Each spring, Crestview joins with our wider network of Great Commission Baptists to supply church-planting missionaries in the US and Canada serving through the North American Mission Board. This region boasts a population of 386 million people speaking 350 languages. It also includes 161 unreached people groups and 286 million unbelievers. A great need exists for the gospel in North America.
As we prepare to collect this special offering on Sunday, April 13, I encourage you to raise your awareness of the need and those whom we are sending to proclaim the gospel and establish believers in local churches. Yesterday, you received a daily prayer guide. More information and videos of these missionary stories are available here: North American Missions Offering.
The Habit of Sunday Giving
Yesterday, I shared an update on our church’s giving through the first two months of the year. Praise the Lord—over $73,000 has been received through the end of February! Many of you are faithful, consistent, generous givers. However, we are currently $7,000 behind our budget target for this point in the year. So, I feel the need to encourage all members to actively do their part to help Crestview meet our financial commitments and ministry objectives.
Financial giving is an important way our church worships the Lord together. Every church member should be a joyful, habitual giver. Regular giving as a church family is why Paul urged the members of the church of Corinth to give on Sundays in proportion to how the Lord had prospered the work of their hands during the previous week.
Recall Paul’s instructions to the church: “Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come” (1 Corinthians 16:1–2). In other words, Paul’s instruction was for each member to set aside a portion of their weekly "direct deposit" for the church's Sunday offering. In this way, each member honored the Lord by displaying gratitude and faith in the Lord, and each did their part, however large or small, to joyfully support the mission and ministry of the church.
Here is one way we might apply the principle underlying this passage: Every time you are paid (whether weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or intermittently), that next Sunday, give a percentage to the Lord through the church—this giving honors the Lord first, before seeing how the funds might be expended elsewhere. Giving, then, becomes an act of faith. While online giving allows the convenience of making contributions anytime, could a Sunday habit reinforce giving as an act of corporate worship and help us give before the money is spent elsewhere?
I realize that many are experiencing the challenges of economic strain, the rising cost of living, and the high costs associated with raising families. Navigating these realities requires wisdom and discipline. The Lord does not merely call the financially secure to give—he calls all disciples to be givers. Remember the Lord's words: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19–21). May our management of our family’s finances reflect hearts that are fixated on the glory of the Lord and his kingdom. Join me in praying that Crestview is amply supplied for the mission to which the Lord has called us.
Alexis’s Wedding
This Saturday, Alexis Lawrence will be marrying Julien Adkins. Alexis serves as our office ministry assistant and is an active member of Crestview. Let's celebrate their marriage and display our appreciation for Alexis by showering them this Sunday with linens for their home. Color preferences are creams, whites, and blues. Please leave gifts on the decorated table in the welcome center this Sunday. They are registered for linens and other items: Wedding Registry
For His Glory,
Pastor Thomas