In a season of world and national turmoil, strife and uncertainty there are a couple of things to remember before we look at the finances themselves. First, is to find our peace and rest in the sovereign God of the universe who is ruling over all! Second, is to remember our Lord Jesus Christ has died and saved us from eternal damnation and separation from Himself! Third, is to rejoice because the Holy Spirit is living within us, using every blessing and trial to make us more like our Lord, Jesus Christ!
Now that we have a heavenly mindset, I want to give a picture of what I see, in the finances of Faith Bible Church, that bring great joy and encouragement to my heart and the hearts of the Elders.
What do I see?
First, I see a people that are generous givers. In a season of potential fear and uncertainty in our world, let alone our nation, there is evidence of a very generous people.
How is generosity being demonstrated?
It is being demonstrated in your giving to the Care Fund. In our 19-20 fiscal year (Sept 19-Aug 20) you gave about $77,000 to the Care Fund and we had requests for about $42,000. Currently there is about $44,000 sitting in the Care Fund for those in our congregation that need assistance.*
Another way I see the generosity of this congregation is through your giving to the General Fund. For those that don’t know the General Fund is where most everything goes and cares for our Global Partners, our facility and our staff. Last year you gave about $150,000 more than we budgeted to the General Fund for our 2019-20 fiscal year. This enabled us to plan for this year’s budget, put funds into our Operational Reserves or “rainy day” fund, put funds into our Church planting Savings and even put some funds aside for facility projects.
What else do I see?
The second thing I see is a people who are faithful and regular givers. As I said before in a season of potential fear and uncertainty in our world, we are in a season of change in our church with friends and loved ones helping to start Community Bible Church and Faith Bible Church taking on the challenges of growing our Seminary and Aspiring Men programs for training men to be future pastors and elders and another church plant with Paul Funchess on the horizon; with all of that you have seen the need and have risen to the challenge by demonstrating a heart of faithfulness to give.
How is faithful and regular giving demonstrated?
By the steady pace of your giving! Members and Regular Attenders please hear me—as we watch the numbers, we can see that the those who call FBC their Church are faithful regular givers.
Our challenge comes in that we are 12 weeks into our 2020-21 fiscal year, and we are about $5,000 behind. What we have realized is that the startup of Community Bible Church has had a drawn-out impact that has been difficult to trace throughout Covid and that the desired budgetary increase we made for this fiscal year may have been a bit aggressive.
This is not currently a cause for alarm, rather it is cause for the Elders to throw out the “yellow flag” of caution. We are watching and are ready to take budgetary steps to correct the issue if need be.
One thing that can help us in our decision making for our budget is that while there is a faithful and regular giving pace demonstrated by the Members and Regular Attenders, there are also, new folks that are a part of FBC that may not have yet committed to the work and ministry of FBC as a church.
If you are new to Faith Bible Church, my encouragement to you would be to begin to participate fully as a member of the congregation. Part of that participation is your giving as an act of worship. Please DO NOT give out of compulsion or because I or the Elders say so, but rather give because of what Christ is doing in your heart as a participant in the body life of the Church, 2 Corinthians 9 :6-7, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
In conclusion, I want to say again just how thankful the Elders of Faith Bible Church are for this body of believers! You respond in your hearts to the leading of the Spirit and you believe in the work of the Church. You are a generous people in every area of life, and we see that in your love for one another and the world around you!
Please continue to pray for wisdom for the Elders as we steward the resources God provides through you His people!
Jess was the Senior Administrator at Faith Bible Church for over 15 years. He and his wife Renae have two sons and are now members at Indian Trail Church in North Spokane.
