Partnership letter
Giving is God's Way
From the desk of Pastor Sing
Greetings to all my precious saints of God in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. This month I would like to share with you along the lines of “Giving is God's Way”
My Scripture reference is as follows: John 6:5-9“5 When Jesus then lifted up [his] eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
6:6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. 6:7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
6:8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, 6:9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?”
Occasionally, well-meaning people have approached me with schemes to raise money for the church. I have never felt comfortable about any of these. I must admit, though, that I felt somewhat tempted. The raising of finances in church life is a continual burden on the leader. If there were some other way to accumulate wealth, it might make life easier, but my conviction has always been that giving is God's Way.
Some churches have bought into multilevel marketing businesses. These can be a great source of income for those who invest. However, when Pastors and Congregations get involved in these activities as a church fundraising strategy, relationships between the Pastors and their congregations, and between the members of the congregations themselves, can quite easily become confused- “Why are they suddenly so interested in me?” Then, when the business proposition is announced, people become cynical and feel exploited, and relationships are compromised.
But it is giving that is God's Way, not business marketing. The members of the congregation are called to go out into the world, generate finances, and bring their offerings into church. In other words, they are called simply to give. In John 6, when Jesus asked His disciples how they were going to feed the multitude before them, they were dumbfounded. They had no idea. Yet a young boy gave what he had. It may seem like a very small gift in comparison to the size of the need. However, what is given into God's hands can become abundance through His Supernatural Power.
The disciples were no doubt feeling completely embarrassed as they began to hand out the one twelfth portion of a sardine and bread bun they each had. There were five thousand men in front of them! If each man had a wife and three children, that made a total of twenty-five thousand people to feed.
Thomas probably got the tail end of a fish and a small crust. With two thousand people in front of him, I can imagine him holding his back and telling the people to take as little as they could. However, they tug and pull and yank. He's too afraid to look. He gets to the end of the row and finds he's now holding a snapper and a French roll. He goes down the next row and finishes with a barracuda and an Italian loaf. By the end of the last row, people can't eat the swordfish he's dragging behind him-much less get through the pile of bread in his arms!
Through simple acts of giving, that meal multiplied. The boy gave, Jesus gave, the disciples gave, and in the end there were twelve baskets left over! One basket for each disciple? Twelve baskets for the boy to take home to surprise his mum with? Whoever got those extra baskets of miracle meals, it was a great abundance.
May God continue to richly bless you and your family. We pray for you daily and take pleasure in seeing you enjoy God’s blessings that make Rich & adds No Sorrow.
We Love You very Much,Dr Roshan and Pastor Zubeda Sing