|giv| 2020

For most of the Bible, God’s people were seen as an exiled people. Life was far from how they imagined or hoped, as they were constantly reminded of the brokenness and sin around them. And yet, amidst their exile, God reminded them that good news was on the way.

This year has been far from how anyone of us would have imagined or hoped either. We’re reminded in the headlines and in our daily lives that we are still a people in exile. So during this Christmas season, we want to once again remember that good news has come through Jesus, and one day He is coming back.

So every year, we take 3-4 weeks to intentionally focus on our hope in Jesus through growing in generosity. We take this time to think about how God has given us undeserved grace while we were still sinners and continues to grow us as his people.

Listen to sermons & download LifeGroup resources.

Week 1: Jesus, God With Us - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Jesus, Our Shepherd King - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Jesus, Our Comforter - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Jesus, God's Love - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

What are we praying & hoping to see God do in the midst of this series?

Our |giv| initiatives are practical ways for our church family to grow in service and generosity this year.

1. Sign up to Tithe

We want our first step of ongoing generosity to be towards the mission of our church. We are encouraging our church family to set up a recurring tithe because the gospel transforms us not just to be generous around the holidays, but throughout the entire year.

SET UP RECURRING GIVING HERE

2. Attend the Personal Finance Class

We want to equip our church family to be spiritually healthy by stewarding the financial resources that God has entrusted to us. On Sunday, January 24, January 31, and February 7, we’re hosting a class that consists of practical training to manage your finances, pay off debt, invest well, and practice biblical generosity. The class will be hosted virtually from 2:00-3:30pm.

SIGN UP FOR THE CLASS

3. LifeGroups partner with a Serve the City Organization

Due to the pandemic we’re postponing our annual Serve the City Weekend to a later date; however, we want every LifeGroup to select a Serve the City organization to partner with over the next year to serve.

PARTNER WITH STC

4. Give to Homeless No More

Homeless No More is a nonprofit organization that believes family homelessness is entirely solvable. They provide a continuum of care – from emergency services to transitional and affordable housing – that keeps each family together and meets their needs at the right time with the right services. By providing the support to move each family toward a permanent, self-sufficient solution, they continue their work to eradicate family homelessness and help parents and their children achieve lasting independence.

Because of the invaluable services they provide to our neighbors along the Two Notch corridor, we are excited about partnering with them to help meet the needs of some of the children they serve. We are asking each of our LifeGroups to come together to "Adopt & Shop" for clothes to help make sure each child has clothes that fit them this Christmas. Please see your LG Leader for more information about what is needed for the child your LG is adopting.
These items can be dropped off at the December Family Parade on Dec 5th, or at one of our Sunday Worship Services on Nov 29th, Dec 6th, or Dec 13th.

In addition to sponsoring children, we encourage you to give towards helping us reach our goal of raising and donating $2,000 to Homeless No More to further enable them to meet needs in our community.

FIND OUT MORE

GIVE HERE

To help us prepare our hearts for the Christmas season, we wrote a brand new five-week-long Advent devotional guide for you and your LifeGroup to work through during this season. Iif you haven’t received a hard copy yet, you can pick up a copy at any of our on-campus events. The guides are first come first serve and the suggested donation is $6 per copy.

DONATE HERE

|giv| 2019

Every year, we take 3-4 weeks to intentionally focus on growing in generosity. We take this time to think about how God has given us undeserved grace while we were still sinners and continues to grow us as his people. We like to call it our |giv| series.

During the series, we will walk through the first two chapters of Matthew to prepare our hearts to celebrate God’s greatest gift to the world: Jesus. As Christians, because it’s far too easy to just get caught up in everything else so we want to make sure that we approach this season thoughtfully. Each week, we’ll look at different aspects of Christ's coming that ought to shape the way we think, feel and react to the Christmas season.

LISTEN TO SERMONS & DOWNLOAD Resources

Week 1: Jesus’ Resume - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Jesus’ Mission - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Jesus’ Kingdom - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

1. Start Tithing

We want our first step of ongoing generosity to be towards the mission of our church. By financially supporting our church together, we set ourselves up for a stable and sustainable ministry for years to come. We are encouraging our family to set up a recurring tithe because the gospel transforms us not just to be generous around the holidays, but during all seasons of our lives.

2. SIGN UP FOR SERVE THE CITY WEEKEND

The gospel transforms us to be generous with not only our finances, but our time and energy as well. We are coming together to serve our seven partner organizations and their clients at Serve the City Weekend from January 18-20, 2020.

3. RAISE $22,000 FOR OUR SERVE THE CITY PARTNERS

We want to fund Serve the City events throughout the next year and continue to do things like feeding Epworth students each Wednesday night at Student Groups.

