Ways to Give
Online Giving is the easiest way to give. Visit Adventist Giving to be taken to our online giving platform. It is simple and secure. You can give a one-time gift or schedule recurring gifts using your checking account, debit or credit card. If you choose to set up an account you can see your history of donations at any time.
On Saturdays there are offering plates set out on tables, and offering envelopes too. You can put checks or cash gifts into the envelopes and leave them in the plates. Our deacons make sure every offering goes into the vault for secure deposit on Monday.
During the week you can stop by the church office weekdays 9am-12pm to give your gift directly to our church treasurer. Additionally, we have a secure lockbox by the southeast entrance of the church that you can utilize any time of any day. We retrieve these offerings daily.
During the week you can stop by the church office weekdays 9am-12pm to give your gift directly to our church treasurer. Additionally, we have a secure lockbox by the southeast entrance of the church that you can utilize any time of any day. We retrieve these offerings daily.
WHY WE GIVE
Jesus taught us to be generous---generous with our time, talents, and personal finances. As a community, we take great joy in the many ways our faith is made stronger through giving. There is satisfaction that comes from following Jesus' example of generosity toward those most in need, and it is a privilege to use our resources to continue telling God's story and help bring measurable change in the world.
Would you believe Jesus talked about money more than just about any other topic? The truth is that while money is morally neutral, its effect on human hearts and lives is morally powerful. What we do with our money reveals something deeper than our receipts can show: it reveals what's in our hearts. Perhaps surprisingly, what we do with our money also has an effect on us, shaping us into people more invested in where we just put our money (Matthew 6:21).
Sharing the resources that we have is also about recognizing where we got them in the first place. God is the Creator and "Owner" of everything, so we are merely caretakers of what's His (1 Chronicles 29:14), and any money we have is ours because of His blessing (Deuteronomy 8:18). Faithfulness in our finances means that we give regularly (1 Corinthians 16:2), cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7), and sacrificially (Psalm 4:5).
Contributing financially to the mission of the church out of our "firstfruits" is both a renunciation of greed as an idol and an acknowledgement that we could never out-give the God who gave us all things, including His Son (Romans 8:32). Further, it is a celebration of the love of God who, though rich, for our sakes became poor (2 Corinthians 8:8-15) and made us, His people, to be His own most precious possession (Deuteronomy 4:20, Matthew 13:44-46).
Would you believe Jesus talked about money more than just about any other topic? The truth is that while money is morally neutral, its effect on human hearts and lives is morally powerful. What we do with our money reveals something deeper than our receipts can show: it reveals what's in our hearts. Perhaps surprisingly, what we do with our money also has an effect on us, shaping us into people more invested in where we just put our money (Matthew 6:21).
Sharing the resources that we have is also about recognizing where we got them in the first place. God is the Creator and "Owner" of everything, so we are merely caretakers of what's His (1 Chronicles 29:14), and any money we have is ours because of His blessing (Deuteronomy 8:18). Faithfulness in our finances means that we give regularly (1 Corinthians 16:2), cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7), and sacrificially (Psalm 4:5).
Contributing financially to the mission of the church out of our "firstfruits" is both a renunciation of greed as an idol and an acknowledgement that we could never out-give the God who gave us all things, including His Son (Romans 8:32). Further, it is a celebration of the love of God who, though rich, for our sakes became poor (2 Corinthians 8:8-15) and made us, His people, to be His own most precious possession (Deuteronomy 4:20, Matthew 13:44-46).
WHAT'S A "TITHE"?
"Tithe" literally means "tenth," or 10%. In God's economy the first 10% of income is returned to God, brought into a common place to support the gospel work and gospel workers. In Israel it supported the Levites who served in God's temple. Unlike the people of other tribes, the Levites did not receive an allotment of land in order to support themselves; they depended on the gifts of the people.
