members of the church cannot and to equip those other members to minister when the staff cannot. It sends resources around the world (literally — from India to Africa to Eastern Europe and more) to bless people who have never before heard about Jesus or who live in abject poverty. It helps people in need in our own community through Faith’s own ministry and agencies like Common Cup or the McLeod County Food Shelf.

Faithful giving throughout the year — in proportion to how God provides for us — allows all these efforts to continue. And because of God’s rich blessing, it is a goal we can reach and even exceed for Jesus’ sake.