4. Attend the Personal Finance Class

We want to equip our church family to be spiritually healthy by stewarding the financial resources that God has entrusted to us. On Sunday, January 26, February 2, and February 9 from 9:00am - 11:00am at our Downtown church, we’re hosting a class that consists of practical training to manage your finances, pay off debt, invest well, and practice biblical generosity.

|giv| 2018

Every year, we take 3-4 weeks to intentionally focus on growing in generosity. We take this time to think about how God has given us undeserved grace while we were still sinners and continues to grow us as his people. We like to call it our |giv| series.

1. Start Tithing

We want our first step of ongoing generosity to be towards the mission of our church. By financially supporting our church together, we set ourselves up for a stable and sustainable ministry for years to come.  We are encouraging our family to set up a recurring tithe because the gospel transforms us not just to be generous around the holidays, but during all seasons of our lives.

2. SIGN UP FOR SERVE THE CITY WEEKEND

The gospel transforms us to be generous with not only our finances, but our time and energy as well. We are coming together to serve our six partner organizations and their clients at Serve the City Weekend from January 18-21, 2019.

3. RAISE $21,000 FOR OUR SERVE THE CITY PARTNERS

We want to fund Serve the City events throughout the next year and continue to do things like feeding Epworth students each Wednesday night at Student Groups.

Stretch goal - Any money we raise beyond the $21,000 will be put towards renovating and installing a full kitchen in our unused building on Barnwell St. beside our office. This will allow us to serve meals as part of our ministry to the homeless, use the facility to save money on food cost for future events, and utilize the building as an event rental space.

4. Attend the Personal Finance Seminar

We want to equip our church family to be spiritually healthy by stewarding the financial resources that God has entrusted to us. On Saturday, January 26 from 9:00am-3:00pm at our Downtown church, we’re hosting a seminar that consist of practical training to manage your finances, pay off debt, invest well, and practice biblical generosity.

LISTEN TO SERMONS & DOWNLOAD Resources

Week 1: Mercy - Its Source & Motive - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Grace Givers - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: A Test of Genuine Faith - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

|giv| The Advent of the Son of God

Every year, we take 3-4 weeks to intentionally focus on growing in generosity. We take this time to think about how God has given us undeserved grace while we were still sinners and continues to grow us as his people. We like to call it our |giv| series.

During the series, we will study passages of Isaiah to prepare our hearts to celebrate God’s greatest gift to the world: Jesus. We want to make sure that we approach this season well as Christians because it’s far too easy to just get caught up in everything else. Each week, we’ll look at different aspects of Christ's coming that ought to shape the way we think, feel and react to the Christmas season and stir our affection and longing.

1. SIGN UP TO TITHE

We are encouraging our family to set up a recurring tithe because the gospel transforms us not just to be generous around the holidays, but during all seasons of our lives. Regular tithing from our Midtown family enables us to more strategically plan and budget to continue to be Jesus-centered family on mission with Him in Columbia and the world.

2. SIGN UP FOR SERVE THE CITY WEEKEND

The gospel transforms us to be generous with our finances as well as with our very lives. Our Serve the City Weekend is a great chance to be generous with our time and energy by serving marginalized and vulnerable people groups in our city. Serve the City Weekend will be during MLK Weekend from January 12-15.

3. RAISE $5,000 FOR OUR SERVE THE CITY PARTNERS

The goal of this year's |giv| project for our Downtown church is to raise $5,000 to support our Serve the City Partners. For each partnership, we are committed to serving their staff and their clients on a monthly basis. Some of our events are really big like STC weekend and some of our events are as simple as serving breakfast for the committed staff of each organization. Your giving this year will help us: 

• Provide supplies and resources for the students at Carver-Lyon.

• Repair houses for widows in our city who cannot pay for or complete the repairs on their own.

• Provide a stable church family atmosphere and moments of relief and joy for the orphaned kids of Epworth.

• To love on foster families and support the efforts of DSS in Lexington.

ADVENT GUIDE

To help enrich our understanding of the Advent season, we've created an Advent Guide for you to use with your family or your LifeGroup. Inside, you'll find daily readings, weekly devotionals, family discussion questions, and study guides for your LifeGroup.

LISTEN TO SERMONS & DOWNLOAD STUDY GUIDES

Week 1: Grace for Our Sin - (Get the Study Guide)

Week 2: Hope for Our Suffering - (Get the Study Guide)

Week 3: Peace for the World - (Get the Study Guide)

Week 4: Joy for Eternity - (Get the Study Guide)

|giv| 2015

Every year we use Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday momentum to rally our church to the gospel origins of Christian generosity and incarnational ministry. Because Jesus gave himself, we give ourselves in response. This series will take 3 weeks to orient our church family around the idea of church planting in Lexington and Knoxville. Find out more about our efforts to plant these churches here.