Hey Rocky River Church! Hope you are all doing well.

I’m very excited about all that God is doing in our church. I am totally pumped about the direction He is leading our great church. I feel like God is saying, “Tighten up those seat belts because we’re about to blast off!

Anyway, this Sunday we are making a change in the way we receive our tithes and offerings. We will be passing “receiving baskets” for the first time in more than nine years. I will explain this on Sunday morning but I wanted to give you a heads up here first. There are a couple of very important reasons for the change. Here they are:

The first reason is a spiritual one. I have been convicted about this for several years now. Giving our tithes and offerings is an important part of worship that has basically been relegated to a basket in the back with very little mention on Sundays. I have been concerned for years that I’m stealing a blessing from you by not allowing you to give as an act of worship. The hang-up has been mine more than anything else. Preachers (most of us) are afraid that people will think we’re all about money. I don’t think anyone can say that about Rocky River Church.

The second reason is a practical one. Many people are just not comfortable leaving their personal information (on a check) so exposed in an open basket at the back of the worship center that is unattended. In the age of identity theft I can certainly understand that. In fact, we already have a number of people who hand our counters their offering checks after the services or mail in their check because of such concerns.

See ya'll Sunday!

J