TFC is growing up!

We'll be three years old next month. We're taking some steps that will allow us to mature spiritually and organizationally. Here are three big steps we're taking.

1) We're giving a full tithe plus a 3% offering. A sign of spiritual maturity is when a person is giving a full tithe to God. While we were giving away between 3-8% of our income before, we're finally going to be giving away a full 10%. In addition to that tithe, we'll also be taking some offerings during the year to hit our goal of giving away an additional 3% to our denomination's overseas mission efforts.

On Sunday, David Brush shared this with the congregation.
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In 2 Corinthians 8:3-5 we have a story of the early church. The Christian church in Jerusalem was racked with poverty and Paul is urging his church plant in Corinth to give sacrificially to those that were in great need. In this letter Paul shares the story of another one of his church plants in Macedonia:

3 For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will.4 They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem.5 They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.

Just like the churches started by Paul, at Trinity Family one of our five disciplines is sacrificial giving. We urge those of us that call Trinity Family home to make it a priority to give a full tithe of 10% or to be working towards it. I am proud today to say that this year as a church body we are making a commitment as an entire community to give sacrificially.

As part of the Church of the Nazarene, Trinity Family will be giving away 10% of our income. That means for every 10 dollars we receive as a local church we will be giving away one dollar. Out of that dollar 16 cents goes to providing a pension package for our ministers. 30 cents goes towards helping fund our regional educational institution MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe. 24 cents goes to support the work of our local Kansas City district to do things like help fund the start of new churches. And 30 cents goes toward the world-wide evangelism of the Nazarene Church. Whether it’s providing education to women and children in Africa, to operating hospitals in Papua New Guinea, the World Evangelism department of the Nazarene church is among the most effective of any denomination.

But here is where it starts to hurt, at Trinity Family we truly believe that sacrificial giving is truly a sacrifice. To that end Trinity Family will be giving an additional 3% of our income away to the World Evangelism fund. We will be taking a few special offerings during the year to help raise the money we need to support the world-wide ministry of the Nazarene church. Please be looking ahead to Advent later this year and Pentecost in 2009 as special times to meet this additional challenge.

At Trinity Family we want you to know the joy of giving until it hurts, and we are prepared to lead by example. In 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 Paul says:

6 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. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. "For God loves a person who gives cheerfully." 8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

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This is really going to stretch us financially, but I'm trusting, no I KNOW, God WILL provide!

2) We're moving into a bigger facility. Yep, we're stepping out in faith and moving to the auditorium of PRMS. This COULD backfire on us, but I'm trusting it will enable us to grow. I believe God has called us to do this, so it's His responsibility to meet our needs. I KNOW He'll do it!

3) We're restructuring our leadership team.

We're structuring our leadership team (from here on out called our "Point Team") around The Five. We'll have a leader for each of our Five Marks of a Christ-follower at TFC. Our previous leadership team was called our Advisory Council, and while each member was a leader in their own right, we weren't structured around their particular leadership gifts. I'm trusting this reordering will help us grow in each discipline as a church as well as helping us function at a higher level as a team.
I got the idea when our Advisory Council was reading the book, The 5 Dsyfunctions of a Team together last year.

Our leaders aren't yet all in place, but here's where we're at so far:
Worshipping God - David Brush
Serving Others - Heather Tinker
Connecting with Believers - Joshua Vance

Please be in prayer for our new Point Team. As well as for the future leaders of the other two disciplines.