Reverse Offering! $20 talent - What are you going to do?

The Parable of the Talents
Last Sunday we took a different type of offering at Westview. Instead of giving you the opportunity to give offerings to God, we asked you to take $20 from the offering basket. We held a reverse offering! Our scripture for the morning was Matthew 25: 14-30, the Parable of the Talents. In this parable, Jesus tells the story of 3 servants who receive talents (a measure of weight or money) from their master. They are to invest the master’s talents while he is away. Two of the servants invest their talents and make a 100% return. The third servant digs a hole and buries his talent until the master returns.

$20
We gave out the $20 bills to represent talents given by God. We are asking you to invest your $20 in the kingdom. How will you do this? That’s up to you. We want you to pray about it and take a risk. You may have a person you want to help, or a kingdom issue that you are concerned about. There’s no timetable, there’s no hurry, but there is the responsibility of stewardship (don’t bury your talent!). You are responsible to manage what God has given you to manage (which is everything you own and everything you are). The money we gave out (almost $2,000) was a donation expressly given for this reverse offering.

Let Us Know!
We would like to hear from you regarding what you decided to do with your $20! Please email the church if you would like to share your story with others at Westview. Already I am hearing of small groups talking about joining their money together for a certain project. I hear of families who want to help neighbors. Individuals are excited about what God is saying to them.

Did You Miss Out?
Maybe you weren’t here this past Sunday to get a $20 bill. We won’t be giving out more money, but you can still participate! Set aside your own $20 (I know it didn’t come from our anonymous donor, but remember, it’s all God’s money anyway!). Take $20 and begin to pray about how God wants you to invest it for His kingdom. Remember, God’s kingdom is all about loving God (your vertical relationship) and loving others (your horizontal relationships). Pray and ask God how He wants you to serve him and others through your $20. And use this exercise to help you think about how he wants you to use all that He has given you!

God bless and have fun!

Jay Braband

Evangelism Support

I got side tracked this week. I will follow-up with the "Never Hide Your Faith" post next week. I just had an amazing story I want to share with you. The Elder Board and Leadership Team at Westview have committed to giving at least 10% of our offerings to our missions budget. We support overseas mission projects(RCA Missionaries), local missions(Waukee Area Christian Food Pantry), short term mission trips, and several other outreach and service projects.

This past week I received an email from Brett and Micki Strait. Westview has supported Brett and Micki in the past. We recently sent them some financial support to help them with their staff position with Navigators.

I tend to focus on Westview's programs, Westview's growth, Westview's this and Westview's that...Sometimes I get so wrapped up in "what we do!" I can get lost in the programs we "need" to do, and almost forget about what and why we are doing "church." Our desire is to be a House of Prayer, A Serving Church...by Helping people Find, Grow, and Serve Jesus! Not only can we "do" church, we can "be" that church!

Brett's email to me - spoke of what a blessing Westview's gift would have on their ministry. They are praising God for the work of our church. Our tithes and offering are not only impacting the families in our community. We help support other's who are taking the love and hope of Christ all over the country and the world. Find, Grow , and Serve. It's not limited to our community of believers.

What do you mean by Christian?

Billy Graham? Tony Dungy? Jim Baker or Jimmy Swaggart?

Unfortunately, a lot of Americans think negatively about Christians. Many people relate a scandal, a painful memory. or just associate negative media accounts to the "label" Christian.

Michael Simpson, in his book Permission Evangelism asks the question "What are you?" here is a quick quote from the book that really struck a cord with me.

"Like it or not, the word "Christian" has been poisoned in America. It is not a word that we should abandon, but that word will never save anyone. That word will never draw you closer to anyone but another Christian. When you have earned the respect of another person, claim what you will, but until then be wary of Christian argot that closes relational doors. Sensitivity does not presuppose that you compromise your faith.

When someone initially asks me if what I believe, I rarely declare that I am a Christian until I know a little about that person's belief system. Shocked? Let me explain why. Until I know the person's preconceived notion of Christianity, I risk branding myself with his or her potentially incorrect perception and abruptly ending the conversation. I have replied "I believe in Jesus Christ," "I have a personal relationship with God," and even, "I am a reformed antagonist," just to get the conversation started. All too often, a response of "I am a Christian" put an end to a conversation with someone who was certainly interested in spiritual things.(p32 Permission Evangelism by Michael Simpson, Cook Publishing - 2003)"

To me, this reads as a simple; Think about engaging conversations, not ending conversations.

I look forward to any comments on this...I found it humorous when Simpson goes on to say, the people that get most upset with this approach are usually Christians. Look for more in my next post, "Never hide your faith!"