Last Friday I tried to explain how being Presbyterian helps us to live accountably. So, if there is any area in the contemporary church where that matters, it is in the area of finances. We are committed to accountability and transparency in all areas. We have maintained extensive systems of accountability and crosschecking since we began in 1997. For instance, by the time our budget is proposed well over 50 different members will have had a chance to speak into it. We want to conduct our business in such a way that if unbelieving critics were in the room, they would have nothing negative to say. Because we have nothing to hide, anyone can have a copy of our financial statements anytime.

We want to plan and communicate as well as we can. Our staff and leaders are constantly aware and grateful that all we have is based on the generosity of God’s people, and we are accountable to you for what you have shared with us.

As we maintain a generous mindset (giving away families to start new daughter churches), we also are committed to live within our means. We seek to model corporately what we desire for each of you individually – restraint in what we spend on ourselves, and eagerness to do all that we can to be a blessing to others (just as Jesus has spent Himself on our salvation).

If you currently give to Trinity, thank you! And if you do not, I want to invite you to share in the work and the privilege of making our ministries possible. If you have been helped at all by what the people of Trinity do, then I would ask you to consider joining in to make that possible for others.

As we prepare our annual budget, please pray for our ministry team leaders (who propose plans for 2018 and beyond). Please pray for our officers who have the responsibility of oversight in keeping with our values and our vision (who decide what we do, what waits, and what we respectfully decline). And please pray for all our members and regular attenders. You share freely – from the heart – of what you earn so that all of our ministries are possible and I am grateful.

Things to pray for:

–  Generous hearts. Ask the Holy Spirit to bear in your heart the fruit of love and goodness. This goodness is the essence of God’s generosity, so pray that He would produce His character in you through Christ.

–  Wisdom. Ask the Lord to give our leaders wisdom as they plan and you as you decide how to live wisely so that you can give generously wherever you live, work or play.

–  Love for others. Ask the Lord to help us individually and corporately to do our work with a view toward others around us who need Jesus and His love.

–  Courage. Pray that God the Father would so secure us in Christ that we would be willing (even eager) to take risks to advance His Kingdom in our city.

–  God’s provision. All that we have has been given to us (see 1 Corinthians 4:7), so, ask Him to help us all live gratefully and eager to share – whether as individuals or corporately as a church.

Tim Rice, Lead Pastor & Director of Church Planting