This past Sunday was a great morning of worship and prayer as we commissioned the young people of our church to “Walk in Love” (2 John 1:6) during the new school year. The Annual “Blessing of the Backpacks” is a great tradition of the church where we gather around the students of the congregation and come alongside them in their journey of discipleship.
We also lifted up in prayer on Sunday morning the young people around the world whom you support in their schooling, health, and learning about the Lord through Child Sponsorship. In Uganda, and the Dominican Republic, in El Salvador, Guatemala, Mali, Thailand, Honduras, and many other nations, young people will flourish, eat, play, learn, and grow this year because of your decision to sponsor them.
It is always a powerful moment for me as I listen to you all name the children whom you hold in your hearts, during our time of prayer for them. On Sunday I heard young people and old, men and women, families and individuals share prayers of blessing for children of God whose lives and stories are being impacted in a positive way by your financial commitment to their wellbeing. I don’t have an official count, but it has to be well into the hundreds of lives that are being changed through the ministry of Child Sponsorship and the gifts of people in this community.
When we sponsor a child, we take a little bit of money, pair it with the little bit of opportunity we have in this life, and we work to make an eternal difference. This is exactly the way Jesus teaches us all money is to be used.
In the message on Sunday (which you can listen to here), we studied a passage where Jesus teaches his disciples to use money in this life. Use it to gain friends for yourselves, so that when the clock turns to eternity, there will be people in heaven who want to welcome you in, because you seized the opportunity you had in this life.
When it comes to his teaching on trustworthy money management, Jesus doesn’t want something from us, he wants something for us. He wants us to experience joy. Joy is truly found in using our financial resources to make a forever difference. Money can add meaning to our lives when we use it to create stories that are eternal and that are bigger than us.
In sponsoring a child, you have told your money that you want it to be a part of a larger story, and you have sent your money to change lives and to help write really great stories. So thank you, to all of you who are taking that opportunity with sponsor kids.
Way to go team! That is wise financial management.
