(ADVENT 20) Unwrapping Christmas: Financial Resources

We are in a season that is marked by generosity, and we can remember the great love of our Heavenly Father, who is the giver of all good gifts, who gave His only Son, who gave His life so that we could come to know Him. Luke 6 says:
35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
37 "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

Jesus gave.  He came to earth in order to show us how to live according to God's ways, to be our example. And, He died on a cross and rose from the dead so that we could be saved and come to know Him. We radiate the love of Christ as we give, and we can recognize that we are called to be stewards of financial resources, that He can use to affect lives and to soften hearts, so that people would be drawn to the love of God.  We can be sensitive to opportunities to share God's love. 

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We are now on Day 20 of "25: A Christmas Advent-ure," the Faith Radio Advent Guide, as we continue to "unwrap," or take a closer look at what the giver of all good gifts, our Heavenly Father, has made available to us through Jesus Christ.  The overall theme is Unwrapping Christmas, and today we look at the gift of financial resources.

2nd Corinthians 9 contains a few of the multiple verses about our stewardship responsibility in using what God has provided. We can read these words:
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,
11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
12 For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God...

A pastor of a church not far from here, as he drove around his community, observed the tremendous need that was there and related to Baptist Press what he had seen. He is quoted as saying: “This community, quite frankly, looks like a war zone,”adding, “Abandoned properties, burned out houses. And our wheelhouse of ministry has been the hopeless, the helpless, those folks (some) would cross the street to get away from." He added:

“That was who Jesus reached out to throughout His ministry, was the least of these. Those are the people when they receive Christ, run the hardest for Christ. And they deserve to know the goodness of God and a second chance in life, and that’s what we do.”

Those are the words of Amos Crews, the pastor of what has become Pillar of Hope Church, which is the result of three congregations in the Tarrant area of Birmingham coming together, or perhaps better put, being brought together by the hand of God.

The article noted that Pillar of Hope originally was born out of two congregations, Christ First Community Church and Destiny Covenant Church, that were meeting at the Birmingham Metro Baptist Association.  Pastor Crews was at Christ First Community.  He related: “We had been in a building for about 10 years, had paid over $250,000 in mortgage, and things went sideways. We secured an attorney and just walked away from the property."  Destiny had been in talks with another church about obtaining its building.  Two churches, around 30 "active members," both with nowhere to go. 

Sounds like a ripe opportunity for the Holy Spirit, right?    

The two churches merged, and Crews set his eyes on the Tarrant community; he said: “When I went out and looked at the community, and I have to be honest, the first thought was no way,” adding, “There’s nothing here. There are no children, there are no families. Property values are in the gutter..."

But, he added, "And then God began to show me this vision of what we could do, and I looked at it as an opportunity to show that the church still can be the center of the community,” Crews said. “God just gave me a vision that this could be done, that His children, no matter their circumstances, deserve His love..."

Enter church #3, Robinwood Baptist in Tarrant, which was also on the verge of closing. It was down to close to seven active members; Interim Pastor John Roland said, "We’re going to cease to exist,...We’ve decided the need is so big in that community, we just can’t reach it. The church is surrounded by 60 vacant properties … made up of drug dealers; they have a really high rate of registered sex offenders – I know it’s over 30 – that surround the church."

So Robinwood will be selling its property to Pillar of Hope - the article says: "Robinwood is deeding its building to the Birmingham Metro Baptist Association..., which will in turn sell it to Pillar of Hope at a deep discount and establish a fund for the building’s repair and upkeep."  The target date to get started with the new work is February 1.

Here we go - three congregations coming together, facilitated by a local Southern Baptist association. But, that's not all - Baptist Press relates:

The transition comes as the Kids to Love Foundation, a ministry to children in foster care, is buying about 60 abandoned properties in Tarrant to build homes for girls aging out of foster care. In turn, Pillar of Hope plans to buy additional abandoned properties to build homes for boys aging out of foster care.

“The pipeline from classroom to prison is real,” Crews said. Pillar of Hope has plans to teach budgeting and life skills to those in need. He has plans to build a community farm, much more than a garden, to address food insecurity in the community he describes as a food desert. Crews hopes the revitalization will attract young families to the community.

The article adds, "While Pillar of Hope is the merger of two predominantly African American churches, and Robinwood was a predominantly white congregation, Crews has in mind an ethnically diverse congregation."  

Certainly, a fresh wave of the Holy Spirit seems to be moving across this community, and Pastor Crews says, "Tarrant is one of the most impoverished communities in Jefferson County, Alabama. It’s in bad shape,” adding, “While many would run from this community and its people, God has given us a great vision to love, reach and serve the least of these.” He believes, “If you bring in people who are looking for a hand up, and not just a handout, you can turn that community around,..We want to give families an opportunity to know God and to see what the Kingdom of heaven really looks like..."

This is an amazing story, and I believe that the Lord has brought these different components together; pooling not only gifts and talents, but sowing physical resources in the community. The article notes, "The new church has launched a nonprofit community development corporation to bridge the financial issues the church will face in buying abandoned properties to build affordable housing and transitional homes for homeless mothers with children."

We can recognize God as our provider - not only does He ultimately provide spiritual hope, but He will use the meeting of material needs as a gateway in order that people might experience that hope.  It's up to each of us to determine how God would intend for us to use the resources with which He has blessed us, and that passage I shared from 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 can definitely impact our mindset.

Our giver of all good gifts, our Heavenly Father, is the One to whom we can look to be our provider - not only the spiritual area, but physically and materially, as well. As we have been blessed by God, we can also seek His face to direct us how to bless others.  

We can also learn to recognize that God is working.  In bringing together three churches and a Baptist association and injecting a community with a ministry to those in foster care, there are opportunities for a Kingdom impact. We can prepare ourselves to be used in God's service in order to bring about what He intends, and use the financial gifts that He provides in order to help accomplish His purposes.