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Why Give to SCC? Quarterly Financial Letter

April 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

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Dear Friends,

I was recently presented this question: Is your church the best place for someone to give their money?  The answer is yes.  Here’s why.

Most of you are probably familiar with the Agnostic Pub group that I co-lead.  We read a book at a pub and then switch pubs when we switch books.  It’s a group where those who aren’t so sure about this whole Christianity thing can go and find some community.  I am usually the only Christian in the group.  The rest are made up of agnostics, atheists, and everything in between.  Most attend our church.  Some are friends of those who attend our church.  A couple of weeks ago this is what happened…

Several of us had gathered and were beginning to catch up when someone new to our church showed up.  She has come pretty consistently to our Church in a Diner and was intrigued by the group because she had a lot of questions about religion and faith.  An Agnostic Pub group sounded like just thing she needed.

When she sat down at the table I realized that we needed to do some introductions so I asked each person to share their name and to explain why they were at the Agnostic Pub group on a Thursday night rather than somewhere else.  Their answers floored me.

One by one each of these “agnostics” talked about how amazing our church was.  They weren’t sure yet about Jesus, but they couldn’t stop gushing about how great SCC was.  It was warm and welcoming.  It was a safe place to ask questions.  The sermons were always helpful (I didn’t make that up).  Hard questions were open for discussion.  They went on and on.  At one point, one person realized how much they were gushing about SCC and sheepishly said, “Tom didn’t pay us to say this.”  Here were a bunch of agnostics who had become evangelists for SCC to another agnostic!  They weren’t yet evangelists for Jesus, but they were more than half-way there.

That’s why SCC is the best place to give your money.  And that’s only one of a dozen stories I could tell you about the last couple of months.  We’re a curious, creative, and compassionate community that is building bridges with people who have never entered the church or who have been hurt by the church.  We welcome their questions about God.  We’re creative in all we do to reach out to them.  And we show everyone, agnostics included, God’s compassion.

You already know this.  That’s why you give to SCC.  I wanted to share this story with you to show you one way your giving is transforming lives.  Your tithes, offerings, capital campaign pledges (over $283,000 given to date!), and designated special giving (over $2700 given this quarter!) help us ignite authentic life in Christ by connecting people to God and one another, growing disciples into the character of Christ, and helping each person to serve our church, community, and world.  Thank you for your generous giving!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

Pastor Tom

P.S. The absolute easiest way I know to regularly give is to automate the process either through EFT or setting up a regular check to be mailed through your online banking. Then you transform lives even when you can’t always make it to worship.  Included is an EFT form for your convenience.  EFT can be changed at any point by simply calling the church office.

 

Designated Special Giving (DSG)

Listed below are opportunities to touch people’s lives.  One just might catch hold of your heart, spirit, or imagination, and God won’t let it get out of your mind.  Prayerfully look over the list below and consider whether God is calling you to give to one of these DSG opportunities?  DSG is an above-and-beyond giving opportunity, above and beyond other commitments you’ve made to the church such as your annual Commitment Sunday pledge, your Capital Campaign pledge, or your commitment to Dr. Mir in Nicaragua.  If you can’t give the total amount listed, don’t feel like you can’t contribute.  Perhaps God will speak to five other people too, and their total giving meets the need or opportunity.  Take some time to consider DSG alongside your current giving, and watch what God will do in the coming weeks and months!

  • ·         DONE! Main Projection Screen ($1,400) – Help communicate the gospel effectively and excellently.  Our current screen is showing significant age.
  • ·         DONE! Nursery Gates ($100) – Keeps kids safe and helps parents worship with peace of mind.  Makes our current nursery setup easier.
  • ·         DONE! Floor Mats for the Nursery ($40) – Makes a clean soft place for kids to play.
  • ·         DONE! Percussion Shaker ($30) – Adds more variety to the sound of our music and creates an environment where people can go deeper in God’s grace through worship music.
  • Youth Ministry Intern ($5000 – $1500 given!) – We’d like to hire a college student as a year-round youth intern to help our youth go deeper in God’s grace.
  • Leadership Training ($300+ – $400 given!  This need never runs out.) – Conferences, workshops and coaching help our paid/unpaid staff continue to improve their craft and reach new people for Christ.
  • Appreciation Gift Cards ($5+ – $200 given!  This need never runs out.) – A small gift card to a coffee shop, etc. can go a long way in showing appreciation to and retaining volunteers.
  • Outreach Events ($500+) – Help reach new people for Christ through several outreach events planned for the coming year that will include renting tents, bounce houses, and possibly even a river boat!
  • StuREV Event Scholarships ($200+) – Provide scholarships for students and chaperones to events like Acquire the Fire, winter retreat and more that will deepen the faith of our youth.
  • Parsonage Landscape Projects ($500+) – Improve the landscape of our parsonage (SCC owned pastor’s house).  Shrubs, lawn care, mulching, and more will help make a good first impression.
  • Signage ($100 to $2000) – We’re working on a new office sign, street signs, signs going into Lansing Christian School, and signs inside LCS that show our new logo and improve visibility.  Signs create and communicate our identity to the community and are an extension of our hospitality.
  • Guitar ($1000) – The church-owned guitar shows significant wear and tear.  A new guitar adds excellence to the music of our church creating a worship environment for people to encounter God.
  • Nicaragua Meds ($100+) – We send medical teams to Nicaragua twice a year to share God’s compassion.  A huge expense that pays significant dividends in health is medicine.  Many maladies can be simply treated with the appropriate meds.  Share God’s compassion with medicine for Nicaragua.
  • Member Care Training ($9500) – We are exploring bringing in John Savage several times over the next year.  Savage is a consultant we have worked with before who specializes in member care through training in listening skills.  This would help us expand our capacity for showing compassion within our community and help retain people when they experience bumps in life and the church.

