10th Anniversary Gift Day - Sunday 8th November 2015

In September 2005, believing that God wanted to start something new, we began meeting together as a church at The Crawford Hall. The story of how we got even to that point is amazing! It is a story of God reaching out, inspiring, resourcing and equipping a small group of His people to do something that could never have been done without His design, generosity and grace. 

From the beginning we have experienced God’s favour and grace. It hasn’t always been easy, but for as long as we can remember we have been a growing and flourishing church. We sum up our experience by saying that together we have Met with God, Walked with God and Served God. It’s what we have always tried to do and it’s what we will always pursue.

God has given us a picture of what church could and should be like. His church should be Alive, Spirit- Filled, Growing, Transforming, Family and Equipping. That’s a wonderful picture and an inspiring dream, and though we’re not there yet, God leads us closer year by year, day by day, step by step. Even now, if you stand right back and squint a bit, what you see is a picture that is exquisite in its beauty and without doubt the work of God. A song we sing says, “As the sun bursts through the clouds, black and white turns to colour all around.” That’s a great way of describing what God is doing amongst us! The song goes on, “You lead the way, God you’re right beside me. In your love I’m complete. There’s nothing like living with You.” This is very much the way we see things around here! Only God can build His church, but it is our enormous privilege to be an ongoing part of the story.

Once a year we hold a Gift Day, to boost our finances, in which we ask you to prayerfully consider giving over and above your normal giving. This year our Gift Day has a dual focus. First, we want to say a big ‘Thank You’ for everything God has done over the last 10 years. Second, we want to recognise what God is doing amongst us right now and encourage everyone to ‘jump on board the train,’ making a fresh commitment to Meet with Him, Walk with Him and Serve Him here at theBarn.

10 years ago we had very little idea where God would take us, but He has exceeded our expectations many times over. Today we have hopes and dreams, but still only an outline picture of what the next 5 or 10 years could bring. If God continues to exceed our expectations, though, it could be a pretty spectacular journey!

What will we do with the Gift Day offering? Well, we will, of course, tithe from this offering as we do with all our income. The balance, out of necessity, forms part of our 2015 budget and will be used to balance the books at the end of the financial year. Our prayer is that God’s people will be so generous that we can, in 2016, begin the process of setting aside resources for the future. We know that God is going to call us to step out in faith again before too long. Might we need to buy the building at some point? Might there be significant new initiatives to launch, roles to fill or resources to unleash? We want to be ready to respond, don’t we?

We have recently spent some of our capital reserves in equipping our kids and youth rooms, upgrading our audio equipment (much of which until now has been borrowed) and lighting, buying a second storage container, installing new heating controls and buying new banners and signage so that theBarn is better equipped for the next stage of our journey.

You can contribute to the Gift Day Offering with a capital sum of any amount. If you are able, please use Gift Aid so we can add 25% by way of tax refund. You can also contribute by committing to give regularly by standing order. A flourishing church needs capital reserves to call upon in God’s time and a regular income to cover its regular activities. As we look to the future, we trust God for an increase in both, and ask you to be as generous in this offering as you can.

On Sunday 18th October, we launched Gift Day by handing out boxes with information about this year's Gift Day and ways to give. If you were unable to take one on Sunday, these will be available every week from theBarn.

Thank you!

Iain (Treasurer) & theBarn finance team