Click Her to see the CLASSIFIED AD SECTION OF YOUR LOCAL ST. JOHN'S NEWSLETTER

Top Ten Important Facts About GivingPlus 2008

1.      An eligible individual can donate any amount to St. John’s Lutheran School and have that gift supplemented by Thrivent Financial through a program called GivingPlus. There is no minimum amount for giving.

2.      To participate, a donor simply completes a GivingPlus form and includes that form with his donation to have his gift supplemented. Forms can be found in the school office, in the social hall at the visitor center, or online at www. sjlcs.org.   

3.      Thrivent Financial will contribute $1 for every $2 an eligible donor contributes.

4.      Thrivent will contribute up to $300 per year for each gift. The maximum giving range is $600.Thrivent Financial will supplement $300 for a $600 or more donation.

5.      The $600 maximum donation does not need to be made all at one time.  Thrivent Financial will continue to supplement an eligible donor’s smaller

gifts until the total donation reaches $600.

6.      Any eligible donor can use the program to donate both to St. John’s Lutheran school and another enrolled Lutheran organization annually.

7.      A donor must be at least 16 years old to be eligible for the GivingPlus program.

8.      Thrivent Financial will contribute an extra $25 to St. John’s Lutheran School when the donation is made by a person who volunteers 25 or more hours annually at St. John’s Lutheran School.

9.      To be eligible to use the GivingPlus program, a person must be either a benefit member of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (owning a life, health, or annuity product) or the owner of a Thrivent Mutual funds product, or the owner of a pre-merger LB variable annuity or life product.

10. There are many ways to become eligible for the GivingPlus program. When you work with Thrivent Financial, you know you are working with a Fortune 500 company that shares your values and enables you to accomplish your financial goals while benefiting the Lutheran organizations your care about.  So talk to your Financial Representative to find out about becoming eligible for GivingPlus. Both you and the school will benefit.

THE GIFT OF GIVING

It is the special gift whereby the Spirit enables certain Christians to offer their material blessings for the work of the church with exceptional willingness, cheerfulness and liberality.

Wow, our material items are blessings; blessings that we can give away; give away liberality; with cheerfulness. I like that. I am blessed to be a blessing. We are called to give. What a joy it is to belong to a church that has Faith on Fire, giving us so many opportunities to be Christ Centered, Loving One Another, and Making Disciples of Others.

 Where can I give you might be asking yourself. Look around and see some of the opportunities on this short list.

The Angel Tree

God’s Pantry

Mexico Fundraiser Opportunities

LOVE, INC.

Library Books/CD/DVD Donations

Tracts/gifts for our Welcome Center

Youth Fundraiser Opportunities

The Winter Coat Drive

Lakeshore Pregnancy Center

Food Boxes for Christmas

Lutherans for Life

Material for our Monday Morning Quilters

Spring Auction Items

Cards or a book or a roll of stamps for our Forget Me Not Ministry

There are so many ways to give and giving is something we each can do at our own levels. Give something to someone today. Give them a smile J and tell them that God loves them everyday – it is so easy now to witness and smile during the Christmas Season. Go ahead smile - a lot - it is good for the giver and the receiver. Blessed to be a blessing, I still like that!

Giving Sacrificially

A husband and wife who were traveling around the world saw a boy in Korea one day pulling a crude plow in a field, while an old man held the plow handles and directed it through the rice paddy. The husband was amused by the sight and took a snapshot of the scene.

“That’s very curious,” he remarked to the missionary who was their interpreter and guide. “I suppose they are poor.”

“Yes,” said the missionary. “That is the family of Chi Noui. When the church was built they were eager to give something to it, but they had no money, so they sold the only ox they had and gave the money to the church. This spring they are pulling the plow themselves.”     

The husband and wife were silent. Then the wife said, “That was a real sacrifice.”

“They did not call it that,” said the missionary. “They thought it was fortunate they had an ox to sell.”

The two tourists had not much to say, but, when they reached home, they took the photograph to the church and told their pastor about the incident. “We want to double our pledge to the church,” they said, “and give us some plow work to do. We never knew what gratitude or joy or sacrifice really meant until now.”

God spoke to this couple through their experience in Korea about the joy that comes from giving. In His Word, God speaks to all of us about the importance of giving. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). He also said, “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8). If we choose not to give faithfully and generously, we forego the blessings that God gives to those who give cheerfully. There is no better time than now to examine your level of giving, and, if need be, to take a leap of faith and increase your giving. In the words of Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we give; we make a life by what we give.”

Budget Solutions   …  Turning $2 into $3

 If every adult member of St. John’s Lutheran signed up for Thrivent’s GivingPlus program and each member contributed $600 in school gifts, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans would send St. John’s a check for over $270, 000.  Through the GivingPlus Program, members (16 years+) are eligible to receive a 1-to-2 match up to $600.

For example, if you contribute $600 to the school, Thrivent will contribute $300.  St. John’s receives $900 for your $600 donation.  If you have already completed a matching fund form, thank you for remembering St. John’s in your charitable educational giving.  If not …

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3 …

1.      Write a check in the amount of your offering to “St. John’s Lutheran School”

2.      Complete the Thrivent GivingPlus Application form (available from both the school and church office)

3.      Put the two above items, along with an offering envelope in the offering plate or drop it off at the church office.

Not a Thrivent member? No problem. For a $10 membership fee, you and your entire family, can also become a Thrivent member. Call Laura Harvey at (616) 842-0260 or either pastor at (616) 842-4510.

Guidelines for Giving

 At last you’ve come to the realization that God has given you 100 percent of what you have. At last you’ve come to the conclusion that, apart from Him, you can do nothing. At last the attitudes of greed and self-sufficiency have been replaced with attitudes of humility and dependence on God. Therefore, you want to return to God part of what He has given you. You gratefully acknowledge that all you have belongs to Him, but you need part of that to support yourself. How do you decide how much and in what way you will give? Those are decisions you make personally with God’s leading, but the following are some guidelines to consider:

V       Give first. Proverbs 3:9 commands, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.” In today’s language, “crops” means your paycheck. Therefore, before you pay any bills, set aside the amount you have decided, according to God’s leading, to give.

V       Give Wisely. Malachi 3:10 commands, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse…” This means that your first ten percent should go to your church. Beyond that, in your giving, research those charities that ask for your money. See how they spend it before you commit to give it.

V       Give quietly. Jesus said, “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do…” (Matthew 6:2). Give to honor the Lord and receive your reward from Him instead of the empty praise of others (Matthew 6:4)

V       Give joyfully. The Apostle Paul wrote much about giving, and it is his contention that “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). If at first you feel reluctance in your heart, ask the Lord to change your attitude and give you joy in your giving. As with all requests brought in His name, He will surely answer your prayer.

Through the working of the Holy Spirit, God will grant us the strength to be faithful and obedient to His giving principles. As Paul wrote, “I can do everything through Him Who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

Electronic Tithing is here!

Electronic Tithing is a great way to make your giving more convenient and cut down on your check writing! For more information see George Huff, Stewardship Director