If you would like to give to one or more of these Designated Special Giving opportunities, simply drop a check in the offering bag and write “DSG” and the name of the DSG (i.e. “DSG: New Screen”).

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How your giving changed the world in 2012!

January 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment

2012Dear Friend,

The other day I was sitting with someone at our Monday night Church in a Diner and he said to me, “I haven’t been in church for forty years, but I really like what’s going on here.”  Wow!  Thank you, God!  This middle-aged man was invited by a neighbor who is also new to SCC and has been attending Church in a Diner.  One new person invited another new person.  This made my night.  Another evening I sat with a young man in my office who wanted to share some good news with me.  His wife had been praying for him for many years.  He had just had a “God experience” and was ready to commit his life to Christ.  Whoa!  That news made my month!  Then I got a call from someone who has attended our church somewhat sporadically.  He was an older man who was experiencing some pretty significant bumps in life.  He didn’t see much need for Jesus before these bumps, but when the turbulence hit, he was looking for anything solid to hang on to.  He reached out to Jesus and found a firm foundation.  Amazing!  Thank you, God!

People are finding Sycamore Creek Church a place where they encounter the compassion of God and it changes their lives.  They come curious about God because of something creative we’re doing, and they meet Jesus in the life of our community together.

I want you to know that your giving makes possible environments where people encounter God.  Your giving this year has had a significant impact:

  • We received $3800 in our Christmas Eve offering for Nicaragua and $800 in our alternative gift fair.  That’s $4600 to put a dent of God’s compassion in Nicaragua through our medical missions!
  • Our capital campaign has received $268,993 in two years.  We’ve paid off the mortgage on the parsonage, finished the basement, set aside 10% for a missions tithe, and saved the rest for a building.  We’re on pace for our total pledged amount of $366,137!
  • We’ve expanded our worship opportunities by offering a Monday night Church in a Diner at Grumpy’s Diner that is averaging about fifty to sixty people a night, most of them new to SCC!
  • Since October we’ve seen total attendance growth across both venues in the 30% range!  This growth has spilled over into Sunday morning as well.  Five of the last six months have seen growth on Sunday morning!  We are reaching new people and inviting them into the adventure of following Jesus.

While there is much good news to celebrate, there are some significant obstacles still before us in 2013.  While attendance in the second half of the year is up, giving has gone down.  We received $287,554 in 2011 and $245,789 in 2012, a 14% decrease, and we are projecting receiving $228,000 in 2013.  This has forced us to act creatively with less money.  In this context ideas like Church in a Diner were born.  It isn’t impossible to reach new people with less money as our attendance figures show.  I give thanks to God for your continued generosity.  Would you consider taking a step of further generosity in 2013?

  1. If you give but not regularly, would you consider giving a regular weekly/monthly amount?
  2. If you give regularly but you’re not tithing (10%), is God calling you to step up to tithing?
  3. If you tithe, is God calling you to radical generosity by giving 15-20% or more or by giving to a designated special giving (DSG) item listed on the back of this letter?

Thank you for following Jesus with everything you’ve got, money included.  Together we’ll ignite authentic life in Christ in more and more people and fan it into an all consuming flame!

Peace,
Pastor Tom

P.S. The best way I know how to do any of the three suggestions above is to automate the process either through EFT or setting up a regular check to be mailed through your online banking. Then you give faithfully even when you can’t always make it to worship.  Included is an EFT form for your convenience.

 

Designated Special Giving (DSG)

Below are listed various opportunities to touch people’s lives.  A particular opportunity just might catch hold of your heart, imagination, or spirit, and God won’t let it get out of your mind.  Would you prayerfully look over the list below and consider whether God is calling you to give to one of these DSG opportunities?  DSG is an above-and-beyond giving opportunity, above and beyond other commitments you’ve made to the church such as your annual Commitment Sunday pledge, your 20 Years Deep Capital Campaign pledge, or your commitment to Dr. Mir in Nicaragua.  If you can’t give the total amount listed, don’t feel like you can’t contribute.  Perhaps God will speak to five other people too, and their total giving meets the need or opportunity.  Take some time to consider DSG alongside your current giving, and watch what God will do in the coming weeks and months!

