Missions & Outreach Blog
Christmas Gift of Joy Special Offering
Dec. 25, 2011 Haley SmithThis year you dug a well, started a sustainable agriculture project, and built a worship space in Africa. You helped people transition from homelessness to stable situations of living and working in Birmingham. You built a Habitat House. You fed, comforted, and housed survivors of the spring tornadoes. You trained young mothers for work and parenting. You provided medical care for hundreds of people in Panama.
These are all things that you helped Trinity accomplish through the Christmas Gift of Joy. All of the money we collect for the Christmas Gift of Joy goes to missions beyond the church walls, 85% of which is spent here in Birmingham in ministries with the poor. We do this because we take seriously the command of Jesus to love God with our whole being and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
At Christmas, advertisers encourage us to spend lavishly on our own families and friends. But the message of the gospel is to lavish our love and resources on strangers, on the hungry, the sick, and the imprisoned. “If you love only those who love you, what reward do you have?” Jesus asks in Matthew 5:46. By serving the least, he says, we serve Jesus himself (Matthew 25:31-36). He not only speaks these words, but he also embodies them by being born in a stable to a poor family.
This season, pray about what you would like Trinity to accomplish in 2012 among homeless persons, young mothers, survivors of disasters, and those in chronic poverty. Perhaps commit to giving a percentage of what you will spend on gifts. Give generously, and celebrate with joy the ministry we will share in the New Year.
Yours in Christ,
Dave Barnhart