Collections

How do you start on a new course?

Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come. And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me. I will visit you after passing through Macedonia—for I intend to pass through Macedonia— and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way, wherever I go. I do not want to see you now just in passing, for I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. - 1 Corinthians 16:1-9

Paul's advice to the believers in Corinth is to put aside what they have in excess on the first day of the week, so the obligation they have to God and the Church is taken care of, before they set out to do what they need to do that week.

He is telling them to remember to put their obligations foremost in their minds.

Take care of what you owe before you go about your business.

And we all owe everything to God, don't we?

So, how much do we set aside for His glory, for thanks, for mission and purpose in His name?

It is not just about making a pledge to the church.  We do that every year at this time, and then it is out of sight, out of mind.

But if we start each week with the thought of setting aside what excess we have for God's work, how much would that amount to in a year?

For some, there may be nothing left over to set aside, and for others there may be a deficit.

Maybe those are the ones we could help.

More to come...