  • Main Projection Screen ($1,400 – $981 already given) – Help communicate the gospel effectively and excellently.  Our current screen is showing significant age.
  • Youth Ministry Intern ($5000) – We’d like to hire a college student as a year-round youth intern to help our youth go deeper in God’s grace.
  • Nursery Gates ($100) – Keeps kids safe and helps parents worship with peace of mind.  Makes our current nursery setup easier.
  • Floor Mats for the Nursery ($40) – Makes a clean soft place for kids to play.
  • Leadership Training ($300) – Conferences, workshops and coaching help our paid and unpaid staff continue to improve their craft and reach new people for Christ.
  • Signage ($100 to $2000) – We’re working on a new office sign, street signs, signs going into Lansing Christian School, and signs inside LCS that show our new logo and improve visibility.  Signs create and communicate our identity to the community.
  • Percussion Shaker ($30) – Adds more variety to the sound of our music and creates an environment where people can go deeper in God’s grace through worship music.
  • Guitar ($1000) – The guitar the church owns has significant wear and tear over the years.  A new guitar would add excellence to the music of our church which creates an environment for people to encounter God.
  • Nicaragua Meds ($2000) – We send medical teams to Nicaragua twice a year to share God’s compassion.  A huge expense that pays significant dividends in health is medicine.  Many maladies can be simply treated with the appropriate meds.
  • Coffee Shop Appreciation Gift Cards ($5) – A small gift card to a coffee shop can go a long way in showing appreciation to and retaining volunteers.
  • Member Care Training ($8000) – We are exploring bringing in John Savage several times over the next year.  Savage is a consultant we have worked with before who specializes in member care through training in listening skills.  This would help us expand our capacity for showing compassion within our community and help retain people when they experience bumps in life and the church.

If you would like to give to one or more of these Designated Special Giving opportunities, simply drop a check in the offering bag and write “DSG” and the name of the DSG (i.e. “DSG: New Screen”).

 

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The Daily Grind – Financial Margin

October 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Daily Grind

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Daily Grind – Financial Margin
Sycamore Creek Church
October 28 & 29, 2012
Tom Arthur
1 Timothy 6:6-10 

Peace Friends! 

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, ‘How was the trip?’

‘It was great, Dad.’

‘Did you see how poor people live?’ the father asked.

‘Oh yeah,’ said the son.

‘So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?’ asked the father.

The son answered:

‘I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.’

The boy’s father was speechless.

Then his son added, ‘Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.’

The Problem
The problem I want to look at today is that we look prosperous but we’re really poor.  Today we wrap up a series called The Daily Grind.  It’s been about the stuff that slowly but surely grinds us down day after day.  Not the big blowout stuff, but the small stuff.  We’ve looked at emotional grind, physical grind, time grind, and today we’re looking at financial grind.

Sarah and I struggle a bit with the financial grind.  I get paid regularly and you all take good care of us, but Sarah’s income comes in big chunks.  It’s feast or famine at our household.  We’re either covering just the basics or binging ‘cause we just got a big huge check!  While this is somewhat true of us, of all the daily grinds (Emotional, Physical, Time), this is the one where we seem to have the least grinding.  It’s because we live simply (on one income) and give generously (mostly give Sarah’s income away).  We recently had a family financial emergency that was in the $1000s of dollars.  We had an emergency fund that could cover it and so while it was stressful, it just meant that we were going to have to tighten the belt for a while to rebuild our emergency fund.  Then Sarah got a royalty check.  She actually hasn’t gotten much of a royalty check in many years, but the royalty check was within forty-three cents, yes, forty-three cents of thousands of dollars of the financial emergency.  We gave thanks to God for how we were first, prepared with an emergency fund, and then for how we were taken care of above and beyond that!  I still marvel at it as I tell this story today.

The question of the day amidst an election year seems to be: What are the economic statistics doing?  But the question should be: What are the economic statistics doing to us?  It seems like layaway has become really popular again.  “Buy now pay later” = “Binge now pain later.”  We buy more and more stuff on debt and credit, which means that we have the perception of prosperity but the reality of poverty.  A couple of months ago I was talking with a local bank manager and he told me that his best guess was that 50% of the houses in the neighborhood surrounding the bank were underwater, they owed more than they were worth.  A friend of mine took out too many student loans, spent them unwisely, graduated and got too much house for too much mortgage, maxed out all his credit cards, and then it all came crashing down in bankruptcy.  Who is to blame, the politicians ask.  I think everyone: the banks and credit cards for loaning irresponsibly and my friend for spending way over what he could afford.

How much debt do you have?  How content are you with your current financial situation?  I’d guess that most of us are carrying more debt than we would like, and are not very satisfied with how things are going financially.

If you won $1,000,000 in the lottery, would that fix everything for you?  You might think so, but you would probably be wrong.  Did you hear recently about Amanda Clayton?  She won the lottery a couple of years ago but continued taking food stamps.  Recently she was found dead from a possible drug overdose.  If you don’t know how to take care of your money, getting more money will only make the problems bigger.  If you don’t have the discipline to build financial margin in your life with little money, then you won’t have the discipline to do it with a lot of money.

