GENEROSITY &
STEWARDSHIP

Core Practice #5:  INVEST FINANCIALLY IN GOD’S CHURCH

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭24‬

Core Practice #5:  INVEST FINANCIALLY IN GOD’S CHURCH

We will practice generosity by consistently and sacrificially investing our income in a local church. (Matt. 6:24)

As apprentices of Jesus, we believe that His teachings regarding money are true, including that everything we have is a gift from God, and is for God. Jesus warned us that money poses unique dangers to our souls, and that there is more freedom and blessing found in our giving than in our receiving. Jesus also taught that our hearts are affected by the way that we steward and invest money.
During Jesus’ life, He demonstrated and called us to a lifestyle of radical and sacrificial generosity.* Our act of giving is in obedience to God, is given with gratitude in worship to our King, and is a declaration of our trust in God for His ongoing provision. And when we bring our tithes and offerings into God’s house, He promises to “throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
*1 John 3:16, Luke 12:33-34, Matt. 6:19-24, Proverbs 3:9, Malachi 3:8-12, Mark 12:41-44, Matt. 23:23, Luke 11:42
Fights Against: MATERIALISM & GREED
We live in a fallen world, with a global economic system that often promotes a false narrative that happiness (i.e. the “good life”) is derived from accumulating material things, which promotes greed. However, we will take part in the countercultural practice of consistently and sacrificially investing our money into His church. This practice helps to cultivate our hearts to hold money loosely, to root our affections in the Kingdom of God and not in the systems of the world, and to guard against greed and materialism from stealing the freedom and abundant life that only Jesus’ Way can offer us.
Supportive Prayer Style: LAMENT
Our prayers for freedom from worry about our money and preoccupation with possessions, should also include cries for justice and provision for those in the Majority World who are materially impoverished.  
Reach Practices:
Simplicity

Gratitude

Create margin in our budgets for special offerings/gifts as led by the Holy Spirit

Increase the percentage of our giving over time

Resources: