Harvey First Lutheran has 4 Easy ways to help support our Missions at First Lutheran Church.
1. Use this QR code to schedule when and what amount you wish to give from your personal bank account, credit card or debit card. You can change the amount or schedule at any time from your phone using the myVanco.com Mobil App. 2. Send a Check or Drop off at Church First Lutheran Church 1520 Advent St. Harvey, ND 58341 3. Text 2 Give Instructions: Use Text To Give – Send text to 833-376-1678 with dollar amount in the text message field (1 = $1.00; 50 = $50; etc.). First timers will receive a link to tap on & register your contact and payment information.
4. Give Electronically through your bank. Call Karla at 701-324-2548 and she can get you set up. We hope you enjoy these new way to share your generosity, and we thank you for helping our Missions at Harvey First Lutheran. flocknote
Text HFLC to 84576 to stay connected with First Lutheran Church. |
LIVING GENEROUSLY
The Inclination to Give An Inclination to give is written on your soul, no matter how muted it may be by your present concerns or lack of belief. Sometimes, it takes a traumatic experience to bring that God-given pull toward generosity to the surface. Horror novelist, Stephen King, is not usually associated with sharing timeless biblical principles. But, in a commencement speech delivered to Vassar graduates a few years ago, he offered some powerful insight on living an openhanded life. An excerpt from his comments says, “A couple of years ago, I found out what ‘You can’t take it with you’ means. I found out while I was lying at the side of a country road, covered with mud and blood, and with a tibia of my right leg poking out the side of my jeans like the branch of a tree taken down in a thunderstorm. I had a Mastercard in my wallet, but when you are lying in the ditch with broken glass in your hair, no one accepts Mastercard. We come in naked and broke. We may be dressed when we go out, but we are just as broke. Warren Buffet? Going to go out broke. Bill Gates? Going out broke. Tom Hanks? Going out broke. Steve King? Not a crying dime. All of the money that you earn, all of the stocks that you buy, all of the mutual funds that you trade – all of that is smoke and mirrors. It is still going to be a quarter-past getting late whether you tell the time on a Timex or a Rolex. No matter how large your bank account, no matter how many credit cards you have, sooner or later things will begin to go wrong with the only three things that you have that you can really call your own: your body, your spirit, and your mind. So, I want you to consider making your life one long gift to others. And why not? All that you have is on loan anyway. All that lasts is what you pass on. We have the power to help, the power to change. And why should we refuse? Because we are going to take it with us? Please. Giving is a way of taking the focus off of the money that we make and putting it back where it belongs, on the live that we lead, the families that we raise, the communities that nurture us. A life of giving – not just money, but time and spirit – repays. It helps us remember that we may be going out broke, but right now we are going OK. Right now, we have the power to do great good for others and for ourselves. So, I ask you to begin giving and to continue as you began. I think that you will find in the end that you get far more than you ever had, and did more good than you ever dreamed.” Stephen King’s words perfectly support the book of Eclesiastés’s observation: “We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us” (5:15). They also echo the mind-set that takes the sting out of this condition, as spoken by Jesus in the New Testament: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35). (Source: Adapted from an article by Nelson Searcy, Founder of Church Leader Insights, and the Renegade Pastors Network) |