West Ridge Church Gives Away Money

November 22, 2009 in Inside West Ridge with 7 Comments

We did something today at West Ridge that we’ve never done before, and the stories are already starting to flow in from people who were deeply impacted by the experience.

We’re in the middle of a brief three-week series on being “Fearless.” Basically, we’re teaching about how big our God is and that Christ-followers should be champions of hope and courage in today’s rough economic times.

After teaching a couple messages from 2 Corinthians 9:6-11, Brian challenged our church to immediately demonstrate generosity and faith. Following the example of something we heard about from Rob Bell…

  • We took several thousand dollars from the church’s funds and put them in two big buckets at the front of the auditorium.
  • At the end of the service, we asked folks to bring cash offerings to add to what was already in the buckets.
  • It felt like just about everyone in each service came forward to make an offering. Literally thousands of people participated.
  • Then we encouraged people who are hurting financially to come forward and take the money from the buckets. Some people grabbed one handful. Other people grabbed two handfuls depending on their needs.
  • In one service, the buckets were emptied and people just started writing checks to other people.

Obviously, since we didn’t count the money between the offering and the giving, there’s no way to know exactly how much was given away today. All I know is that this was a great picture of the church in action. People who God has blessed gave an offering from what God have given them. Then God used that offering to bless people who needed help.

Wouldn’t it be something if the Church in America became known for its generosity?

7 Responses to “West Ridge Church Gives Away Money”

  1. Terrace Crawford November 22, 2009 at 8:50 pm #

    I heard of another church doing the same thing. I think its AWESOME. It’s also a picture of what the church SHOULD be doing.

    –Terrace Crawford
    http://www.terracecrawford.com
    http://www.twitter.com/terracecrawford

  2. Nick Blevins November 22, 2009 at 9:26 pm #

    We borrowed that idea from Rob Bell as well and did that a couple months ago. Powerful.

  3. Steve November 22, 2009 at 10:12 pm #

    My sister just told me how she was unexpectedly blessed as one of those who needed help. Thanks for being the church. My family and I are members at First Baptist Woodstock. We thank God for all you are doing to invest in peoples lives.

  4. Daniel Decker January 7, 2010 at 8:55 am #

    Have you seen residual impact or heard any more post feedback on this?

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