I’d like to turn to God’s Word today and see what it says about building financial margin in our lives.

1 Timothy 6:6-10 NLT
Yet true religion with contentment is great wealth.  [A new definition of wealth:] After all, we didn’t bring anything with us when we came into the world, and we certainly cannot carry anything with us when we die [Universal truth: we all die].  So if we have enough food and clothing [live simply], let us be content [to get a little bit more]. But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil [not all evil but all kinds of evil]. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Main Point
Here’s the main point for the day: Living simply and giving generously produces financial margin.  If you get any one thing from this message get that.  When you live simply, that is below your means, and give generously, that is give sacrificially, then you will end up with financial margin in your life and financial peace no matter how much you make.

To live simply and give generously here’s what I want you to do.

Ditch Debt
Get rid of your credit cards.  If you can’t pay them off at the end of each month so that you don’t carry over any balance, then get rid of them.  And cut up those credit card checks as soon as they come.  Practice a debt snow-ball.  Pay off the smallest debt you have.  Then take that monthly payment and begin to pay off the next biggest debt.  Once you’ve paid that off, take those two payments and pay off the third.  And on and on until you’re debt free.

Decrease Spending
To be able to ditch your debt you’re going to have to decrease your spending.  Now a few very disciplined people can do this without a budget (but they’re probably not in debt to begin with), but most of us need to set a budget.  I was recently floored when Jeremy, our worship leader, showed me how they budget and track their money.  They use Google Docs.  Kristin, Jeremy’s wife, set this whole thing up online with a spread sheet for each category of spending.  I know that Kristin set it up because it’s way too advanced for Jeremy.  So every time Jeremy and I meet at Biggby Coffee and he buys something, he logs in to their Google account and types in what he just spent.  It shows him how much more he has that month to spend.  This is pretty amazing to me because of how detailed it is and that they set it up on their own.  But the discipline that he and Kristin show to do this every day is even more amazing than the technology. 

Sarah and I do the same basic thing but we found a website called Mint.com that does most of the work for us.  It pulls data from our bank accounts and it learns how to categorize your specific spending habits and all you have to do is check it to make sure it’s categorized everything correctly. 

Now budgeting doesn’t have to really include any technology except a pencil and pad of paper.  But whatever you use, use something to help you budget so that you decrease your spending so that you can ditch debt so that you can build financial margin.

Devote More to Savings
So you’re ditching debt by decreasing spending, but don’t forget to devote more to savings.  First you need to build an emergency fund.  Start by aiming for a $1000 emergency fund.  That will get you through two big emergencies.  That way when the water surge hits after the hurricane, you’re not taken out.  I mentioned earlier that Sarah and I had an emergency fund that was going to buffer our financial emergency.  While the financial hit didn’t feel good, it would have felt even worse had we not had the emergency fund. 

In an ideal world, you’d build that emergency fund to be six months of expenses.  That would give you six months to find a new job if you got laid off.  Wouldn’t that be great to have six months of cash to cover the loss of a job?  It’s a long-term goal, but one worth aiming for.

The general rule of thumb for devoting more to savings is to live on 70-80% of what you make and put at least 10% in savings.  So now we’ve come back to living simply.  Live on less than you make.  To do that you have to decrease your spending by budgeting and ditch debt.  Then you’ll be able to devote more to savings.

Sarah and I have also begun to think even more long-term.  How will we pay for Micah’s education?  We’ve begun a college savings plan.  We put $25/month toward it right now.  It’s not a lot, but it’s better than nothing.  I think one of the big temptations is to think that because you can’t save a lot or put a lot away, that you shouldn’t save at all.  Well, that’s a false assumption.  Save as much as you can.  And when you can save more at a later time, then save more.

Discipline your Desires
So we’ve looked at ditching debt by decreasing your spending, so that you can also devote more to savings.  All this is in order to build financial margin in your life. But let me share a secret with you: money has a spiritual dimension to it.  Money holds a kind of power over your heart.  It’s hard to do any of this when money finds a root in your heart.  The best and most effective way to break the power of money in your life and to break the hold it has over you is to give it away.  Money was not made to be given away.  When you give it away, you break down its power.  Money is like manure, spread it around and it can do a lot of good, but pile it up in one place and it stinks to high heaven.  Live simply and give generously.  It’s the motto for those who want to have financial margin in their lives.

I recently came across the amazing story of Howard Cooper.  Howard recently retired from his auto store, Howard Cooper Imports inAnn Arbor.  Howard had a surprise for his employees when he retired.  He gave all of them $1000 for every year they had worked for him!  Some people had worked twenty or thirty years!  Wow!  What generosity.  What kind of person gives away so much of their hard-earned savings when they retire?  I had to find out so I called up Howard and talked to him.  He told me he got the idea from a friend who had a concrete business.  This friend of his has not paid his employees as well as he would have liked because he was always bidding low so that he would get the bids.  When he retired, he sold the business and made a huge amount of money.  So to make up for his poor pay rates, he did the same thing: gave his employees big “retirement bonuses.”  Howard had treated his employees well, but felt that gesture still had merit.  As we talked he told me about his mother who was a very devout Methodist.  His mother was very generous with her money.  One time she had heard that someone had won $1,000,000.  She commented to Howard, “Think how much good that person could do by giving that money away.”  Howard’s mom’s attitude toward money rubbed off on him, and when he had the opportunity he decided to give generously to his employees.  When I grow up and have lots of money, I want to be like Howard Cooper!

