One of the best things about this wonderful Church is your generosity! I have worked with this dear Church since 1999, and have had the joy of serving as your Pastor since 2007. In that time, we have again and again given far above the average for churches of our size.

Whether it is to Missions, our members, people in our Community, or to the Staff; you are a generous and loving people and I thank God for being part of this Church! Last year we gave $30,269.00 to mission causes, which was about 11% of our total income for the year!

Every Sunday in December (as we do each year) we will receive our annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions!  These funds go directly to support of our nearly 5,000 International Missionaries with none of the funds used for administrative costs. The funds make up a large percentage of the total received by our Missionaries each year.

I want to challenge you to join Lin and I in giving a truly sacrificial offering again this year. As the Lord allows, this coming Lord’s Day morning I will preach on the subject, “Why do we give to Missions?” I know that seems like a simple question, but, there are lots of biblical reasons for so doing.

As you prepare to hear God’s Word this Sunday, read and think over John 4:35-38 and think about the following questions:

What does it mean to us that God, Himself, has commanded His people to live sacrificial lives and give sacrificially so the work of His Kingdom may be accomplished?

How does giving to missions result from our love for the Lord and for lost people?

Paris Reidhead famously said that he went to the foreign mission field, “So Jesus would receive that for which He paid.” What does that mean to you, and how should that impact our giving?

God only saves people through hearing the Word of God. How does knowing that impact our passion for giving to missions?

Finally, how does knowing that people are lost impact your desire to give to missions?

I think it is fair to say that in the part of Central Illinois that makes up Central Baptist Association, there are over 307,000 lost people. In Illinois there are over 10,000,000 million lost people. In North America there are over 279,000,000 lost people. And, in the rest of the world, there are another 5,300,000,000 (5.3 billion) people who are lost!

The genius of Southern Baptist missions is that we are able to impact lostness at every level. One of the largest missions offerings ever in history is the annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. The goal this year is $150,000,000.00

I hope you will give generously and pray passionately so this goal will be exceeded.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and family and friends by your side!