PRAYER: Lord, thank You for the inexpressible grace You have given to me. Bless my services and gifts, and use them to help us finish the task together as the body of Christ.
DAY 20 - READ 2 CORINTHIANS 8:9-15
There it is—the model for our giving—in the grace and the sacrifice of Christ himself. The most familiar and perhaps most important words in the New Testament are found in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that everyone who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” God so loved you that He gave his Son that you might have eternal life. This is the greatest example of sacrificial giving.
Has this church blessed, shaped, and changed your life? Maybe you have never been a part of a capital campaign in this congregation. This church exists with the tools and the facilities to serve you in Christ’s name only because of the sacrifice and the gifts of those who have gone before you. For them, you were worth it. Maybe you have been a part of this church for a long time. Maybe you have made sacrifices in the past so that this church could minister to people in Christ’s name. If so, then no doubt you have seen the lives of many people change because of your sacrifice. Was it worth it? You know it was, and you know that this new commitment will be translated into stories of faith beyond anything that you could ask or imagine! Eternal investments in God’s kingdom are always worth it.
We learned on Day 10 that in 2 Corinthians 8, the Macedonian church had suffered great trials, tribulations, and poverty. Yet they earnestly desired to give to the work of the Lord. They did this out of their great joy! Later in the passage, Paul commended them for their great work and how they excelled in everything. He gives them this exhortation: “Now finish the task, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has” (2 Corinthians 8:11-12). What is the gift God is leading you to eagerly give?
Thank you for joining this spiritual journey these past 20 days. As a church body, God calls us to gather together in order to worship, grow, and serve. He scatters us to share the good news of the gospel. God is doing a new thing at Calvary Bible Church! We have seen Him work miraculously over the past three years. Let’s “finish the task” together as the body of Christ. “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38). Let’s commit to being His workers and reap an eternal harvest together for His kingdom!
ACTION ITEM
Follow through! Make a commitment to sow the seeds of the gospel, give cheerfully, and serve as God calls you. In years to come, as you see God’s grace work wonders in people’s lives, you will reap the rewards of an abundant, eternal harvest for God’s kingdom.