Why Do We as a Church Give Over 10% to Gospel Work Beyond Our Walls?

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.  For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.  Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace.  But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you— see that you excel in this act of grace also.
(2 Corinthians 8:1-7, ESV)

God has sustained High Pointe financially over our last fifteen years together. But the Lord’s sustaining grace in 2020 has been beyond anything we could have asked for or imagined. Allow me to rehearse God’s blessings that we may praise the Lord together.

In 2005, we began our journey together with a debt load of approximately $4,500,000. As of today, our remaining debt totals $997,812.14. Yes! As of 2020, we now owe less than $1 million. We praise and thank our gracious heavenly Father for his kindnesses toward us and his generosity through you! And we look forward to seeing how the Lord will eliminate that last bit of debt from over our heads. Pray with us toward that 2021 may be the year we see the debt eliminated.

And while 2020 has been a challenging year for us all, it has been a year of great blessing for High Pointe. As you will hear at our members meeting this Sunday night, we are presently about $58,000 ahead of budget needs in our giving. And, in comparison to last year, we are about $100,000 ahead in giving. Only God would lavish his grace on us like this during a pandemic. Additionally, we are still under-spending our budget. The bottom line is that we are in the best financial standing since 2005.

But that has not always been the case. There were times early on when we wondered if the church would be able to survive. And yet, though our financial position was questionable, the elders decided over twelve years ago to begin giving over 10% of our operating income to gospel work outside of High Pointe. As we look back now, we see how the Lord has blessed that decision. Our hope at that time was that by giving generously during our own financial hardships as a church, we could model generous, sacrificial giving to all our members. It was our desire to communicate that giving is a great joy and that it is more blessed to give than to receive, even when we think we can’t afford it. We wanted all of you to experience the joy of giving just as the Macedonians did when they gave out of an abundance of joy and out of their extreme poverty (2 Corinthians 8-9). High Pointe, we can’t afford not to give, for there is great blessing and resulting joy when we give generously and sacrificially. God does not bless us so that we would hoard his blessings; he blesses us in order that we would bless others. So, we will continue modeling gospel-driven giving as a church. We will continue stepping out in faith and giving out of our abundance of joy to what the Lord is doing among us and in our world.

To be sure, this does not mean it will be easy or that 2021 will be just as strong. Nevertheless, we will not let circumstances like debt hold us back from doing God’s will and supporting God’s work. So, we will continue giving over 10% of what we receive from your regular giving to gospel work outside of High Pointe, while also diligently tackling our debt and funding ministry.

Would you join us in this act of faith and love, evidenced in our own generous giving? Pray about your present level of regular giving. Perhaps you’ve never contributed, and you need to begin. Maybe you have given regularly, and the Lord may lead you to increase your present level of giving. Or, it could be that the Lord will lead you to continue giving at the level you have been faithfully contributing in the past. In whatever way the Lord leads, let’s commit together to give generously, cheerfully, and regularly out of an abundance of joy and our present financial situation, so that God would be glorified, the lost would hear the good news, and we may be filled with joy. As you excel in everything, see that you excel in this act of grace also.

Be sure to go to our website to learn about different ways you can give at High Pointe.  Click HERE.

Love,

Pastor Juan