Pastor Steve Kern, Next Steps Pastor & Team Leader
Celebrating a “not about me Christmas” does not come naturally. Combine our intuitive selfishness and the surrounding commercialism, and you have the makings of a Christmas that is “all about me” instead! But, those of us who understand and appreciate God’s greatest gift to mankind, Jesus Christ, are growing to understand what it is to think beyond yourself.
That is what the Greatest Gift Christmas Offering is all about. It challenges us to greater generosity directed towards some great opportunities…local, regional, and global. And our goal for this Christmas season is $120,000!
Global
Globally, our generosity will be directed towards needs in Africa and Asia. Do you remember Pastor Nick’s recent trip to the Chad in Africa? [If not, you’ll hear more from him and Drew Boatner soon!] Our gifts will equip African nationals who are being trained there to take the gospel to their own nation and surrounding countries; some of them at great risk. Meanwhile, in southeast Asia, Grace Church has four orphan homes, through Asia’s Hope, in Cambodia and Thailand. Our gifts will help to provide love, care, food, clothing, housing, and schooling to dozens of kids we call “ours.”
Regional
Regionally, we have been blessed to play a key role in the establishment of Movement Church in Columbus over the years. Through the Greatest Gift Christmas Offering, we will be partnering with this church and former Grace Church interns as they make disciples by establishing yet another body of Christ, Three Creeks Church in the Columbus suburb of Gahanna.
Local
On the local front, our generosity will allow us to invest in interns and the Give JOY initiative. Did you know that dozens of people have benefited from an internship at Grace Church over the years? The results are amazing! Many are now serving Christ vocationally and as volunteers in our church and far beyond! Our gifts will enable us to invest in yet another “class of interns” in the year ahead. Additionally, we will leverage dollars to bless local Christian organizations that are making a deep impact in our county.
Hopefully, it is clear. Our generous gifts will result in blessing from our own neighborhoods to the nations. Thanks for participating in the Greatest Gift Christmas Offering!