Dear East Shore Family,
Our Lord is our great provider, and he has blessed us with a place to gather in his Name. I am grateful to Kailua Christian Church for allowing us to rent these classrooms for our gathering and for their sincere joy and welcome for East Shore to use these classrooms.
Let us always be thankful to our Father by having the understanding that our stay here will be at the pleasure of KCC members and their new pastor they are looking for. Our stay here may be short or long but will always with a grateful and thankful heart for our Father’s will for us.
As servants of Jesus, we are called to serve what pleases our Father’s will and that is to be his Son’s light that shines to all those around us. A light that shines Jesus’ teachings and commandments because we love him. Our light must shine to our neighbors next door by being mindful that the early morning sound of our activities do not offend them. We do this so that we can win their respect and hopefully lead them to Christ. In order to do this, I have submitted to KCC trustees and were approved to modify the classroom window with sound deadening boards and to install AC units when we close classroom windows and to replace one of the children’s toilets in the class restroom by installing an adult toilet.
I told them that the new AC and toilet are a gift to them and is not to obligate our stay. I was told this past Sunday that the trustees approved our modification very thankfully and humbly.
This modification will be donated by Cornerstone AC to East Shore as a gift to KCC for allowing us to rent these classrooms. These gifts are given not reluctantly or under compulsion but cheerfully for the Lord.
2 Corinthians 9: 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
I want to share what causes reluctancy and compulsion and keeps us from being a cheerful giver and that is greed. Jesus teaches 2 types of greed he has seen.
Luke 12: 13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14 Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
Greed is revealed when there is dispute over inheritance by sibling or relatives. Jesus said he is not the arbitrator of people’s inheritance meaning God is not on anyone’s side when is comes to who has rights to earthly inheritance. I know siblings may also get hurt over unequal share of parent’s inheritance because they use it to measure which sibling their parents love more. This is like the parable of the prodigal son and jealousy of the older brother.
God gives his inheritance to his children equally with no favoritism because he loves us all the same.
Jesus continues with a parable of another kind of greed.
Luke 12: 16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." 20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' 21 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
This is the greed of hoarding of one’s wealth so that you will always have more than enough to enjoy an easy life of eating, drinking and being merry all the time. This is like the story of the rich man who enjoyed his wealth and did not think at all of the need of Lazarus the beggar.
This kind of greed keeps our heart from just being thankful to God for providing us what is necessary for our life on this earth. Wealth is not evil unless it becomes your god. We need to be thankful because it is God who gives us the ability to prosper and to enjoy our wealth by sharing with others and those in need and not selfishly.
So, as we again gather in person your donation to the church is never with the intent that God will make you prosper and never from caring for your family needs first. Our giving to East Shore is to always care for anyone in need and secondly to care for church expenses as we gather and never for things that would put us in debt.
I was so blessed to meet in person this past Sunday and if you could not make I hope you can join your East Shore family next Sunday 9am and gather as one body in Christ.
Ps. Glenn.