We watch through screens in our palms as water desecrates trees and streets, leveling homes and lifting cars; natural disasters rendering communities homeless overnight. Our own windows still intact as we putter from place to place. We hear of young women who must travel miles on end just for a drink of dirty water, while we ourselves are able to take quick steps to the nearest faucet in our own homes. We hear stories of those who must whisper the gospel in secret and hide their Bibles for fear of death or discrimination, while we are able to share freely our praise and worship to God.
As a faith community based in the West, we are blessed beyond measure, and we are also arguably the wealthiest Christians in the history of the world. At times, in the face of such hopelessness and despair in our world, it can be paralyzing.
The question is why have we been so blessed and what do we do with it?
We can draw from God’s promise to Abraham for some insight:
“… I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”
God is inviting Abraham into a dance, where God promises to supply the blessing, and Abraham will be a blessing. It was never about preserving or profiting from his blessings—it was always about being a vessel to share God’s goodness to the rest of the world. Â
As Christ-followers, we are woven like threads into the tapestry of the history of saints and believers who come after Abraham. We are among sands that God asks Abraham to count as his blessings. We are the stars in the night sky.
And when God tells Abraham, “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you,” we not only are inheritors of this blessing, but we too are invited into this dance.
As Tim Keller writes, “Mercy is commanded, but it must not be the response to a command, it is an overflowing generosity as a response to the mercy of God which we received.” We don’t have to be overwhelmed with helplessness when we face the hardships of the world, because, like Abraham, God empowers us to respond to His mercy.
He is the one who blesses us to bless the world around us.
To be a blessing is to respond out of the overflow of God’s goodness.
Expressions of Blessings
As we step into our tenth year, we step in with a new expression of how we plan to bless the world through our church. Currently, at Ekko, we have three primary expressions to serve and love the community around us. The first is our Mary and Joseph Initiative, where we host and serve vulnerable children and families in our communities in partnership with Olive Crest. Second, we serve through our Special Abilities Ministry, where we provide respite care for families with children with special needs. This takes the form of rEcess, a once-a-month free respite program for families and with Ekko Buddies on Sundays, which creates the space for a child with special needs to experience God at church with a Buddy. And third, our Ekklesia Home Groups have been partnering with local nonprofits in order to serve and bless their respective regional neighborhoods.
And now, as we prepare to celebrate God’s faithfulness to our tribe at our ten year anniversary, we are introducing our fourth expression to bless others: the Missions and Outreach Fund.
Because our church has been so faithful in giving tithes and offerings, we have the opportunity to begin a rhythm of giving corporately. Following Paul’s words to the church in Corinth:
“You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion…”
— 2 Corinthians 9:11
As a body, we can give to help the communities made desolate from natural disasters, we can financially partner with organizations to implement life-changing and community-altering measures. We can mobilize missionaries and evangelists to share the Gospel where we ourselves cannot go.
This expression will allow us to implement change on a greater scale as a body moving as one.
And like Abraham, we are financially and spiritually enriched so that we can bless and be generous on every occasion. The manner in which we will be giving corporately will address three facets of need: to provide relief, revival, and reform.
Relief is about providing immediate financial and material aid for basic necessities or providing Sabbath rest (i.e. shelter, food, water, medicine…etc.)
Revival pertains to the preaching of the Gospel through equipping and supporting campus ministries, church ministries and other forms of evangelism.
Reform will cover systemic change bent toward Kingdom values and fuel efforts to initiate long-term generational change.
Paralleling the model that Jesus calls us to share the Good News to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth, we are participating in change locally, regionally, nationally and globally.
So what does this mean for us as members of Ekko?
This means a portion of everyone’s tithes and offerings will be contributed to our Missions and Outreach Fund to participate in any of the three R’s above. Each time we give, the body will be informed of which organization and which need it addresses.
This also means that we will have opportunities throughout the year to give as a body and in faith for special occasions or specific needs. There will also be openings to serve and go on mission trips to give our time and energy.
We began by giving to relief efforts for Hurricane Florence and Tsunami and Hurricane in Indonesia through the nonprofit Global Giving. We gave toward relief, revival and reform to Express Eden located in Mozambique (A church meeting the needs of the community, physically, spiritually, emotionally).
We partnered with Union Rescue Mission (Homelessness) and Pathways of Hope (Homelessness & transitional Housing) to provide relief and reform for those without homes in our communities. And to Olive Crest and 99 Balloons to fund relief for these organizations that focus on at-risk children and parents in need and children with special abilities.
As Keller wrote, generosity is a response to the mercy we have received from God. May God move us and deepen our awareness of who He is and the price He paid for us. May He show us His blessings, so that we may be inspired to give out of the overflow.
If you have any questions, please reach out to our Outreach Director, Sung Kim. (sung@ekkochurch.com)
Join us for our Ten Year Anniversary! We will be celebrating God’s faithfulness and dinner will be provided! Invite your family and friends:Â RSVP here.Â
If you’d like to read more, please check out Ministries of Mercy by Tim Keller.
Safe Families for Children is a unique family preservation program that collaborates with local churches and volunteers to support children and parents navigating difficult circumstances such as unemployment, homelessness, hospitalization, and addiction. It is a positive alternative to the child state welfare system and allows parents to arrange for their children to stay with a host family while they work through the issues that led to instability without the fear of losing custody. The program’s goal is to reunite children with their parents in a home that is healthy and stable.
rEcess is a free, monthly respite program offered to serve families with children with special needs. It allows parents to experience Sabbath rest while trained volunteers watch and play with their children in a kind and safe environment.