This Sunday we started a new teaching series entitled Generous. Our desire is to encourage and challenge people to learn to give when the world continually says “get.” In 2 Corinthians 8 we saw that Paul asking the church in Corinth to give generously to the Christians in Jerusalem that were experiencing hardship. The money would be distributed through the local church to members that were in need. The Apostle challenged the church to grow in this grace of giving, and for it to be out of an overflow of joy. For many people today, giving, especially to the church, can bring up a host of uneasy feelings. Many churches do a poor job of teaching Biblical stewardship and generosity. Some churches make giving feel like a guilt driven obligation rather than a joyful act of worship. And, unfortunately, many churches have mishandled money and broken the trust of their members and even those outside the church. At City Awakening we are very aware of the cynicism that follows giving to the church and we try to be sensitive to those issues while still teaching Biblical truth on the subject. After all, Jesus talked a lot about money. We never want to make anyone feel obligated or guilted into giving. We never want to emphasize the size of a gift over the sacrifice of the giver. And we never want to break the trust of those that give or might give to our church. But we do want to teach generous living. 

That raises the question that many people have when it comes to giving to any church or organization, “Where does the money I give to the church go?” Honestly, this can be a tough question for churches because everyone is going to have their opinions on how the money “should” be used. Some people will be passionate about children’s ministry while others advocate for a robust homeless ministry or global missions’ budget. The issue of pastor and staff salaries is always touchy as well. Some believe pastors should get paid a minimal salary and not take money away from other ministries, and some see pastors as being mostly underpaid especially considering the 1 Timothy 5:17 statement that elders are “worthy of double honor.” 

With this in mind, the goal of this post is to give an overview of how we utilize the financial gifts we receive and the process behind those decisions. Our leaders want to maintain integrity and honesty in all that we do, and we want you to know that we are striving to be the best stewards of all the resources God blesses us with.