Everything We Believe Comes From Scripture
Giving allows us to demonstrate that God is more important than material things.
And when you give, you are investing in what God wants to do at Stonewater Fellowship.
Common Questions About Giving
God says in Psalm 50 that “The world is mine and all it contains”
From the beginning that the “first fruits” or first portion are claimed by God to be used for His work and it is the “First fruits” or first portion that are acceptable by God– Genesis 4: 3-5
God told His people to “Sanctify” or “Consecrate” the first born and set them aside as they belong to God Exodus 13:1-2. He included the “first fruits” or first portion of your production or as the bible says “first fruits of your soil” – Exodus 23:19
God says that these first born and first fruits must be sacrificed or redeemed. Because we are redeemed by the “first born of all creation” Jesus we see that God is claiming all first portions or first fruits as His.
The Bible declares that the “tithe” belongs to God. He established this from the beginning. In Genesis 14 – the priest of the most High God gave a “tenth” or a tithe to Abraham, who was doing the work of God, and blessed him.
Jacob committed the tithe to the Lord in Genesis 28. First Fruit Tithes are blessed by God and they are consecrated by God and remove the remainder of our money from the curse.
Yes – In Malachi chapter 3:10 we see God giving the location of the tithe “into the storehouse of God…”
The Bible says “so that there may be food in My house”
Reason?: The Church, the collective people of God who have the greatest gift of Jesus, should be the first place people in need should come for assistance.
The Hungry, the poor, the homeless and the helpless; the Local church should have so many resources to pour out into the community that food banks and homeless shelters might be empty.
Absolutely not, in fact on the contrary, Jesus re-enforced the tithe and suggested that His followers give more. Matt:23:23 and Luke 11:42
Paul is addressing giving from a heart perspective.
God loves when people give what he declares as His (the first fruit tithe) cheerfully without being compelled by leaders or others because God has given so much. 2 Con 9:6-7
How Stonewater Fellowship Handles Your Giving
As a church plant we are a body that Tithes as well to the work of God We call this “Kingdom Giving” which means we give a minimum of 10% of our receipts, not our budget but our receipts to missions, outreach and the planting of other churches. (We receive about 20% surplus of giving over our budget.) We have been committed to this from day one.
As a church plant we know that our personnel expense is heavy, but as we have grown we have seen this shrink as a percentage of our budget. Out 2019 budget was 17% to Kingdom Giving.
7% of our budget goes to equipping the Saints resources
2% goes to Worship expenses
17% Missions, Outreach and Benevolence “Kingdom Giving”
52% Personnel
12% in facilities
10% in office supplies and internet technologies.
We use a church Database management system call planning center. It is a full integrated and secure giving system for those who give online. Each person giving has their individual profile in planning center as they give the first time.
Weekend giving is all entered into the systems by the Elder who collect the tithes and offerings for that Particular Sunday.
Extreamly secure as Planning center uses a secure HTTPS environment for all processing.
We have and alternating two man crew to count and deposit the weekend giving. The totals are written down and signed off on and deposits slips are reconciled against the ledge book every week after every deposit.
No member of staff including the lead pastor can handle any money from the weekend.
Members of the church who have entered into Covenant Relationship with each other are allowed access to full details at their request.
Help Us Transform Lives
Click below to give online and support our mission to engage all people to become multiplying followers of Jesus.