Paying for the Roof over our Heads

I remember the first time I considered paying for the church building that I enjoyed week by week. I was just out of school. Our church was planning a building extension and asking all congregation members to pray about contributing towards the cost. I wondered if it was worth contributing at all, since I had so little money to give. However, I decided to. I gave a small amount each year and I’m so glad I did.

Maybe I paid for a few bricks, or a perhaps few square metres of carpet. That doesn’t seem very significant. But, what it did to my heart was priceless. I began to learn to trust God for His provision - to seek first His Kingdom and watch Him provide for my needs. I learnt to be faithful with the little I had - which made it a whole lot easier to think in a godly way about giving later, when I had more income.

We are approaching the end of the financial year. We have an opportunity to give towards our building loan and then deduct that amount from our taxable income when we do our tax returns. It is an opportunity to pay for the great facilities we all benefit from. It is an opportunity to see the gospel go out to our community from an excellent ministry base. Most of all, it is an opportunity to respond to the Lord in faith and thankfulness, to seek first His Kingdom.

This is not giving instead of your regular giving to church, but in addition to it. Our regular giving is essential for running our ministries and should be our first priority.

Praise God that our congregation gave $116,820 towards the building loan last year! We presently owe $934,531.

To give cash, use an envelope clearly marked 'building fund', with your name and email/home address (so that the treasurer can send you a receipt for tax deductibility). These can be dropped off at the Office or placed in the Offertory collection on Sundays or Wednesdays. You can also visit the website https://www.dapto.church/giving to give using Tithe.ly or bank transfer. Using tithe.ly, please click ‘Make a one-off donation’ and select ‘Building’ from the ‘give to’ dropdown list. Bank transfer details can be found by scrolling down to “Tax-Deductible Giving”. (A thought for next financial year: the treasurer would love it if you set up a regular donation so that the church has funds coming in each month when the loan payments are due.)

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

By Rev. Mark Boyley (Senior Minister)