Here, Near, and Far
Letter From 11|28 Board
God gave his first and his best when he gave us his Son at the cross, and in turn, we withhold nothing in generosity back to him.
We began the year talking about $24 more in 2024 and this being our year to grow up as a church. We said that if 24 households were to increase or start giving $24 per month, we would be a self-sustaining church by the end of the year. Your generosity throughout 2024 has projected that we will be a self-sustaining church by the year’s end! We are on track to reach 2024’s budget number of $176,000 at the end of December. Thank you for the part you’ve played in helping sustainability become our reality.
We, as a Board of Directors, sense that in these next few months our generosity could set in motion a long term solution to our current mobile church situation as well as long term aid for friends here in Oak Creek and beyond. We believe God is asking us to faithfully prepare for what’s next.
By year’s end we hope to have a significant amount of dollars set aside for a permanent space here in Oak Creek. We also believe that a generous church should bless and benefit others, and so we will give 16% away to help those in need.
We understand that even a few thousand dollars could make a significant difference in the greater Milwaukee area. We should and can be difference makers in this way. Beyond our local difference-making opportunities, we feel strongly that using dollars to change lives in other parts of the world is part of God’s calling for this church. We have been blessed with a partnership opportunity through our connection with Elmbrook Church to support and fund long-term an orphanage in Mexico that provides housing, meals, education and care to children living in poverty.
While Living Generously has always been a core value at 11|28, the next few months will be different, though. This will be a level beyond our usual comfort zone. This will be a church taking faith filled steps to live generously beyond what we normally give and beyond what we’re “okay” with. The end of 2024 we will be BOLDER in Christ Jesus and BOLDER in what we are asking from God, self, and others.
Would you prayerfully consider giving above and beyond for the next three months as we trust God for what’s ahead?
Seeking God Together
11|28 Board of Directors
OCT 2024 – JAN 2025
$60,000 above and beyond regular
donations over 3-Months
HERE – $50,000 Goal
In the last 12 months, we have walked through two buildings, made calls about several others, and discovered one common thread. Without having dollars available immediately for up front costs like a down payment or multiple months of rent, we are stuck being a setup teardown church for the foreseeable future. Having dollars ready to go when a permanent location presents itself will enable us to move rather than idle. A space to call home allows us to have deeper connections HERE in our local community and provides community services and events that meet the needs of our neighbors. While $50,000 isn’t going to purchase and renovate a building, it is the seed money needed to help 11|28 take the next step in our search for a permanent home.
NEAR – $6,000 Goal
We are committed to living out and modeling generosity as a church. While scripture often references 10% as a baseline, we’ve been blessed and we’re supposed to give away dollars above and beyond that percentage. $6,000 will help real people in Southeastern Wisconsin have tangible needs met. In 2025, we will partner with Family Connect Care Portal to meet needs of people who live NEAR us. Family Connect Care Portal unites churches and communities to deliver immediate, life-changing support to at-risk families, preventing crises and strengthening family stability.
FAR $4,000 Goal
$4,000 will enable an international partnership with Living Hope International. Living Hope is an orphanage in Puebla Mexico that shows the love of Jesus by rescuing kids from dire situations. Living hope provides housing, healthcare, improved nutrition, education and more to children in need. Sending $312 a month will change the lives of 8 orphans this year. We might be FAR away but impacting these lives today shifts the trajectory of generations that follow.
PRAY BOLDLY, for our church, families, facilities, community & projects.
GIVE GENEROUSLY, what God is calling you to invest over the next three months.
SERVE UNCOMMONLY, in the church and in your everyday spaces.
From Nothing to Something
Zacchaeus (Luke 19) had a change of heart with Jesus which resulted in a change of managing his money for God and others instead of centering it on self. Are you in a heart-change season with Jesus that deserves a reflected change in how you manage your finances?
From Something to Repeated
The Good Samaritan (Luke 10) gave relationship, time, and also money in response to the need in front of him, and then he offered to repeat that financial gift again. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna (Luke 8.1-3) repeatedly funded the work of Jesus and his disciples. What people do you care about, and what work of God do you care about, that is worth repeating your financial support for?
From Repeated to Prioritized
God gave us his first and his best when he gave us his Son and we get all sorts of stories of Jesus-disciples giving their first and best back. A little boy (John 6.5-13) prioritized Jesus when he gave his lunch, the Macedonian Church (2 Corinthians 8) prioritized another church with disciplined funding sent to them, and in Old Testament times numerous God-followers prioritized God in their heart by systematically prioritizing a first-tenth-of-income gift. What system could you put in place for making sure God gets your first and your best, not your last and leftovers?
From Prioritized to Surrendered
David (1 Chronicles 29) gave a pile of funds from his personal reserves to build the place of worship, the woman with alabaster perfume (Matthew 26.7) spent a year’s wages on one moment with Jesus, and the small thing the widow (Mark 12.41-44) gave was everything she owned. These are the stories that don’t make sense, but it makes you wonder if and when God is asking you to surrender things under your ownership beyond what makes sense.
From Surrendered to Visionary
Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18) used their business ventures to put Paul on payroll for church planting while tent making, and many in the early church (Acts 4.34) liquidated land and homes with a vision for funding God’s next venture. What vision do you have for the kingdom of God that’s worth creating outside-the-box funding for?