HOW MUCH TO GIVE?
All that we have comes from God and all that we have is His. He is generous and good, He pours Himself out in love, and He calls us to follow His example in His power. Giving generously to support Christian ministry is a natural response to God’s overflowing gifts to us. Understanding that we might need reassurance to give sacrificially, God promises that all our needs will be met if we give generously. Andy Saville, our vicar, showed us many examples in the Bible of God meeting the needs of those who gave generously. You may wish to remind yourself by listening to his sermon on the topic.
The Church of England has provided the following guidance which helpfully gives an initial target for the percentage of income to give:
(a) encourage church members (including children and young people) to live generously as disciples of Jesus Christ, joyfully giving time, skills, money and other resources to God’s mission in the world, in times of economic stringency as well as of plenty, in response to the lavish generosity of God to us in Christ who made Himself poor that we might become rich;
(b) reconfirm its challenge to church members to assess annually their financial giving as a proportion of income and to adopt as an initial target:
• the giving of 5% of their after tax income to and through the church,
• and a similar amount to other work that helps to build God’s kingdom.
So, an initial target of 10% split equally between the local church and wider ministry! For some affording the target may seem a long way off. For others the target may have been exceeded as they have responded to years of gracious blessing by God. Whatever your situation, prayerfully consider the priorities for your income and decide upon a regular sum that you will give to the church and others. If you are not sure who should receive your gift to others, then you could consider the organisations that send representatives from time to time, and are included in our church prayer pointers:
· Tearfund