I love what Howard did because it’s being generous with the people who are around him day in and day out.  I hope whenever I talk about giving money away, you don’t immediately think I’m talking about giving it to the church.  I do want you to give to the church because I think that’s part of disciplining your desires, but being generous is much bigger than that. 

But when it comes to giving to the church, the best way to do it is to automate it.  We automate everything these days.   In fact, I barely ever write a check.  I’ve created most of my financial life to take place automatically whether I’m even paying attention or not.  My pay check is automatically deposited to my bank account.  All of my regular bills are automatically taken out of my checking account.  And I’ve done the same thing with my tithing to the church.  Tithing means 10%.  It’s the basic standard of giving in the Bible.  Sarah and I do it through EFT, electronic fund transfer, but you could also do it through your online bank bill pay.

Some people point out to me how they like to put something in the offering bag and that feels like an act of worship.  That is probably true for many people.  When it comes to worship, we like the physical act of doing something.  But if you automate your giving, that doesn’t mean you can’t still do something.  When the offering bag comes around every week, consider simply touching it and saying a prayer of thanks.  That moment can be a moment of thanks for everyone whether you put something in it or not.  Touch the bag and be thankful.  Or if you want to put something in the bag, simply put an empty giving envelope in the bag.  Let that be a symbol for you that you gave in some automated way.

There are three different groups of people here today.  Those of you who have yet to give something to the church.  I want to encourage you to give something, anything, regularly.  Even if it’s just $5.  Then there are some of you who give regularly but don’t tithe.  Consider tithing today.  Then there are those of you who already tithe.  Consider taking the next step to radical generosity.  Give above and beyond 10%.

One last comment about disciplining your desires by giving generously.  Anyone start thinking about Christmas yet?  It’s just around the corner.  What’s your financial game plan for Christmas gifts?  Sit down and write it up.  And make sure you include giving generously.  We want to encourage you to remember that Christmas is not your birthday.  It’s Jesus’ birthday.  So give away as much as you spend on gifts.  Or cut what you spend in half and give the other half away.  Our Christmas Eve offering will be entirely focused on missions and meeting the needs of those in our community and world.  So begin making plans for Christmas generosity right now.

Financial Margin
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, liked to say that financial margin was about making all you can (in honest ways), saving all you can (living simply), and giving all you can (give the rest away).  I heard him paraphrased lately this way: “Keep our needs low, our generosity high, and our expectations heavenward.”  What if we all had that kind of financial margin?  Imagine the joy of having your basics covered and not living pay check to pay check.  Imagine the joy of having an emergency and having money to cover an emergency.  Imagine the joy of giving lots of money away.  Imagine a whole community of 150 people doing that.  That’s whatSycamoreCreekChurchwould look like if we all had financial margin. 

You know what?  I already see it here at SCC.  I see people doing it in amazing ways.  There are people here at SCC who live way below their means.  They live very simply.  And that frees them up to do some amazing things with their money to help others find that financial margin too.  It warms my heart.  But perhaps the most heart-warming example is a teenager I found out about who tithes toSycamoreCreekChurch.  That’s someone who we’re already teaching how to discipline their desires.  I cried when I heard that story.  Thank you, God, for letting me be part of a community like that.

Prayer
God, help us be a community that helps rebuild the financial margin in people’s lives.  Help us be a community where people are ditching debt, decreasing their spending, devoting more to savings, and disciplining their desires.  Help us be so much that kind of a community that it rubs off on our children and teenagers.  May it be so in the name of your son Jesus Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Mothers Give More than Money

May 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Not So Random Acts of Giving
Not So Random Acts of Giving – Mothers Give More than Money
Sycamore Creek Church
May 13, 2012 (Mother’s Day)
Tom Arthur

Peace Friends!

I’m a new parent.  I have a seventeen month old.  Like every good parent, we occasionally dress him up in our alma mater, Wheaton, which has me thinking.  How am I going to pay for college?  How am I going to prepare for his future financially?  Micah’s godparents gave us a jumpstart on this by contributing to a college savings account.  So on his first birthday and first Christmas, we asked family to give to this college savings account rather than give him lots of gifts. 

But along the way, I’ve also been thinking a lot about how to intentionally teach Micah about God’s plan for money.  He’s got a lot to learn to not end up in the same boat as a lot of college students.  According to creditcards.com, the average household carries almost $16,000 in credit card debt.  In 2008 half of undergraduates had at least four credit cards, up from 43 percent in 2004 and 32 percent in 2000.  (Source: Sallie Mae, “How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards,” April 2009).  The average college student graduates with almost $20,000 in debt, and average credit card debt has increased 47 percent between 1989 and 2004 for 25- to 34-year-olds and 11 percent for 18- to 24-year-olds. Nearly one in five 18- to 24-year-olds is in “debt hardship,” up from 12 percent in 1989. (Source: Demos.org, “The Economic State of Young America,” May 2008).  According to USA Today, the average undergraduate carried $3,173 in credit card debt.  Yikes!  How can we all help teach our children to live differently?  We talk a lot about how to live differently when it comes to money, but rarely do we talk about how to intentionally teach our children how to live differently.  Thankfully the Bible has some principles that can guide us.