We no longer live in ancient Israel and now in Christ all believers are part of the priesthood (1 Peter 2:5), but still there is a role for the "tithe." The New Testament teaches that the church should support gospel workers financially (1 Corinthians 8:13-14; 1 Timothy 5:17-18) and we encourage all believers to return to God the first tenth of their income for this purpose.
Probably the most high-impact benefit of tithe is in the pastors who serve the churches. Pastors' salaries and benefits are funded by the tithe, and in the Seventh-day Adventist system, all pastors are paid about the same amount (give or take a little for cost-of-living and experience). This works because we all contribute our money together into one pot from which all the workers get paid: the Kansas-Nebraska Conference functions like a common storehouse, so pastors of big churches don't earn more than pastors of small ones. (For more details of what tithe money does in our church and conference, feel free to reach out to one of the pastors or to Darin Gottfried, our Conference treasurer.)
We no longer live in ancient Israel and now in Christ all believers are part of the priesthood (1 Peter 2:5), but still there is a role for the "tithe." The New Testament teaches that the church should support gospel workers financially (1 Corinthians 8:13-14; 1 Timothy 5:17-18) and we encourage all believers to return to God the first tenth of their income for this purpose.
Probably the most high-impact benefit of tithe is in the pastors who serve the churches. Pastors' salaries and benefits are funded by the tithe, and in the Seventh-day Adventist system, all pastors are paid about the same amount (give or take a little for cost-of-living and experience). This works because we all contribute our money together into one pot from which all the workers get paid: the Kansas-Nebraska Conference functions like a common storehouse, so pastors of big churches don't earn more than pastors of small ones. (For more details of what tithe money does in our church and conference, feel free to reach out to one of the pastors or to Darin Gottfried, our Conference treasurer.)
...THERE'S MORE?
In addition to returning our tithe, we are invited to give freewill offerings as a show of thankfulness. You'll notice that there are several options listed on our giving envelopes, including these few:
Church Ministries Budget funds our local church and its ministries to children, youth, and adults. Each year we set a collective giving goal and a church family budget; meeting that goal ensures that we can continue our mission right here in our local context. Every program or ministry we operate together is funded by your giving to the Church Ministries Budget.
The Compassion Fund is used to give financial assistance to community members and church members to help meet their basic needs.
Conference Advance contributes to all of the non-tithe work of the Kansas-Nebraska sisterhood of churches: projects that are bigger than any one church, such as Christian education, summer camp, and evangelism.
If you're wondering how much you're supposed to give for offerings, there's no rule about it. Our best counsel is to prayerfully assess your own situation and commit to building generosity into your personal spending plan instead of haphazardly giving when the feeling strikes. The percentages will vary from person to person and from family to family, but one recommendation for giving would be that, in addition to returning 10% of income as tithe, one might give 3-5% to the Church Ministries Budget, 1-2% to the Conference Advance, and 1-2% to the World Budget (supporting world missions and other projects). For more information on the idea of a personal giving plan, visit this link.
Church Ministries Budget funds our local church and its ministries to children, youth, and adults. Each year we set a collective giving goal and a church family budget; meeting that goal ensures that we can continue our mission right here in our local context. Every program or ministry we operate together is funded by your giving to the Church Ministries Budget.
The Compassion Fund is used to give financial assistance to community members and church members to help meet their basic needs.
Conference Advance contributes to all of the non-tithe work of the Kansas-Nebraska sisterhood of churches: projects that are bigger than any one church, such as Christian education, summer camp, and evangelism.
If you're wondering how much you're supposed to give for offerings, there's no rule about it. Our best counsel is to prayerfully assess your own situation and commit to building generosity into your personal spending plan instead of haphazardly giving when the feeling strikes. The percentages will vary from person to person and from family to family, but one recommendation for giving would be that, in addition to returning 10% of income as tithe, one might give 3-5% to the Church Ministries Budget, 1-2% to the Conference Advance, and 1-2% to the World Budget (supporting world missions and other projects). For more information on the idea of a personal giving plan, visit this link.