Giving to and serving our neighbors are at the heart of the Gospel. James tells us that “religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27 ESV).
2 Corinthians 9:6-7 likewise says, “The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up in your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
The wonderful thing about online contributions is that people who cannot physically present can still participate in the work of the church. A recent Barna study had this to say about the generosity of Christians:
Unsurprisingly almost all practicing Christians (94%) have given to a church, compared to one-quarter (23%) of atheists or agnostics. In fact, practicing Christians tend to be more generous overall than their secular counterparts: 96 percent of practicing Christians gave to a church or a nonprofit, compared to 60 percent among atheists and agnostics.
Source: The State of the Church 2016 by the Barna Group
We recently began live streaming our services. We invite people who worship with us online to contribute at the same time that we, who are at the building, do. We keep our spending to a minimum so that we can give generously to mission work and benevolence. Please consider partnering with us to help those who are in desperate need.–Jimmy Hinton