Wednesday, December 01, 2004
MIRACLE DAY OFFERING
Earlier this year my church had the opportunity to purchase 4 acres of ground immediately joining our present property. We need the land to expand our present church building. We have outgrown the facilities.
The church leaders have spent a long time negotiating with the landowner to buy the land. For quite a long time he was refusing to sell the ground to us at a price we could afford – a price we felt God wanted us to pay. So we began looking at other options. Then unexpectedly the owner called and said he would sell at the price we had finally offered--$10,000 per acre.
The church had about $13,000 in the building fund. We thought we could come up with an additional $7,000 from our General Fund and be able to pay $20,000 from funds already on hand. We decided to have a “Miracle Day” offering to raise the remaining $20,000.
On that Sunday (October 17th) we would receive a special offering of cash or checks. We were not looking for pledges or commitments. It was to be a one-time cash offering. The goal was a minimum of $20,000. But all money received would go toward our land purchase and the expansion of our facilities.
The purpose of this offering was more than just to raise money. It was to give God a chance to show Himself and what He can do through committed, dedicated people. We thought it would be a blessing to each of us and to our communities to learn what God would do through this offering.
This offering was not so much about land or building additions as it was about ministry! We have no interest in buying land and adding to our present building, except that more space allows us the opportunity to expand present ministries and develop new ministries in order to reach more people – here and abroad!
“WOW!” “Incredible!” “Absolutely Amazing!” These were some of the comments when the total offering was announced that morning. There were also cheers, tears, shouts and applause when I read the total: $40,330.00. There have been some money come in since that Sunday. But that was the total received in that one-day offering.
God really showed up in a mighty way. It was such an encouragement to the people. It gave us the momentum we need to go into the actual building project and the long-term fund raising we will need to do to pay for the building addition.
I am praying that we will keep our focus on ministry, not building additions. I know that is the focus that the other Servant Leaders and I want to keep and the one we want our members to keep.
But we are still thanking our Awesome God for His blessing on that “MIRACLE DAY”.
Jim
posted by jim 11:30 AM 0 comments
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