An old Methodist way of summarizing what the Bible teaches about money is to say make all you can, save all you can, and give all you can.  What I’d like to do today is walk through each of these and ask how we can intentionally teach our children how to live the way the Bible teaches.

Make All You Can

Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich. 

A wise youth harvests in the summer, but one who sleeps during harvest is a disgrace.
Proverbs 10:4-5 NLT

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil
1 Timothy 6:10 NLT

The Bible is clear that providing a living for yourself, your family, and your community is an important part of being human.  We aren’t made to lounge around in leisure all day long.  The question is, how do you teach your children to “make all they can” while at the same time not to fall into the love of money?

Over the past week I interviewed several different moms to see how they intentionally taught their children how to live into God’s plan for their money. Here are some of the ideas I heard along with a couple from Larry Burkett’s book, Financial Parenting.

Kris Richards’ family gives their children—Noah, Elise, and Lindsay—a commission on doing housework.  While there are some things everyone is required to do and not get paid for (like clearing the dishes from the table), they have a list of things that need to be done (trash, kitty litter, etc.) and they are required to do it to get paid.  If they don’t do it, they don’t get paid, but they are still required to do it!  Kris also provides several other opportunities around the house to do various projects to get paid. 

Marilyn Mannino got her daughter, Miranda, involved in 4H at a very young age.  Miranda was seeing other friends raise animals, take them to auction, and get paid at the end of it.  Miranda began with chickens and then progressed on to hogs.  She was required to pay all the expenses to feed and house the hogs. 

Sarah Arthur, my wife, grew up with parents who were in no hurry to have her find a job.  They encouraged her to be creative and enjoy time with family and friends, especially spending time outside.  They grew up without a TV so they weren’t wasting their time inside, but they also weren’t driven to get a job just so they could buy more stuff.  Eventually Sarah did get a job, but it wasn’t until her later teens. 

Larry Burkett recommends thinking of the family as a community.  There are certain benefits that one receives by being a part of a community, and there are certain responsibilities.  He suggests not tying too closely together those benefits (allowance) and responsibilities (chores).  Both are expected.  At the same time, he suggests hanging up a list of extra projects that can be done to earn money (e.g., mow the yard – $20).  These extra projects allow kids a chance to be assertive in making some extra money on top of their allowance. 

Save All You Can 

Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds, for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be secure for the next generation.
Proverbs 27:23-24 NLT

Unless you’re part of 4H or live on the farm, you probably don’t have to teach your kids about flocks and herds, but you do have to teach them about how income and expenses come and go.   Here we’re talking about teaching your children how to live simply, save, and budget. 

Kris Richards has a three-envelope budgeting system with her children: giving, savings, and spending.  When they are given their “commission” each week, they put part of it in each of these three envelopes.  The kids have over time saved up hundreds of dollars.  When I asked her what they were saving it for, she didn’t have a specific thing, but imagined that it would probably be used for a car some day in the not so distant future (Noah and Elise are both thirteen).  Kris also mentioned that her kids can sometimes get focused on stuff.  They notice fancy new cars in their neighbors’ driveways and in-ground pools in their backyards.  Kris and her husband, Brian, often remind them that these things are probably bought on a lease or debt.  

Marilyn Mannino has had a hard time with this over the years because her husband doesn’t like to budget.  While they live simply and have paid off all their debts, and save to buy for cars, they have always made a comfortable living and haven’t needed the discipline of a budget.  At the same time, she has found it important to try to teach her children about budgeting.  Her son, Joe, wanted to go to prom this year.  So they put an envelope in his drawer and began contributing to it weekly.  They had to plan ahead because the tickets were so much and only sold at certain dates. 

Sarah Arthur’s parents gave Sarah and her sister comparative huge allowances each month because they gave them money for all their monthly expenses: lunch money, clothing, school supplies, entertainment, etc.  They were required to budget this money and make it last.  If they ran out, that was too bad.  They’d have to find a way to make it to next month’s allowance and plan better.  Also, when Sarah did begin working, her parents required her to pay a certain percentage (about 15%) for “room and board.”  She was expected to contribute to the household.  What she didn’t know was that her parents were setting that aside and when she got married, they gave it to her as a gift. 

Larry Burkett suggests beginning with a basic budget like Kris Richards’ family: give, save, spend.  As the children grow older, this budget should get more complex and become more and more like real life.  Burkett even suggests as they become teenagers to institute a household “tax” of 5%.  This money then goes in a community fund that the family decides together how to spend.  This helps them realize and learn about taxes and making financial decisions with a community of people.  Perhaps, one of Burkett’s more startling ideas is that as teenagers get older, they should be given a supervised opportunity to run the family finances for six months.  He likens it to teaching kids how to drive. 

