As some of you know, a small number of church members have recently left our fellowship, for various reasons. This has caused our weekly offertory to fall below our budget. This may seem like a dire time for our church; but it is actually an opportunity.
To begin with, we can humble ourselves before the Lord and declare that this problem is beyond us. Let us join the saints of the Bible who cried out to the Lord in troubled times. As both James 4:10 says; ‘humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.’
We then put our trust in God to look after his church. Money is one of the easiest things for God to sort out. We called upon God to fund a 3rd day per week for Tamara in 2018, and he delivered. As God says about money in Heb 13:5; ‘never will I leave you, never will I forsake you’.
Finally, we re-assess our giving. What a wonderful opportunity to contribute to the kingdom financially at Earlwood Anglican. This comes easily (i.e. money just flies out of our wallet) to those who ‘store up treasure in heaven’ (Matt 6:19-24); i.e. God.
So how do we make God our ultimate treasure? It is by realising that we are His ultimate treasure. Jesus left the comfort of heaven, the glory of divinity, the honour of angel worship, the security of immortality, and the love of His Father. The only reason an intelligent being would do this is if there was something he still wanted. So may we continue to look to Jesus, and experience what it is like to be loved by a perfect being. Then may our offertory declare what it is we treasure.
Brendan McLaughlin
