Offering Moments

Offering Moment

• • Rehearse
  • Keep it concise
  • Keep it under 1 Minute and 30seconds
  • Pray at the end
  • Rehearse

Week#1  – It’s good for me

In just a few minutes, we’re going to receive an offering, so go ahead and get ready for that. I know some of you have already given online, so I want to thank you for that. But this is a time in our service where people from all walks of life can financially support the mission of the church.
One of the most important questions we ask ourselves at Life Bridge is:

Do we have money? Or Does money have us?

The reason we ask that is because we realize it’s very easy to get sucked into the gravitational pull of money.  Into believing that if we just had more, or if we were able to hold on to a little more, all our problems would be solved. This thought pattern, which we all given into at times, is what leads us to making money our boss/master.
Jesus, Matthew 6:24, recognize this gravitational pull. He said
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
So, we believe, a very healthy question to ask is …  “Do we have money? Or does money have us?” Giving is how we make sure we are serving the right boss.
Let me pray for our offering as we prepare to give.

Week #2 – It’s good for others

In just a few minutes, we’re going to receive an offering, so go ahead and get ready for that. I know some of you have already given online, so I want to thank you for that. But this is a time in our service where people from all walks of life can financially support the mission of the church.
100% of our offerings go to reaching people that are far from God. Wether that’s in our own backyard in Downriver, Monroe County or our global mission in Guatemala. This mission is funded by people taking on, what we call a “Greater Than” attitude. In Phil 2:3 the Apostle Paul wrote (put on screen)

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility consider others Greater Than yourselves”  Philippians 2:3

Our desire is to consider the people in our community and world “Greater than ourselves.” One of the many ways we do that is by being generous with what we have. By putting others first, we are to able to reach thousands of people each week with God’s truth and grace.
Let me pray that God will use our gifts to directly reach people far from him. Lets pray

Week#3 – Its what God commands

In just a few minutes, we’re going to receive an offering, so go ahead and get ready for that. I know some of you have already given online, so I want to thank you for that. But this is a time in our service where people from all walks of life can financially support the mission of the church.
Real quick I want to share a simple concept from Proverbs 3:9 (on Screen)

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. Proverbs 3:9

Now most of us don’t have crops or barns.  Back then then they gave to God by bringing not just there money but their crops to the temple. They honored God by bringing their very best of everything the raised.
Our economy is much different, we deal with cold hard cash, direct deposits and debit cards, but the principle is the same. If we honor God first, he will supply all we need. Giving a percentage back to God is a declaration of God’s ownership.
Every time we get paid we have the opportunity to honor God with our obedience. By bringing him our best … first …  we are recognizing everything is from him and for him.
Let’s pray as we get ready to take up the offering

Week # 4 How much should I give?

In just a few minutes, we’re going to receive an offering, so go ahead and get ready for that. I know some of you have already given online, so I want to thank you for that. But this is a time in our service where people from all walks of life can financially support the mission of the church.
One of the questions we all ask is “how much should I give?” Like what does God want from me. This is a very personal question between you and God and it’s not a one size fits all. In 2 Corinthians 9 it says (put on screen)

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

God wants you to give … get this … what you want to give. He doesn’t want you to feel pressure, he simply wants to consider what you have been given and then respond accordingly.
Around here we like to challenge people to be Percentage Givers. Instead of giving randomly or when you you have excess, we think it’s important to prayerfully plan ask “what percentage of my income, is God calling me to be generous with?” Whether that is 2, 5, 10 or 15 percent is a very personal decision.
So, to answer your question “How much should I give?” its important to ask the question “What have I been given?” Out of the 100% of what I have been given, what percentage is God calling me to give back to him? Again, this is a personal, no pressure decision.
So I am going to pray right now and we will take up the offering. “God, we are so grateful for what we have been given. I pray that you would make it clear to each individual right here and right now, what percentage of what we have been given are you calling us to give back.”

Fifth Sunday

In just a few minutes, we’re going to receive an offering, so go ahead and get ready for that. I know some of you have already given online, so I want to thank you for that. But this is a time in our service where people from all walks of life can financially support the mission of the church.
We need an image of our contribution screen on the app.
Before that happens I wanted to challenge you to set up a recurring giving online. If you have never given online or through the Life Bridge App it takes about 3 or 4 minutes to set up. There is a recurring giving feature that is simple to use. You can schedule what time of the month you would like your contribution to come out.
This is incredibly helpful to our mission. Everything we do here is dependent on the regular consistent contributions of everyone who attends Life Bridge. It’s simple and is the easiest way to make a contribution.
So, if you have not setup and account, consider taking some time to do that today. If you already have an account consider scheduling a recurring contribution.
Lets pray