Give All You Can

 Remember this — a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 NLT 

If you sow generously by giving generously, then you’ll reap generously.  But if you’re a scrooge with your money, then you won’t receive many blessing back either.  I don’t think the Bible is always talking about financial blessings here.  Giving generously and cheerfully nurtures a kind of joy and freedom that is priceless.  So how do families intentionally teach their children how to be generous?  Back to our moms. 

Marilyn shared about how she tries to model it.  This is a little tricky at times because she and her husband aren’t always in agreement on this, so she tithes from her own income.  In this way she models it for her kids. 

Kris makes this part of each child’s budget.  She says it’s not hard for them to give joyfully because they began young.  It was all given to them freely in the first place, so why get upset when they’ve always been required to put aside 10%?  Because an offering isn’t taken in the youth gathering (something we’ll explore changing!), Noah and Elise both give their portion to their younger sister, Lindsay, to give in Kids Creek.  

Sarah described how her parents never complained about what they weren’t being able to buy because of their tithing.  She remembers driving with someone one time and hearing this person wistfully comment about a big house they were driving by, “If I hadn’t tithed my whole life, maybe I could have afforded a house like that.”  This way of thinking was foreign to her.  Sarah has also watched her parents be generous with us.  Two times they have given us interest free loans: when we bought a house to make some upgrades, and when we had our son to buy a new car.  In both ways they were able to give generously not just to church but to their family because they were living simply.  I recently wrote them a note thanking them for their generosity and telling them that when I grow up I want to be generous just like them. 

Larry Burkett points out that sometimes children who are natural savers need to be encouraged to spend their money.  Hoarding isn’t a biblical idea.  The Bible teaches that money is for living and giving.  One wonderful reminder that Burkett gives parents is that savings can also be used by children to give generously to the needs of others.  Giving is one way of “spending” savings. 

Changed Lives

What would our church look like if all our parents were teaching their kids about God’s plan for money?  If parents intentionally taught their children God’s plan for money, I think that we would be a seriously counter cultural community that would have several distinctive features: 

First, we’d be a community full of families living in peace.  Imagine not having arguments about money.  Imagine not being torn about whether to pay this bill or that bill.  Marilyn described the conflict in her family growing up because of money issues.  It was what motivated her to live differently so that her children didn’t have to live with the same kind of stress. 

Second, we’d be an attractive community.  If all our families were living full of peace about finances, how long would it take before our friends, extended families, and neighbors began to notice and be curious about what was making this peace possible?  Not long.  Sharing our faith is most effective when it comes from a place of transformation. 

Third, we’d have more integrity in our own financial dealings.  It’s said that teaching is learning twice.  If all our families began intentionally teaching children how to handle money, they just might begin living into those principles more fully themselves.  Kris said that this already happens for her.  Her children are reminders of what they have taught them about living differently. 

Fourth, we as a community could be more generous with our church, community, and world.  We could reach out and touch more lives.  We could meet more needs.  A generous church is generous because it is made up of generous families. 

So what’s your plan?  How will you intentionally teach your children about God’s plan for money?  Don’t have a plan? Then set aside some time this week to make a plan.  Or check out the resources listed below.  Let me pray for you in that effort. 

Creator God, all that we have is yours to begin with.  Help us to be good stewards of those gifts, and help us to be good stewards of the children that you have given us.  Help us to intentionally teach them your plan for money.  May it be so in our lives in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Further Resources

www.daveramsey.com (Brian and Kris Richards – 393-6107)
Financial Parenting by Larry Burkett and Rick Osborn
Share, Save, Spend Money Discussion Cards by Vibrant Faith Ministries

Small Group Discussion Questions

Each week we provide discussion questions for small groups that meet regularly to discuss the message for the week.  Want to find a small group to join?  Email Mark Aupperlee – m_aupperlee@hotmail.com

 How are you intentionally teaching your children or how did your parents intentionally teach you to…

1. Make money in honest ways?
2. Budget, save, and live simply?
3. Give generously and cheerfully?
4. What helpful resources are you familiar with for family finances?

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Not So Random Acts of Giving – Begins this Sunday

May 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Not So Random Acts of Giving

If you want to get better at anything, what’s the best way to do it?  Wait for random opportunities or create a plan?  The answer is obvious.  The same is true about the way that we handle our money.  God wants us to give generously.  So what’s the best way to go about growing in our generosity?  Waiting for random opportunities or creating a plan?  The answer is obvious.  Join us for a two-week series where we explore God’s plan for growing your faith and love by intentional giving.

May 13, 2012 – Mother’s Give More than Money

May 20, 2012 – Big Dreams and Bold Prayers (Commitment Sunday Annual Pledge)

Audio Downloads

Meeting at Lansing Christian School
3405 Belle Chase Way
Lansing, MI 48911
517-394-6100

Sunday Worship & Nursery – 9:30 AM & 11:15 AM
Kid’s Creek and StuREV – 11:15AM

Map

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A New Reason to Give

May 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Not So Random Acts of GivingPeace Friends!

