Step Together

This Sunday (Dec. 14th) is our Step Together Offering to mark the one-year point of our giving campaign.  I can hardly believe it was one year ago that we took the step to give (over a three-year period) gifts of faith, sacrifice, and generosity to fund the vision God has given this church!!

Our goal has been to transform the buildings God has given us into worship and ministry centers that will be used to preach His Word, worship Him as Lord, disciple & equip people to serve Him, and extend our "reach" into our community.  We believe the Lord has sent and will continue to send people to Rock Bridge to meet Him, grow in Him, and bring glory to Him through their lives. Renovating, retrofitting, and building these buildings provide more capacity for people to connect to Christ and His community.  So on Sunday we simply want to unite our pledge giving and step together into Year Two of the project with unity and a renewed commitment to the God-given vision for Rock Bridge (click here for more details). 

Only in the past few years has God really taught me about sacrificially giving to His causes.  I want to share a few things Beth & I have personally learned:

1) Giving is hard (if not impossible) when motivated by fear, guilt, or obligation; giving is easy when motivated by BIG ideas and BOLD visions.  The church has the BIGGEST, BOLDEST, & BEST vision ever birthed and yet too often uses fear & guilt to motivate people.  Here's Rock Bridge's big and bold vision:  as long as anyone in our "area of influence" does not have a church home or personal & growing relationship with Christ then our mission is not finished.  This means the best is yet to come, God is just getting started, and giving to His causes is a safe and rewarding investment (not an expense) in eternity. That motivates me!!!

2) We cannot outgive God.  God led us a few years ago to give our entire savings to Him when Rock Bridge purchased the Wink.  I won't go into details, but trust me, you cannot outgive God!

3) Giving to something bigger than myself makes me feel good about myself.  I know this sounds a little weird but it is true.  I think we are all wired to want to be part of something special, unique, and big (look at how much $$ was given to the presidential campaigns this year).  Based on the authority of God's Word, nothing is bigger than Jesus Christ and His church (Colossians 1:15-18).

4) Giving honors God because it clearly demonstrates I trust God.  The more I grow as a Christ-follower, the more I simply want to honor God period.

So this Sunday Beth & I will be excited and honored to continue our participation in The Next Step campaign by "stepping together" with our fellow Rock Bridgers to further God's vision!!  And this coming year, Beth & I will be expectant as we watch what God does through a church committed to staying in step with Him!!