on mission
I'm fired up about our next message series titled On Mission.
Eight years ago we wrote our first $50 check to missions. We weren't even a self-supporting church yet, but I felt like God was calling us to begin investing in missions. And I knew he'd honor that because you can't outgive God. That month we experienced a 600% increase in giving and we haven't looked back. We'll give $250,000 to missions this year. I dream of the day we're investing millions of dollars in missions every year! But it all started with a small step of faith. We gave beyond our ability and when we give beyond our ability it allows God to bless us beyond our ability. II Corinthians 9:8 promises: "God is able to bless you abundantly."
I honestly believe that God's hand of favor on NCC boils down to two things: 1) how we give to missions and 2) how we reach out to the poor in DC. As long as we're doing those two things, I'm confident God will continue to bless us beyond our ability!
Colossians 1:6 says, "All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing."
Here's a cool thought: the sun never sets on our missionary family! We now support sixty-five missionaries and ministries in Washington, DC and around the world. From an orphanage in Egypt to a seminary in the Ukraine; from medical missionaries in Asia to church planters in India; from a campus ministry in Japan to riverboat pastors in the Philippines; our investment in missions in bearing fruit and growing. And someday we’ll meet people in heaven that we never knew on earth, but our investment in missions changed their eternal trajectory!
Our goal for this series is for every NCCer to go and give. We want everyone to be a shareholder in the Great Commission. We've got some amazing missions trips planned for 2006. We'll go to Ethiopia, the Galapagos Islands and Portugal. But even those who don't go can give. We're going to challenge every NCCer to make a faith promise. I'm praying that our heart for missions gets bigger and bigger! And the way to do that is to give more and more!
Eight years ago we wrote our first $50 check to missions. We weren't even a self-supporting church yet, but I felt like God was calling us to begin investing in missions. And I knew he'd honor that because you can't outgive God. That month we experienced a 600% increase in giving and we haven't looked back. We'll give $250,000 to missions this year. I dream of the day we're investing millions of dollars in missions every year! But it all started with a small step of faith. We gave beyond our ability and when we give beyond our ability it allows God to bless us beyond our ability. II Corinthians 9:8 promises: "God is able to bless you abundantly."
I honestly believe that God's hand of favor on NCC boils down to two things: 1) how we give to missions and 2) how we reach out to the poor in DC. As long as we're doing those two things, I'm confident God will continue to bless us beyond our ability!
Colossians 1:6 says, "All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing."
Here's a cool thought: the sun never sets on our missionary family! We now support sixty-five missionaries and ministries in Washington, DC and around the world. From an orphanage in Egypt to a seminary in the Ukraine; from medical missionaries in Asia to church planters in India; from a campus ministry in Japan to riverboat pastors in the Philippines; our investment in missions in bearing fruit and growing. And someday we’ll meet people in heaven that we never knew on earth, but our investment in missions changed their eternal trajectory!
Our goal for this series is for every NCCer to go and give. We want everyone to be a shareholder in the Great Commission. We've got some amazing missions trips planned for 2006. We'll go to Ethiopia, the Galapagos Islands and Portugal. But even those who don't go can give. We're going to challenge every NCCer to make a faith promise. I'm praying that our heart for missions gets bigger and bigger! And the way to do that is to give more and more!
6 Comments:
G&G: Go and Give...i hope this becomes an even greater part of NCC's core with this series - Higs
The poor in DC are an interesting lot. I've been living in DC for about 10 years. I've found that the poor are generally not the ones asking for money. The poor are the ones working their fingers to the bone - holding down 2 jobs living in houses that are falling apart and sending their children to private schools because the public schools are so rotten. Several years ago, I was a tutor for high school kids in DC, through the Presbyterian Church at New York and 15th NW. The children who did well were the ones whose primary goal was to leave DC and never return to the violence, drugs and thug mentality that ruled their streets - for them, that meant leaving DC for good. I stopped after 2 years of watching children try to learn with no books, and after meeting a revolving door of inept adminstrators. I'd like to get back into mentoring - it's probably one of the better ways to "give to the poor".
Mentoring as a form of giving is such a great concept! It's the ultimate investment. I'm totally indebted to my mentor, Dick Foth. He was so instrumental, especially in the early years of ministry! Invaluable!
If people are interested, the Georgetown chapter of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship is involved with two mentoring programs in D.C., the Fishing School and Little Lights. In addition, the Center for Student Missions, based in DC, has helped us find many urban ministries to get involved with. Feel free to contact me or GU InterVarsity (guivcf.org) if you are interested.
Katie K.
kmk42@georgetown.edu
How can I find out more about the ministries that NCC supports around the world? For instance, I'm originally from the Philippines and would love to know more about the missions work being done back home. It would be great to be able to pray with more specificity about the individuals doing God's awesome work over there and elsewhere. Thanks.
Joseph Llobrera
jllobrer@yahoo.com
Joseph,
Touch base with Pastor Joel. His email is Joel@theaterchurch.com.
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