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Welcome to Week #8 of the 90-Day Tithe Challenge! Whether you find yourself tithing for the very first time or have made the decision to recommit your household to this vital spiritual discipline, I want to commend you for honoring God with your finances. Let me say again that I continue to pray for both you and your family every day.
Last week, we heard that helping feed a less-fortunate little girl blessed the Tomlinson family’s own little girl—Saylor—by having her hospital bills inexplicably paid-in-full. It’s such an amazing story, isn’t it? God takes our sacrificial giving and uses it not only to bless others but to bless us in return.
A few weeks ago, I encouraged everyone taking the 90-Day Tithe Challenge to read The Generosity Ladder by Nelson Searcy. (Note: If you still haven’t received your own free copy of this book, you can simply reply to this email, or call the church office at 352-371-9646, and I’ll personally send you one.) Here’s a recap of each “rung” of Searcy’s giving model:
FINANCIAL PEACE
Top Rung: Peak Level: Sacrificial Giver
Middle Rung: Obedience Level: Proportional Giver (Tither)
Bottom Rung: Basic Level: Initial Giver
FINANCIAL STRESS
Just by taking the 90-Day Tithe Challenge, you can be sure that you are walking in obedience as a “proportional giver.” However, we should always be climbing toward this top rung of “sacrificial giving”—and subsequently, toward greater financial peace. Which leads us to this week’s…
TIP #8: “PEACE” TELLS US WHETHER OR NOT WE ARE GIVING SACRIFICIALLY:
You are connected to the One Who Owns It All. Through Jesus Christ, we have been reconciled to our Father in Heaven. He gives us a “peace that passes all understanding” when we obey the things He has placed on our hearts. In regard to this peace, I want to share the testimony of Richard and Yi Alexander, who wrestled with giving sacrificially even though they were hundreds of miles apart at the time.
By encouraging you to give sacrificially, I am in no way belittling the faith that it has already taken you to get involved in the 90-Day Tithe Challenge. I thank God that you have decided to walk in obedience. But for those of you who know that God is calling you to sacrificially bless those less fortunate than you—to give more, to do more, to be more—I implore you to listen to that call. My family and I took that step years ago, and it amazes me how blessed we are because of it.
Thanks again for taking the 90-Day Tithe Challenge!
—Pastor Chris
