by: Jason McGibbon,
The Hamilton Fellowships
When I was a young church planter in my first church plant after interning at The Sanctuary Oakville, I experienced the idea of “Giving Ourselves Away” in a very personal and profound manner. There were a number of recently planted young churches in a small micro-network in the GTA. Across the board, but most specifically in the youngest plants, finances were down and the realization dawned that there would not be enough money to fully pay the staff across the numerous plants. One of the more senior staff (who I later came to know was my planting partner Jim Danielson) lead out and encouraged the other more senior staff to voluntarily take a pay cut to ensure the younger staff got paid. Later, I would see this same value lived out when the more established plants lead an initiative to have members commit to a season of serving in one of the newer plants. Many of those members left and stayed in those plants long term.
I came to realize, however, that this was not just unique to our plants in our micro-network, but that this came from the wider CNBC DNA of “Giving Ourselves Away.” Throughout its history, and now across the nation, this ethos is one of the defining features of the CNBC. From its earliest beginnings to the stories that can be read in Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God and even the more recent examples of churches partnering to sponsor refugees to our region, Giving Ourselves Away really is a huge part of who we are and how we function.
As I think about what it looks like to continue to live out this CNBC distinctive three key ideas come to mind:
1) Learn of your Saviour and His Kingdom
This may seem obvious but it is amazing how easy it is to forget to abide in Jesus and allow our ministry to come from a place of self sufficiency rather than the overflow of Christ in our lives. It is hard to give generously and self sacrificially when we are not rooted in our calling and our trust in the Lord. Our greatest opportunity for the greatest impact is to remind ourselves and our congregations of the love and compassion of Christ for us, the depths if His love and sacrifice, His heart for our city and that we are part of something bigger than ourselves and just our church- The Kingdom of God.
2) Learn of your assets
Whether it be prayer, provision (of finances or physical goods) or people each of our churches, no matter how big or small, has something to offer. Who has God blessed you with, what are the gifts and talents of your members, what other resources do you have to share? They better we know ourselves and our people the easier it is to identify opportunities to Give Ourselves Away.
3) Learn your city
We need to know our city- its heart and the dreams of its people, its assets and where it’s thriving, and its deepest needs (physical, spiritual, emotional, social etc). When we know ourselves well and we know our city well it is easier to see how God may be leading us to Give Ourselves Away. Who are the other churches near you? Is their a younger plant you could support with prayer, provision or people? Is there another church with whom you could work to tackle something larger than you could do on your own? Is there an area close by with no gospel witness where you could commit to planting a church and working with others to do so? Are there other organizations doing great work that you could partner with and bless? Is there a unique need that is not being met that your church could rally around and take ownership of meeting?
I am excited to see the ongoing ways in which CNBC Ontario/Send Toronto sacrificially give to, with, and for each other, and even beyond our tribe, to see the Kingdom of God expand in our region. I look forward to praising God for the ways in which he will use you and your church for the sake if His Kingdom in the days ahead as we continue to Give Ou
