Money, Mission and God

Money follows mission.
Whenever a church or a group does mission, money follows. You almost don’t have to ask. People see what you’re doing and they want to help; I think it’s natural for people to want to help. That means people naturally want to give money, but they have to see the mission first.
With that in mind, a couple of things hit me: one, as much as we work on outreach, we still have not gotten or done a clear-enough mission project. There is so much we can do and need to do. We could teach English as a second language classes, or have a program where we work on improving the literacy of the children in our community. We could have regular parenting classes for young mothers, or support groups for grandmothers who find themselves raising their children’s children. We could reach out to African American youth who are on a fast track to nowhere, providing them education and exposure to all kinds of things, with the intent that such work often changes lives.
Second, it hit me that as we become more mission minded, we will not have to worry about money. If God gives the vision, God gives the provision. That’s how God works.
To that end, I am going to have a “mission meeting” on Thursday, September 30, at 7 p.m. I want you all to be in prayer, not only about mission, but about your role in making the mission come to fruition. If we have just one mission to add to, say, our sandwich makers outreach, we will be closer to doing God’s work and will than we are right now.
I am going to ask those who can to fast that week, from 6 a.m. from 6 p.m. Nothing to eat or drink for 12 hours a day that week. I am thinking of having brief prayer every day that week at 6 p.m. where we pray and break the fast together. Not only will we pray about our mission, but about where we want to be by this time next year. The praying and fasting should make the vision clear. I am going to need for those of you who will participate in this project to let me know, via the church office.
God did not put us here or keep us here to flounder. God put us here to thrive and be a witness and a light to this community, this city and this state. God put us here to let people know that God never fails, and that God sustains and supports those who trust in Him/Her.
We come to worship, but we must leave to serve.
God would have it no other way.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith