"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
Corinthians 9:7
GUIDELINES FOR GIVING
Considerations
As members of an active Church community, we are encouraged to consider how we may use our Time, Talents and Treasure to worship God and contribute to the ongoing ministries of our church. This guide is provided to help you work through things to consider when making decisions about how to best contribute financially to our church.
PRAYER
Pray and ask God to provide for the needs of our ministry. He has faithfully provided for us. Thank him for his provision and ask him to continue to provide all that is needed to support and to grow our ministry in this rapidly expanding area. Invite him to work in your heart to be generous with your money and to see your money as money entrusted to you by your great provider.
PRINCIPLES
Why Should we give?
1. Faithfulness
God is faithful and he calls us to be faithful. As members of this church we have a responsibility to pay for its needs (1 Cor. 9:3-15, 1 Tim. 5:17-18). This will mean being faithful in sharing the load.
2. Partnership
We are partners in the Gospel. God is causing the Gospel to grow throughout the world, and we are partners together in this work. One way that partnership is expressed in our financial support (Phil. 4:14-16)
3. Generosity
We respond to God’s generosity towards us, and we imitate Christ. He is overwhelmingly generous to us in Christ. He has freely given us forgiveness and eternal life at the cost of his own dear Son. He who ‘was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you though his poverty might become rich’ (2 Cor 8:9). We respond by giving him our all.
HOW SHOULD WE GIVE?
Consistently
Being faithful in our giving will mean giving as consistently as we can (1 Cor 16:1-2), including when we are unable to attend Sunday church. This consistency is very helpful in providing for the needs of our church and in enabling clear communication about our finances.
Generously
The Old Testament Law required tithing (giving 10% of income). We are not under the Law, but are called to be generous. 10% is a useful benchmark for us in considering how we can give generously. Generosity in some situations will mean less than 10%. In other situations, it may mean much more than 10%.
Sacrificially
Imitating God’s generosity will mean we want to give as much as we are able, perhaps even beyond our ability (2 Cor 8:2-4). God models to us sacrificial giving.
Cheerfully
God’s word teaches us to give cheerfully, not reluctantly (2 Cor 9:7). When we consider all that God has given us in Jesus, there is great joy as we seek to reflect his generosity. Please consider your own ongoing regular giving and any changes that you want to make.
PRACTICE
How much should I give?
The Guide – 10% of total income
In the Old Testament, God’s people gave a tenth of all their produce to God in response to his generous blessings to them (‘the tithe’). The idea of giving a tenth is first seen in Abraham and Jacob (Gen 14, 28), and is then made explicit in the Law of Moses. It was to be given generously with much rejoicing, not legalistically or begrudgingly (Num 18, Deut 12, 14, 26, 2 Chr 31, Mal 3).
The Given – Enough to support our ministry
In the New Testament, in Galatians 6 Paul teaches that it is the responsibility of the local church to support those who labour among them. We must also spare a thought though for the poor (eg. Compassion kids) and those who labour further afield (eg CMS Missionaries).
The Goal – to be sacrificially generous with my money
As New Testament believers, we give back to God in response to his generous blessings to us so the sky is the limit! You may today or one day be in a position to give 20 or 30 or 90 percent of your income to the work of the gospel. Indeed we have received God’s ultimate generosity to us in the death of his Son, who though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, so that through his poverty we might become rich (2 Cor 8:9). If we truly understand this gospel, we will cheerfully give as much as we can, and even beyond our ability (2 Cor 8-9)!
So how much should we give to God?
A tenth is a good starting point, but it should be the starting point for considering how generous we can be, rather than a legalistic figure we must absolutely stick to.
The more fundamental question to ponder is: how much have we received from God?
GUIDELINES FOR GIVING
A Practical Guide
STEP 1: Calculating How Much to Give
The first practical step is to work out how much money you have to start with. The table below is a simple way to do that. It is based on the amount of income you actually get the benefit of (your after-tax salary, along with other income or benefits you receive).
Prayerfully consider how much you would like to set aside from this amount to give. You can work out the actual amount using the table below.
This process of working out how much to give will of course need to be repeated each year or so, or as your income changes.
STEP 2: To Whom to Give?
Having worked out how much you want to give, you now need to work out to whom you will give and how to divide up your gift. You can use the following table, starting with your monthly or weekly gift (Dor E from Step 1).
STEP 1: The Method of Giving
1. Cash (In the perspex box on Sunday)
You can give by cash each week at church.
2. Direct Deposit (Online bank transfer)
This is where you schedule regular payments (weekly/ fortnightly/ monthly) to be made from your bank account to the church’s bank account. The benefit of this method is that it makes it easier to be regular in your giving. It is also easier for Parish Council to track and plan for the future.
If you would like to give electronically, the church’s bank account details are as follows;
Account Name: Grace Anglican Church
BSB: 062 185
Account Number: 0093 1176
IMPORTANT: If you wish your giving to remain anonymous, please don’t place your name in the reference field.