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I was watching the news the other day and caught the end of a report on a church (I don’t know where the church was located) where the pastor gave each member $100 to use in some way to help others or benefit the community. The news then interviewed some of the church members and reported on what they had done with thier money…it was an amazing story! Anyway, at church this Sunday, my pastor did almost the same thing. Lately, we have been talking about living inside-out as a church, as individuals, and as a community, so to carry this discussion further Pastor Nate called for 10 volunteers to come to the front of the church during his sermon. He then proceeded to hand out an envelope to each person with a $50 bill inside. His challenge was for each person to not only use the money to help someone else, but to double or triple it’s return. Basically, he wants these people (and anyone else who would like to be involved) to live out the parable of the talents or the loaned money in Matthew 25. Some of the ideas people came up with were to use the money given to them to buy quilting supplies to make blankets for babies who are orphaned or simply in need…so instead of helping only 1 person it would be helping several. Each person has 3 weeks to begin or complete their project and then there will be a video showing what some of the members chose to do with their money. (Our pastor did this in all 4 of the services) I thought this was such an awesome thing to do and it has made me start thinking about what I would choose to do if I was entrusted with the money/talents…not that I can’t use my own money in the same way, which I hope to do…I am just still thinking about what I can do. God has entrusted all of us with talents and I am finding out just how important it is that we use these talents for His glory. I know that I have not always used the gifts God has given me in the best way…if at all….sometimes I let fear hold me back from sharing with others, but this is something I am continuing to work on.
“This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God”
-2 Corinthians 9:12
I am so thankful to God for the gift He has given me and the world in His Son and I know that I need to be better about showing through giving just how thankful I am.
Anyway, I would love to hear any ideas that other people have, so feel free to post a comment or send a message back to me.
COMMENTS
Ryan “Wink”: How did this whole experiment go? Sounds like a phenomenal idea! What did you decide to do? Maybe an update is necessary here??? 
So, I was offered a job on Thursday and after a lot of prayer, other people’s prayers, and deep discussions with my family and friends, I decided that the job wasn’t where God intended for me to be. It wasn’t something I was extremely passionate about, but I know that what God wants for me is not always what I want for myself, so that did not really factor into my decision overly much. However, the fact that I would have been working on Sundays (missing church) and on Thursday nights (missing Bible study) definitely gave me a reason to think about whether this was really something I should do. It wasn’t a tough decision for me to make and I know that other opportunities will open up for me and I am looking forward to seeing what happens. I trust God with my life and I know that He will use me in whatever I do and for me that is enough. I have a few more interviews this week (one really interests me…I would be planning and implementing soccer & basketball programs for elementary age kids…2 things I love – sports & kids), so I am looking forward to that and just seeing where God leads me. I also applied for a teaching assistant position at Kindering…a non-profit organization that works with children who have been abused, neglected, or are disabled. It wouldn’t be an easy job, but it would definitely be rewarding. Anyway, that is where I am at now and I am happy to continue to follow where God leads me.
