Prayer

My old boss Bishop Sandy Millar, who was vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton Church (HTB), always said you should give away your best: the best leaders, the best team, generous funds. It’s something I’ve tried to model in my own life and ministry.

A few years after my wife and I had led a church plant in St Paul’s Shadwell in East London, there was an opportunity to plant two more churches. With Sandy’s words resounding in my mind, we went for it! In an act of faith, we gave away our best leaders to two churches, with teams and funding.

That year we sent 20% of our congregation with the planting teams and 40% of the church’s income went to church planting. It was hugely costly at the time. We wondered if we were being foolish and over-the-top. But we did it anyway, and within a year, God had actually grown the church 25% bigger than before we had sent the two teams! And those churches have grown and gone on to plant more churches, reaching even more people with the good news of Jesus Christ and bringing transformation to their communities. Our act of faith was overshadowed by God’s extraordinary faithfulness!

St Paul talks about having a generous posture as he writes to the churches he has planted in Philippi, Berea, Thessalonica, and Corinth. He asks them to express their love for God in generous, ‘over-the-top’ giving.

He uses a planting analogy to explain what he means: a person who sows sparingly, and reaps sparingly. It’s like using a small old seed packet in a sparse garden and expecting the grass to grow back. Instead, you get a sad-looking bare patch.

In contrast, if you sow generously, you will reap generously and that’s the heart posture we’re invited to adopt. Paul says of a generous giver that God is able to bless you abundantly; that you will have all that you need and finally, that you will abound in every good work.

I have seen this firsthand in church planting. Time and time again, I’ve seen God’s abundant blessings when people have generously given in faith. And we see it in the work of the Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication, that God blesses us when we take that step of faith, giving away our best.

What might ‘over-the-top’ generosity look like for you today?

Prayer:

Pray that God would form a generous heart in us, helping us to sow generously and be outrageous in our giving so that others can encounter His love.

Take a 40acts challenge today:

1. Give your best prayer: who could you be praying for to encounter the gift of Jesus today?
2. Give your best invitation: who could you invite to church for the first time, or an Easter celebration/ gathering? Could you host something yourself?
3. Give your best: is there something that brings you huge joy or comfort that could be a blessing to others? Think of the ‘best’ thing you could give this Lent – time, funds or fellowship – and give it generously!