At Good News Church, we feel that it is very important that we explain to you not only what we do, but also why we do it. In this article, we wanted to share with you why we do not consume all of the money that is donated to us. Instead we give away some of it, we save some of it for the future, and then we pay our expenses out of whatever is left over.

It all started out when we noticed that the Scriptures have a lot to say about personal finances. And one of the more important principles that we found in the Bible about the wealth that God provides for you is this one: You are not supposed to consume all of it (ie: spend it all on yourself.)

We believe that the Bible teaches that a Christian ought to share a portion of his stuff with others (See Hebrews 13:16 & 1 Timothy 6:17-19) and we also believe that it is wise for Christians to save some of their money for the future (See Proverbs 6:6-8 & Proverbs 21:20). This is very good and very practical advice for anyone setting up a budget.

After realizing this, we took it a step further. We thought, “If it is good for an individual Christian to do this with what God has provided for them, then it would probably be equally good for the church to do this with what God has provided for them!”

So, it is our policy at Good News to save a portion of our income (10%) for things we may need in the future. And we also give away a percentage of our income (10%) to others. Some of the money is used to support missionaries who are sharing the gospel in other nations, and some of the money is given to local ministries around Marion County that help people in need. After that, we use the rest to pay for our actual church expenses.

In the future, when we teach on the topic of money, I plan to exhort you to do the same thing with your money: give some away, save some for the future, and live on the rest. And I figured that you should know that your church is already doing that. Isn’t it cool to be a part of a church that practices what it preaches?