2023 Thanksgiving Offering
Hi, ANF!
In the Bible, we see many paradoxes. “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). “Anyone who wants to be first must be the last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35). “If we died with Christ, we will also live with Christ” (2 Timothy 2:11). “Though Christ was rich, yet for your sake Christ became poor” (2 Corinthians 2:9). From Jesus’ sermon on the Mount, we learned, “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3-10). Experiencing these paradoxes is an important part of our lives as Christ followers. The Bible says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:32). Every time we empty ourselves, God fills us, and every time we go through this cycle, our faith grows.
During the Sunday message two weeks ago, I preached about how we could biblically celebrate Thanksgiving. I challenged you all to give one percent of your annual income as a special Thanksgiving Offering to the poor. The Bible is very clear about what God wants us to do during Thanksgiving: “share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him” (Isaiah 58:7). “For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore, I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land’” (Deuteronomy 15:11). “You shall share the harvest of your land for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 23:22). It is important for us to have an attitude of simple obedience, live our lives as Christ followers, and grow in faith. Let’s simply obey what God tells us to do.
According to annual government reports, people in America spend $9,343 for food, $3,458 for entertainment, $1,480 for pets, and $954 for tobacco/alcohol every year. While we live in a relatively privileged world, one-third of our world population is still living off a few dollars a day, around $1,332 a year.
Like I did the past two years, I want to challenge you all to give one percent of your annual income to help the poor, the orphaned, the widowed, and the marginalized all across the world. Every dollar that we collect will be set aside in a separate account and used solely to support those in need. Because of your offering last year, we were able to support refugees in Ukraine, indigenous Indians living in remote villages in Mexico, the Latin America Ministries Board, the relief and rehabilitation efforts after the devastating earthquake in Turkey, and the refugee school for children in Egypt, just to name a few.
Even if you can’t attend our Thanksgiving Sunday Worship, you can still participate in giving a special Thanksgiving Offering to the poor through online giving via Venmo (@anfdallas) or Zelle (finance@anfdallas.org) from Friday, November 17th, to Sunday, November 26th. Proverbs 14:31 says, “whoever is kind to the needy honors God,” and Proverbs 28:27 says, “[t]hose who give to the poor will lack nothing.” By collecting our annual Thanksgiving Offering over the next two weeks, I hope we can continue to glorify God, thank God in a biblical way, and receive even more blessings from God this coming year.
