Benevolence is defined as “a generous gift or act of kindness.” Benevolence is rooted and founded in the nature and character of God Himself. He is all about gifts offered freely to those who are willing to receive them. The New Testament reveals that the predominant gift that God bestows on us is His grace… an undeserved kindness that we could never do enough to earn but was purchased for us by Christ’s work on the cross and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. His grace covers the length and the depth of our broken lives. We did not ask Christ to do this for us, He did it willingly, on His own initiative in obedience to His Father’s will. We are the fortunate recipients of God’s relentless and inexhaustible benevolence. It is His benevolent grace that infuses life into our souls and transforms us to be like Him.
As a result, having been made in the image of God, we are designed to be a people of benevolence that mirrors the divine kindness and generosity. To be generous in kindness builds character in the life of the giver. To accept the personal responsibility for the welfare of others is a foundational building block for maturity of the soul. That is one reason that ‘communism/socialism’ is detrimental to any society. When the government collectively takes responsibility on behalf of the populous for distributing wealth, it steals away the people’s obligation to volunteer personal sacrifice. Jesus’ call for us is to love our neighbor. To actually love our neighbor means to personally be connected and engaged. Government can’t do that for us… and when they try, they are profoundly inefficient.
This fall has seen a sharp increase in the needs and demands on our “Benevolence” funds here at Quest. This has been a difficult season in the lives of people in our community, but even more so, in the lives of people within our own fellowship. Seasons come and seasons go, and right now we are in a season of significant need for several families around us. Therefore, I would like to encourage you to consider voluntarily contributing to our ‘Benevolence Fund.’ You can designate specific giving to ‘Benevolence’ byway of a check or cash. There are envelopes on the Tithe Table you can use if you feel called.
Thank you for considering this. We want to continue to be a generous church, who loves to do acts of kindness for those in our congregation and in our community.
Yours,
Kevin