February has arrived and, with it, the seemingly never-ending barrage of winter weather and, along with that barrage, a string of school, church, and business closures and delays. Of all the closures and delays, the most impactful has been the forced closure of churches due to poor road conditions because of ice and snow. To make matters even more difficult, many churches were forced to take two consecutive weekends away, something I do not remember happening in my lifetime anywhere we have lived. In many areas of our lives, out of sight is out of mind. This can also hold true for church, especially when we are unable to meet as we regularly do. As you all know very well, churches and their ministries are wholly dependent on the generous giving of church members. This brings church financial support directly to the forefront when we miss our times of regular meeting. Admittedly, many church members now give via online options and for that technology we should be thankful. Online giving is accessible, easy to set up as an “autopay bill,” and gives many who may not be able to attend regularly the ability to give regularly. Unfortunately, for those who do not give online for whatever the reason may be, missing an in-person corporate worship time brings with it difficulty in giving. Missing two in-person corporate worship times brings more difficulty in giving and can in some instances, unfortunately, create an "out of sight out of mind” mentality. We have heard from many of the churches within Three Rivers and they report significant differences in online giving with some reporting online giving around 65-70% while others report online giving between 15-20%. On the high end of online giving, missing 30-35% of regular offerings can make ministry incredibly difficult. On the low end, missing 80-85% of regular offerings is disastrous. I want to encourage you, first, to support your church financially and to do so regularly. We see the financial support of ministry as a biblical command in both the Old and New Testaments. Second, willfully and sacrificially supporting ministry will bring blessing in your life. I assuredly don’t mean this in a charismatic, “word of faith" way. Your giving will not necessarily bring God’s financial blessing in a one-to-one type exchange. Financially supporting ministry will bring God’s blessing in your life in other ways, sometimes financial, but often times simply by following biblical command and reaping the internal blessing that comes from so doing. The Lord already owns everything He has blessed us with, so we show our thankfulness by giving back to Him and His work. I want to encourage you, third, if you were unable to support your church financially over the previous weeks due to the winter storms, to do so very generously the next time you meet for congregational, corporate worship or to send your gift via the mail. You and your sacrificial giving make ministry possible at your church and in our Association. I know I can speak for all of our churches when I say we are thankful to you for giving. Without you, we could not do what we do or exist. Thank you for your sacrificial generosity. We only exist because you make it possible.
As we continue our look at the book of 1 John, we turn this month to 1 John 5:13, a single verse of only one sentence, but one sentence that is life-changing. John writes, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” As John writes these words he is coming close to concluding his letter and is pointing back to the previous content of what’s he already written. Throughout the letter of 1 John, the apostle describes with incredible theological accuracy and clarity both the person and work of Christ and the impact of the person and work of Christ on the everyday lives of believers. Christ is the word become flesh. God is light. Christ is the believer’s advocate. Believers should love each other as Christ loves us. Believers should not love the world but instead should focus all of their love on Christ. Eternal life is the promise of Christ to believers. Do not be surprised if the world hates you due to your love for Christ. Test everything you hear by God’s word. God is love and His Spirit abides in believers. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Christ knows God and is found to be in Him. The Christian has overcome the world because of Christ. Those who believe in and confess Christ have the testimony of eternal life present within them. It is after all this that John writes, “These things I have written to you…” All of these wonderful, divine, perfect, infallible, inerrant, authoritative, sufficient truths have been written, John says, "so that you may know that you have eternal life.” The word translated “know” is the Greek word oida, a word that carries with it the idea of absolute, certain, unquestioned knowledge. Brothers and sisters we do not have to guess or wonder about our salvation. If we have placed faith and trust in Christ and Him alone, John is here telling us we can know, with total certainty, that we have eternal life in Heaven because of Christ and our union with Him. So, let me encourage you to take John’s words here with joy and hope. If you have placed your faith and trust in Christ, and nothing else, you have eternal life. That is God’s direct promise to you.
As we have been doing, please continue praying for each other (1 Thess 5:17) and for the other churches in our Association. I want to encourage you strongly to pray for each other, other pastors, and sister congregations in our area as we work together to encourage pastors and equip churches to engage lostness for the sake of fulfilling our part of the Great Commission. Lift each of these pastors and congregations to the Father, asking for His providential care for them and for His mercy and grace to work mightily through them.
Memorial Drive, Greer, Dave Aumiller
Milford, Greer, Larry Mason
Mountain Creek, Greenville, Bert Watts
Mountain Hill, Landrum, Lee Norris
Mt. Lebanon, Greer, David Walker
Mt. Pleasant, Travelers Rest, Josh Griffin
New Liberty, Travelers Rest, Kyle Turner
North Fork, Travelers Rest, Tommy Wallace
Northwest, Travelers Rest, David Allen
Northwood, Greer, Malcolm Lance
My prayer for you for February is the same as always. May the Lord grant each of us opportunities to share the message of Christ with unbelievers and disciple believers in the message of Christ. As an association of churches, we partner together for the sake of encouraging and equipping each other in order to engage lostness for the sake of fulfilling the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20).