Why do you give?  There are a lot of good reasons to give to Sycamore Creek Church.  We’d like to suggest a new reason to give to SCC: Designated Special Giving (DSG).  Beginning with this newsletter, we’re going to be listing ten DSG opportunities every quarter.  They are various needs that already exist or new ministry opportunities that we’d like to move into but don’t yet have the finances to do so.  We think that by sharing these ideas, God might speak to some of you in new ways about giving.  A particular opportunity just might catch hold of your heart, imagination, or spirit, and God won’t let it get out of your mind.  Would you prayerfully look over the list below and consider whether God is calling you to give to one of these DSG opportunities?

Let me share a couple of caveats.  First, we’re still asking you to make an annual financial commitment.  This year’s Commitment Sunday will be Sunday, May 20th, and the theme for the two-week series (beginning on May 13th) will be Not So Random Acts of Giving.  One thing that is clear about the way the Bible approaches giving is that giving is best done intentionally.  Commitment Sunday gives you an opportunity to seek God’s will for your own giving with intention rather than randomly deciding what you’ll give week by week.  Watch for more info on Commitment Sunday in the coming weeks.

Second, DSG is an above-and-beyond giving opportunity, above and beyond other commitments you’ve made to the church such as your annual Commitment Sunday pledge, your 20 Years Deep Capital Campaign pledge, or your commitment to Dr. Mir in Nicaragua.  Some of us are giving sacrificially to give intentionally and regularly in these areas, and this above-and-beyond kind of giving may not be for you.  But God has given some the spiritual gift of giving, and DSG is especially for people with this spiritual gift.

Third, if you can’t give the total amount listed, don’t feel like you can’t contribute.  Perhaps God will speak to five other people too, and their total giving meets the need or opportunity.  Fourth, we’ve tried to give a brief description of the need or opportunity, but if you’d like more information, feel free to contact the office.

So take some time to consider DSG alongside your current giving, and watch what God will do in the coming weeks and months!

Peace,
Tom

P.S. Don’t forget that the easiest way to give regularly and intentionally is through Electronic Fund Transfer.  Contact the church office fore more details.  You can make future changes at any time by simply calling.

Designated Special Giving (DSG)

  • Staff Laptops ($600 each) – Tom, Jeremy, and Julie/Kids Creek are all using laptops that are several years old and running very slowly.
  • Main Projection Screen ($1,400) – The current screen is showing significant age.
  • Retreat Scholarships ($20 and up) – If someone needs help going on CRASH men’s retreat, Awakenings women’s retreat, or a youth retreat, this helps cover those costs.
  • Connection Café Tables ($200) – The current tables are aging and falling apart.
  • Presentation Laptop & Software ($1,500) – Currently we put together Sunday morning’s presentation on several different computers.  Streamlining it to one laptop would save hassle, time, and the stress of making all three computers work together.
  • Youth Ministry Intern ($5000) – We’d like to hire a college student as a year-round youth intern.
  • Emergency Fund ($20 and up) – We help people in our church and community who are having difficulty covering basic expenses like rent, utilities, and food.
  • Leadership Training ($300) – Conferences, workshops and coaching help our paid and unpaid staff continue to improve their craft and grow our church.
  • Signage ($100 to $2000) – We’re working on a new office sign, street signs, signs going into Lansing Christian School, and signs inside LCS that show our new logo and improve visibility.
  • Digital Recorder to MP3 ($100) – This would allow us to more easily get audio of each week’s message on the website and podcast.

If you would like to give to one or more of these Designated Special Giving opportunities, simply drop a check in the offering bag and write “DSG” and the name of the DSG (i.e. “DSG: Staff Laptops”).

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Generous Sowing (Reveille UMC)

January 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Reveille

Generous Sowing
Reveille United Methodist Church
January 22, 2012
Tom Arthur
Matthew 13:1-9

(This sermon was preached at Reveille United Methodist Church in Richmond, VA for their calling Sunday.  I was an intern at Reveille during the summer of 2006.)

Peace, friends!

It is good to be back among you.  I have many many good memories of Reveille from the summer I spent as an intern here in 2006.  I will share with you later in the sermon some of the ways that summer had an impact on me, but for now, let’s dive into the Scripture text for today.

[Read more...]

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How to Buy a Car

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I wish I had watched this video before buying my most recent car.  But I think I got a fairly good deal anyway.

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Doritos Commercial

January 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This is apparently a submission to the make your own Doritos commercial.  Super hilarious!

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Advent Conspiracy – Begins December 4th

November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This Christmas SCC is joining a conspiracy…

Don’t let consumerism steal the soul of Christmas.  Advent Conspiracy shows you how to substitute consumption with compassion by practicing four simple but powerful, countercultural concepts:

Worship fully – December 4
Spend Less – December 11
Give More – December 18
Love All – December 24 (5 & 7PM), December 25 (7PM)

Christmas can still change the world.

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