Giving 

Giving our gifts a part of our worship service every Sunday. We believe that cheerful and sacrificial financial giving is part of offering holistic worship to God, along with giving of our time, talents and other resources God has gifted to us. 

Contributing financially to the work God is doing in and through Hope is a natural part of following Jesus together as a community of faith. For visitors who do not yet call Hope Community their church home, please do not feel obligated to give.

To make automatic recurring contributions, download the Electronic Funds Transfer form, or contact the office.

A Biblical Perspective on Stewardship

As God’s people, we recognize that creation is a gift from God. God calls Christians to be good stewards of His creation, ensuring that all His resources are available to grow God’s Kingdom. (A steward is a person employed to manage another’s property, especially a large house or estate.) God’s call to stewardship is a transformational journey that involves our head, our heart, and our hands.

God’s Word explains the why, when, how, and where of Christian giving. Because He has given the Church the task of teaching those scriptural guidelines, let’s explore God’s Word for instruction in how we should be loving and giving.

Why We Give…

■ To Reveal His likeness In Us

We are made in God’s image. God so loved that He gave. God gives Christians the Holy Spirit to move them to give with glad hearts, just as He does. God created us to reveal the reality of Himself to the world—loving by giving. “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children.”—Ephesians 5:1

■ To grow in our dependence on God

God promises to reward our faithful stewardship by meeting our needs (Philippians 4:19), and by giving us even more to give (Luke 6:38). Our giving opens the door to that promise- keeping power—and it is when we experience His power at work in our lives, that our faith grows stronger. It will extend into other areas in our journey with God as well, and make us better disciples. “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”—2 Corinthians 9:8

■ To fulfill the mission of Christ’s Church

The body of Christ makes it possible for the many to do what individuals cannot. In covenant with the Lord and with one another, each of us commits our gifts and invests our resources for His work in the world. Covenanters have pledged themselves to The Evangelical Covenant Church as their primary ministry arm of mission in the world. “…to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”—Ephesians 4:12

■ To share the giving love of a living savior

Christ calls us to model His love for a needy world by giving as Jesus did. Some form of giving is behind every act of Christ’s love. Giving and loving cannot be separated…not in the Bible and not in the life of a disciple of Christ. This consistent and giving love is a testimony to the reality of Christ’s resurrection and life-changing presence, and it continues to be the basis for effective evangelistic efforts everywhere. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”—John 13:35

How We Give…

■ Cheerfully

It was God’s “good pleasure” to give us all we are and all we own. Our desire to give in joyful gratitude to God’s plan is not just a command, but it is also the fruit of salvation. Through the pleasure of giving, we affirm that God made us in His image. By giving, we participate in and reflect God’s own joy in giving. “Each of you should give what you have decided

in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”—2 Corinthians 9:7

■ Regularly

The love God has for the world and its people is steadfast. Our faithfulness in stewardship shows itself in steadfast regularity. Faithfulness in giving is another reflection of God’s character in us. It is doing God’s work as he Himself does it. “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.”

—1 Corinthians 16:2

■ Proportionately

Our giving is to be a reflection of our abundance (1 Corin- thians 16:2). Since all of life is God’s gift to us, we might expect God to ask for a large portion in return. Instead, the Bible teaches that the standard for our giving is 10 percent (“tithe”) of our income (Malachi 3:10). What a small response we are called to make as grateful children of God! “Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.”—Deuteronomy 16:17

■ Sacrificially

God’s gift of His only Son is the costliest sacrifice ever made. We, as Christians, are the beneficiaries of that sacrifice, and we are to respond by giving sacrificially. For many, this will mean giving “according to the blessing of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 16:17) and by the leading of the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t ask the same gifts from each of us, but He does ask the same spirit of sacrifice. “Truly I tell you,” he [Jesus] said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”—Luke 21:3-4

What We Give…

■ Our Time

Our willingness to serve God through our church, our community, and world, demonstrates good management of life’s gifts…our “tithe” of the hours and days God has allotted each of us. “Redeeming the time” by offering it to our Redeemer is another mark of a disciple. “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” —Psalm 90:12

■ Our Talents

We are part of a body which functions fully only as its members exercise their God-given gifts in service. Our individual spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities are intended to compliment those of the other members of the body. We are not our own, as the Apostle Paul reminds us. We are “bought with a price.” “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”—1 Peter 4:10

■ Our Testimonies

By giving each of us a “faith story,” God has made us stewards of a gift that is able to lead others “out of darkness, into His marvelous light.” What an honor to be entrusted with a gift no other person but you can give. God doesn’t say our testimonies must be eloquent—just real and ready (1 Peter 3:15). “This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.”—1 Corinthians 4:1

■ Our Treasure

As Christians, we are not to substitute trust in God’s ability to meet our every need with our own ability to provide for ourselves . The Bible says that such attitudes can even create the very shortages they anticipate: “Remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly” (2 Corinthians 9:6). In our finances, as in all other areas of our lives, “we are laborers together with God.” “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”—Luke 12:34

Where We Give…

■ To Our Church

From the Tabernacle Moses erected in the wilderness to the house churches Paul nurtured in his journeys, God has urged His people to participate in a worshipping, local fellowship, and then to regular tithing through that fellowship. God has given the Church all the resources needed to impact the world He has called us to reach—but only as we respond together is that reach strengthened and lengthened. “…In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability…” —2 Corinthians 8:2-3

■ To Spirit-Revealed Needs

God gives each of us unique opportunities to show our Savior’s love by giving our time, talents, testimonies, and tithes. This openness to human need is one of the highest forms of witnessing. However, believers are called to exercise discipline and discernment so that such giving will not be impulsive, but rather will further the Gospel without impairing local church commitments. “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”—Galatians 6:10

■ To Preserve God’s Creation

All of creation is a gift from God. Christians are the people God has called to be managers of these gifts: the world and our lives (Genesis 1:28). Therefore, we give through our lifestyles and thoughtfulness to care for creation until Christ comes again and all things are made new (Revelation 21:5). “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”—Jeremiah 29:5,7

Will You Give?

Because giving is so critical to Christian growth, to the maintenance of Christ’s Church, and to the furthering of the Gospel, it is certain to come under attack by “the powers of this dark world” (Ephesians 6:12). Those attacks may be expressed in remarks like,“There is too much emphasis on giving in the Church.” But, as we have seen, the words giving and loving are scripturally synonymous. Can there be too much emphasis on love?

As disciples of Christ, we overcome such attitudes through an understanding of God’s Word and through wise stewardship of His gifts. When we do, God promises to honor our faithfulness by extending His kingdom.

God has given us all the resources needed to accomplish His work. He trusts our stewardship to reflect the love modeled in Christ…the love of the Holy Spirit who indwells us. How are we making the things that matter most to God the things that matter most to us?

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”—Malachi 3:10

Will you join us on this transformational journey that involves our head, our hearts, and our hands? Will you allow God to transform us from people “living to get” into people“living to give”? Once our hearts were for getting; for getting our own way…forgetting God’s love and ownership of all of creation. Now our hearts are for giving; for giving as God’s Spirit leads…forgiving others as we have been forgiven.

May we journey together in stewardship—God’s resources deployed through God’s people to accomplish God’s mission.

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If you speak, you should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If you serve, you should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” —1 Peter 4:10-11

(From the Stewardship Commission of The Evangelical Covenant Church)