Starting with the first Sunday of January we will put our Mark series on pause. From January 7 to February 11 we will be preaching a series called "Owning Our Moment." As a follow up to our 60th anniversary celebration, where we affirmed the generous investment of those who came before us, we want to now own our moment. We want to receive the baton, running our leg of the race. We want to own the gospel, own the mission and manage the resources with which God has entrusted us. Below is the plan for the series. Notice the dates. (ABFs begin series on 12-17-17).
On 2-11-18 our Guest Speaker will preach a message titled "What if God Showed up?" based on Matthew 9:35-38.
During this series we will explore how as disciple-makers and as extended families on mission we invest our time, energy and money in kingdom ways as part of our fruitfulness. We will invite every participant in our ABFs, disciple-making groups and worship services to make commitments in regard to the investment of their resources for the kingdom. We will explore the idea of the "Five Capitals" as presented in the small paperback book Oikonomics: How to Invest In Life's Five Capitals the Way Jesus Did (2014) by Mike Breen and Ben Sternke; although this is not a book study nor is this the only resource that will be referenced.
As the year 2018 begins we will invite everyone in our congregation to consider their regular and generous giving through the CBC budget which supports local and global ministries. Beyond our regular support of the church budget, which we call the tithe and which is continuous, we will ask individuals and families to consider special above-and-beyond sacrificial giving toward two causes, which are short-term:
- A capital campaign to remodel the Student Ministry area; and/or
- Sponsoring a child through Food for the Hungry in the Philippines (FVR, Bulacán)
While we believe that systematic, proportionate and continuous support of God's work through the church is expected of every believer (Malachi 3:10; Matthew 23:23), we understand that above-and-beyond giving is a free-will offering, for a short-term, where each person needs to be led by God as to where and how much to give (Exodus 35:29; Psalm 54:6; 2 Corinthians 9:7). The former simply requires faithful obedience. The second requires prayerful discernment.
Please pray for yourself, your family and your group that we may all discover the grace, the joy and the blessing of generous giving and that God's mission advances as we invest of ourselves in it.
