Dec
23
2011

Finance Fridays: End of the Year Generosity

An article by Matt

On Sunday all of Christendom comes together to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Sunday also marks the last Sunday of 2011. As we head into the last few days of the year, it is a good time to refresh our memories on the rules for year end gifts. Tithes and offerings may be counted towards 2011 if they meet the following guidelines:

Hand delivered gifts must be delivered on or before December 31, 2011. Checks must be dated December 31 or sooner.
Mailed gifts must be postmarked December 31, 2011 or before and the enclosed checks must be dated December 31 or sooner.
Online gifts must be submitted before 11:59pm on December 31 in order to qualify for 2011.

Speaking of end of the year giving, it is common at this time of year for us to be inundated with letters encouraging us to contribute towards a certain ministry, non-profit, or church. Over the past year I have had the opportunity to become familiar with three organizations that I would encourage you to consider supporting… through prayer, a year end gift, or in whichever way God might lead you to do so:

Arise Community Church is a church plant on Long Island. Launched in 2011, Arise is meeting in Port Jefferson Station, New York… a quick train ride into the middle of Manhattan. I asked Pastor Dan O’Leary to share a little bit about what is going on at Arise:

Arise Community Church is a church for people who would not normally come to church. While holding true to the theology of Christ and His Church, we reach out to the people we believe Jesus would have hung out with, but somehow are ignored in the community: the drunks, the diseased, the drug addicts, the insecure, the emotionally dead, the incredibly poor, the filthy rich, the smokers, the homosexuals, the tattooed, the illegals, the homeless, the hungry, the spoiled, and the spiritually deprived.

Long Island is a place where people are unloved, uninspired, and unchurched. We call everybody to Jesus, to live brave, and to be loved, inspired, and churched. We have already brought many back to church, and before even opening our doors, we baptized 13 total people! God is good, and He is building His Church. At only 13 weeks old we have seen over 150 different people come in and out of our doors. Jesus is awesome. Lord, have mercy on Long Island.

Grace Hills Church is a pre-launch church plant in Bentonville, Arkansas (home of Walmart), being planted by Brandon Cox and his team. I asked Brandon to give us a little background on Grace Hills:

Brandon and Angie Cox are currently planting Grace Hills, a brand new church in northwest Arkansas. They’ve talked about planting a church for the last ten years and while Brandon was serving as a Pastor at Saddleback Church, God made His calling on their lives very clear. They have a vision to minister to the least, the last, and the lost of northwest Arkansas.

In just a few weeks (on January 15), they will launch publicly in a local movie theater. They’ve already seen lives changed and people coming to church for the first time, or the first time in years. They’ve also welcomed Neil Greenhaw as Worship Pastor. Neil is leaving an 8,000 member church to help launch Grace Hills. He and Brandon both have a heart to plant what they call a “teaching hospital,” where people are healed and reconciled to God, but also where other potential planters are learning and being sent all over the world to do the same thing. They have a big vision for what God wants to do in northwest Arkansas and beyond. Read more about them at www.gracehillschurch.com

The last organization is Project: Living Well. While this is NOT a non-profit (meaning your support of Project: Living Well is NOT tax deductible) their story is a cool one, and their mission is something worth hearing. The idea behind the project is to encourage people to create positive change through the sharing of their stories. The cool part is through supporting Project: Living Well, you are helping to provide clean drinking water overseas. They are currently raising support to continue their efforts (Kickstarter gave them the boot because of their social justice component), and expand their impact. Matt Johnson describes what they are up to like this:

It was after meeting children at a water well in Nicaragua, that founders Matt Johnson & Lee Diaz were inspired to start Project: Living Well. A project created to inspire and tell the stories of at least one million people who are changing the world through the sale of an exclusive line of products. Every product sold gives the purchaser an opportunity to share their story, to be included in their first edition digital storybook. Visit www.projectlivingwell.com for more information.

Please take a moment to check out what each of these guys are up to, pray for their work, and if you are able I am certain that they would greatly appreciate any financial support you might be able to send their way.

Merry Christmas, may you fully revel in the incredible generosity of our God in the gift of His son on Sunday, and throughout the year to come.