23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
We can carefully consider how we are involved in the work of God - it stems from our knowledge of Christ and the relationship with have with Him. As we rely on His faithfulness, we can be confident that He goes before us, preparing the way for us to further His Kingdom through the way we act, including our devotion to generosity, placing the needs of others above our own. He desires for us to be plugged into His Church, which is a visible expression of Himself in the earth.
The early Church reflected the heart of God - through their adherence to teaching, times of
fellowship, and generosity. Acts 2 paints a picture for us - we can read:
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
There has been much research about the Millennial generation - surveys taken, books written. And, today's Millennials, roughly ages 18 to 35, are not yesterday's Millennials, who have already aged out. So, while you may have different players with different attitudes, a new study shows that young adults are still going to church and doing so at higher rates than you might expect.
The study was commissioned by Dunham+Company and conducted by WPA Intelligence. Here's a key finding in the summary, found on the Dunham website:
Oh, by the way, with respect to online giving, 40% of people overall "prefer to give online," with 32% giving by check or through the mail.
Well one of the things that came to mind for me in considering this data has to do with the content that these young adults are receiving and how they are responding. There was a lot of attention given to a fairly recent Barna survey - its summary said: "Almost half of Millennials (47%) agree at least somewhat that it is wrong to share one’s personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith." Almost three-quarters think they're good at sharing their faith, but just less than half don't think it's right. That's a problem. I think it's important that everyone, including young adults, become involved with a Bible-believing church that holds fast to the teachings of the Scriptures.
And, there is a penchant for generosity with the younger generation. There is a perception that they are passionate about causes, especially those dealing with justice. If their generosity is consistent with causes, then it should be for the right causes. I believe that we all are called to invest in the Kingdom and to support the local church first, as well as other charities, as God gives the ability.
+++++
The early Church reflected the heart of God - through their adherence to teaching, times of
fellowship, and generosity. Acts 2 paints a picture for us - we can read:
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
There has been much research about the Millennial generation - surveys taken, books written. And, today's Millennials, roughly ages 18 to 35, are not yesterday's Millennials, who have already aged out. So, while you may have different players with different attitudes, a new study shows that young adults are still going to church and doing so at higher rates than you might expect.
The study was commissioned by Dunham+Company and conducted by WPA Intelligence. Here's a key finding in the summary, found on the Dunham website:
Fifty-three percent of the study respondents who self-identify as Evangelicals say they attend church once a week or more. However, of the three adult generations, 61% of Millennial Evangelicals indicated at least weekly church attendance compared to 54% of Boomers and Matures and 44% of Gen Xers.Rick Dunham, Founder and CEO of Dunham+Company, said: “This mirrors our study from 2017 which showed that Millennials generally are as likely to engage in religious attendance compared to other generations, with this current study showing a much higher engagement among those who identify as Evangelicals.”
And, it appears these young adults are involved in charitable giving more; the study summary states:
...the largest generational group that gives the most annually continues to be Boomers and Matures at 78%. But, Millennials are surpassing Gen Xers in giving to charities annually with 68% of Millennials saying they do compared to 63% of Gen Xers.Just over a third of Millennial evangelicals say they will contributing more to charities in the coming year. This is high above the 19% of all evangelicals who indicate they will be taking that action. 62% of that younger generation gives online, and 63% responded that the charitable tax deduction influences how much they give.
Oh, by the way, with respect to online giving, 40% of people overall "prefer to give online," with 32% giving by check or through the mail.
Well one of the things that came to mind for me in considering this data has to do with the content that these young adults are receiving and how they are responding. There was a lot of attention given to a fairly recent Barna survey - its summary said: "Almost half of Millennials (47%) agree at least somewhat that it is wrong to share one’s personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith." Almost three-quarters think they're good at sharing their faith, but just less than half don't think it's right. That's a problem. I think it's important that everyone, including young adults, become involved with a Bible-believing church that holds fast to the teachings of the Scriptures.
And, there is a penchant for generosity with the younger generation. There is a perception that they are passionate about causes, especially those dealing with justice. If their generosity is consistent with causes, then it should be for the right causes. I believe that we all are called to invest in the Kingdom and to support the local church first, as well as other charities, as God gives the ability.
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