Anyone who has spent time around a curious three year old child will be familiar with their typical refrain of "But WHY?"
As we head into the end of November, and the upcoming Giving Tuesday this November 28th, we want to ensure that we as a community of faith have a well thought through reply to the question of WHY? Why give? Why give to Victoria Alliance Church? Why give in sacrificial ways? We've provided some of our thoughts, but we would look forward to hearing your thoughts too!
Giving as a person of faith arises as a response to the generous provision of our good God. We do not earn any favour in our giving, rather we are moving in ways that are being formed within in us by the generosity of the Spirit toward us. When beginning his ministry years, Jesus called some of his disciples, fishermen, to come and follow him, and they did. They dropped their nets and followed. They dropped everything they had invested in, everything that had pinned their hopes of a future upon, everything they felt confident about, everything they could grasp. They gave up all they had because that is the life Jesus was inviting them into – and its the life he still invites his followers into today. God invites us to live wildly generous lives.
One of the things you will quickly discover at VAC is that it is a community wherein you are surrounded by generous givers. Folks give their passions, their time, their skills, their prayers, and their financial support all as an expression of their desire to respond to the Gospel community they have encountered here. Our leadership team works dilligently to wisely steward the gifts entrusted to this local expression of the Church.
When you give to VAC you can trust that your givings are being put to work to:
If we don't win favour through our giving, then why on earth would anyone choose to give in wildly generous ways, sacrificial ways even? The simple answer of faith is this: giving in sacrifical ways is a practice that finds us clinging all the more dearly to Jesus. As a follower of Jesus, one of the ways we embody the good news of His life with us is to continually choose to move ourselves toward Jesus, and this is often times achieved by moving in counter-cultural ways of trust.
A pattern of generous giving is a spiritually healthy one, but is something that many find is a discipline that takes practice, time and, most importantly, trust to develop. It it not often easily jumped into. Rather generous giving as a practice is something that develops over years of growing in trust of God. At VAC we would encourage you to invite the Spirit to guide your decision making as you create your giving plans for the year. We believe you may be surprised by the joy and freedom you discover in the process.
To all who have connected into our community at VAC, we are truly grateful. Thank you for choosing to walk alongside us as we seek to stay on mission, making Jesus known among us, around us, and beyond us. It is our joy to do this in community with you. May you know the companionship of Jesus in each and every one of your days. You are loved.
For more information about how to support VAC with generous giving, please see our Giving page here.