Whitewater is finding out that generosity is blessed, and there are many ways to be generous!
Generosity is blessed
Joe Sangl's message was so practical and powerful last Sunday, especially if you're broke! And we are already hearing of how God is blessing generosity. I received this email from Tammi:
Hey David!
I need to send this email to you concerning this past Sunday's lesson. My son, who recently had his 4th child in six years with his wife, decided that it was in their family's best interest to have her stay at home with their kiddos! I am praising God for that! But anyway, he gets worried at times with all the expenses that can and will occur. One thing that he and his wife do (and have done) is give generously with their time and "things." They let people borrow their cars and lots of them are teenagers that he manages at his place of employment. They mow grass for the older generation in their neighborhood and even those who have grass that is knee-high... She bakes and drops things off at new mothers' homes or people who she knows are sick. They do all of this AND raise these four kids. What an example! But my point is... sometimes his mind wonders and he thinks, will we be able to do this financially?
An unexpected blessing came their way this past week. The oldest of their four goes to a private school and he is in kindergarten. This sweet little youngster had excellent grades, had great attendance and he had an essay to write in which had to talk about God and family. The school awarded him a scholarship to the school for next year due to the things listed! What a blessing from God. Your lessons have been so inspiring and you know with all that stuff you talked about, I felt that you would love hearing how God turned around and blessed them when they were using what they had to bless others. Thanks for all you do, our family is so grateful!
Amen, Tammi! You simply cannot out-give God. Test Him and see if you don't believe me! In fact, you will have a chance to do that this Sunday as JT shares our new 90 Day Generosity Challenge! Don't miss this weekend in-person or online.
Rockin' It
Here is another perfect way to be generous and help our wonderful Whitewater students - who are, by the way, rockin' it for Jesus right now! See this email from Reed Sapp, our Student Minister:
Hey Whitewater,
Our student ministry does something every year that draws our students a little closer to God, closer to his church, and closer to each other. It's called... CIY (Christ In Youth)! You may have attended one before or you may not know what it is. Simply put, it's a camp. In the complex way of explaining it - it's a life change. I couldn't tell you exactly what it is about camp that shifts a student's life so dramatically, but I can tell you this; it's one of the reasons I'm a youth pastor. We're a student ministry that reaches into schools and prides ourselves on giving students who get very little opportunities, to get lots of opportunities. In abundance. My asks are this:
1. Pray for life change in the students who are going. We will have students who commit to Jesus for the first time, students who are called to ministry, not to mention, bondage and chains broken by Jesus.
2. Consider sponsoring a student to go. Not all of our students have the financial means to make it happen. We want to bless them with the chance to experience CIY. Anything goes a long way.
Both of these are easy ways that you, our church, can be a part of the life change to come. Thank you, from the bottom of our team's heart and our whole student ministry for always being a church that loves our family ministry well. It doesn't go unnoticed, and we are grateful to serve this church.
Reed
Whitewater Family - let's rally behind our students who are not just the church of tomorrow, they are the church of today! Total CIY costs are around $12,000. Are any of you in a position to help with a small (or large) gift? Give here online - choose Secure Donation Portal and then choose CIY Sponsorships in the drop-down menu:
or place a gift in the offering boxes this Sunday. Write CIY on your envelope or memo line.
Baptisms
We are up to 71 baptisms so far this year!
Of all the numbers we track and count around here, that is the one I'm most excited about! It tells us we are reaching people far from God and it is a testimony of life change. I saw a fascinating blog post by Carey Nieuwhof this week. He poses the question - How do you know your church is actually reaching unchurched people rather than just attracting people from other churches? Click here for his answer.
See you this Sunday...
...along with a lot of other churched and unchurched folks looking to connect with Jesus.
