Renovating Lives

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. Malachi 3:10

I once had someone tell me that all the church does is ask for money. As I was considering this statement, I continued to see multiple places where money or possessions or riches are talked about in the Bible. In fact, in the parables of Jesus, money and possessions are the most common images that He uses!

This shouldn’t be a surprise. Then, like now, money was needed to provide the necessities of life. Then, like now, people put their trust in their wealth instead of the one true God.

When Deb and I were first married, we were members of a church that was undergoing its first building campaign. We were excited to be part of the campaign, but Deb was wrapping up college, and I had only been working a couple of years. There were months when we were struggling to pay bills at the end of the month, and there were definitely times when we couldn’t do what we wanted to do.

We took another look at our budget and after prayerful consideration, we decided that we could pledge $65 a month towards the building project. It would be difficult, but we would make this three-year commitment work.

An interesting thing happened during those three years. Even though our income did not go up drastically and even though we still struggled at times with our finances, God continued to provide. The window of heaven opened up to give us contentment with His provision. The blessing we received was a deeper faith in our God – a trust in Him to provide for us as we gave first to the Lord.

God was at work, renovating our lives and leading us to place our trust in Him more than in the things of this world. Throughout our lives, by the work of the Holy Spirit, He has continued to help us grow in our trust in Him.

During this next month, I encourage each of you to prayerfully consider how He might be challenging you to step forward in faith to join in our “Renovating Lives: So All Might Believe” campaign. Our hope is that through the changes to Peace that this renovation project entails, this place will be where lives are renovated by the power of the Holy Spirit for the next 60+ years!
Deb and I have made a sacrificial pledge towards this project. We pray you will consider doing the same so more lives might be changed!
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In His Peace,
​Pastor Cory

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