Community...

"Authentic abundance does not lie in secured stockpiles of food or cash or influence or affection but in belonging to a community where we can give those goods to others who need them—and receive them from others when we are in need." ~ Parker Palmer

Social Responsibility

"People do not want to acknowledge or face up to the reality of a crucified world, and even less do we want to ask ourselves what is our share of responsibility for such a world. The world of poverty truly is the great unknown. It is surprising that the First World can know so much and yet ignore what is fundamental about the world in which we live. It is frustrating, because the problem is not a lack of means by which to learn the truth. We have enough knowledge to place a man on the moon or on Mars, but we sometimes do not even know how many human beings share this planet, much less how many of them die every year from hunger." ~ Jon Sobrino

Religion Costs

"What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket when, of course, it is the cross." ~ Flannery O'Connor

Community...

"The community of persons closest to us has the power to keep us in the tomb of fear or to call us into the daybreak of hope. Do those around us call us to huddle more closely together and bolt the doors of our upper room? Or do they help us throw the doors open because we have experienced together the freeing call to action which is the Spirit of Jesus in our midst?" ~ Sr. Lauretta Mather

Transformation of Brokenness

"We feel small and weak, but we are gathered together to signify the power of God who transforms death into life. That is our hope, that God is doing the impossible: changing death to life inside of each of us, and that perhaps, through our community, each one of us can be agents in the world of this transformation of brokenness into wholeness, and of death into life." ~ Jean Vanier

...to Save us from Ourselves...

"Lord, teach us to understand that your Son died to save us not from suffering but from ourselves, not from injustices, far less from justice, but from being unjust. He died that we might live—but live as he lives, by dying as he died who died to himself." ~ George MacDonald

Divine Whisperer

"When your world falls apart and your heart is breaking and you cry out in a prayer of utter desperation, there comes a Divine whisper: “I know what you’re going through. I’ve been there myself.” ~ Brown

Small & Weak

"We feel small and weak, but we are gathered together to signify the power of God who transforms death into life. That is our hope, that God is doing the impossible: changing death to life inside of each of us, and that perhaps, through our community, each one of us can be agents in the world of this transformation of brokenness into wholeness, and of death into life." ~ Jean Vanier

Hope in Jesus

"In Jesus Christ, every sin has been paid for; every closed door flung wide open; every empty table filled with his abundance; every grave prepared for resurrection; every demon cast into the swine and sent over the hill; every broken wall has been rebuilt; every crushed dream has been renewed; every crooked way has been made straight; every sunset of despair has been turned into a sunrise of hope!" ~ Tennent

Don't Just Talk About Generosity

“It is not enough for the church to talk about generosity, nor is it enough for individual Christians simply to commit to being generous. What makes generosity a real and powerful witness to God’s love is our action. Generosity flows from an understanding that all that we have, are, and ever will become is not ours to possess, and it results in sharing what we’ve been given with others for the advancement of the kingdom and the glory of God. ~ Chris Willard & Jim Sheppard (Contagious Generosity, 2012, p.18)

Devotion...Purpose...

“The need for devotion to something outside ourselves is even more profound than the need for companionship. If we are not to go to pieces or wither away, we must have some purpose in life; for no man can live for himself alone.” ~ Ross Parmenter

Products Not Prisoners

"We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it." ~ Rick Warren

Giving Is Fundamental

“Giving is fundamental to God’s nature, and grace is at the core of true giving. God’s gracious gift gives context and meaning to our impulse to give and helps explain the joy that comes from the act of giving. God’s gracious gift of breath and eternal life on our behalf, and our response to it, is the key to unlocking the unique character of giving in the kingdom.” ~ R. Mark Dillon (Giving & Getting in the Kingdom, 2012, p.25)

Planned by God

"You are not an accident. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He wanted you alive and created you for a purpose. Focusing on yourself will never reveal your purpose. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense. Only in God do we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny." ~ Rick Warren

What Do You Care About?

“Each time we make a purchase, decide on an investment, or give a donation, we communicate what we treasure – what we truly care about.” ~ Doug Carter (Raising More than Money, 2007, p. 8)

Evidence Generous Church

“The clearest evidence of a generous church is a willingness to give that flows naturally from hearts touched by the grace of God.” ~ Chris Willard & Jim Sheppard (Contagious Generosity, 2012, Pg. 40)

Resurrection Joy

“Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength and beauty and happiness.” ~ Floyd W. Tompkins

Ultimate Goal...

“We raise awareness, involvement, and dollars. But if those objectives don’t lead to the advancement of God’s kingdom, we have failed as Christians and as fundraisers. This is, indeed our ultimate goal, and we must always keep it uppermost in our minds and hearts.” ~ Terry T. Munday (It’s not about the Money, 2009, p.113)

Not Just the Pleasant Parts

"Our story is not the pleasant parts only. We have the capacity to shine with the light of love and to disappear into a dismal slime of selfishness. We are made alive and ridiculously threatened by the promise of God-with-us. We are the whole Christmas story, both beautiful and fearful, bright and dark, hidden and revealed." ~ Kayla McClurg

Hungry, Starved, Denied

"We have food to share with a world that is hungry, even famished. Spiritual wanderers—those spiritually starved and denied—show up at our doors, not because they like our buildings or even because they like us, but because they are hungry. Hungry for forgiveness, for rest and peace. Hungry for mercy and grace. Hungry to explore and grow. Hungry for the good news of new life, of abundant life. Hungry for God to do a new thing." ~ Amy Oden

The World Is Your Neighborhood

"No individual can live alone, no nation can live alone, and anyone who feels that he can live alone is sleeping through a revolution. The world in which we live is geographically one. The challenge that we face today is to make it one in terms of brotherhood…. Through our scientific and technological genius, we have made of this world a neighborhood, and yet we have not had the ethical commitment to make of it a brotherhood. But somehow, and in some way, we have got to do this." ~ Martin Luther King

Need for Joy

"We all underestimate our need for joy. If we are not careful, we live as if our schedules are our lives. We cross one thing after another off the list. At the end of the day, we have completed our chores, but we haven’t necessarily been present for our own experiences." ~ Mary Pipher

Saved From What?

"Lukewarm people don't really want to be saved from their sin; they want to be saved from the penalty of their sin." ~ Francis Chan

Love or Hate

"We love or hate our enemies to the same degree that we love or hate ourselves. In the image of the enemy, we will find the mirror in which we may see our own face most clearly." ~ Sam Keen

Undeserved Favor of God

"Hell is the backdrop that reveals the profound and unbelievable grace of the cross. It brings to light the enormity of our sin and therefore portrays the undeserved favor of God in full color. ~ Francis Chan & Preston Sprinkle (Erasing Hell)

Sovereign Rule of God

"Bitterness arises in our hearts when we do not trust in the sovereign rule of God in our lives." ~ Jerry Bridges

Live Content

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurrying never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony." ~ William Ellergy Channing

Journey of We

“Jesus-shaped spirituality hears Jesus say "believe and repent," but the call that resonates most closely in the heart of a disciple is "follow me." The command to follow requires that we take a daily journey in the company of other students. It demands that we be lifelong learners and that we commit to constant growth in spiritual maturity. Discipleship is a call to me, but it is a journey of "we.” ~ Michael Spencer (Mere Christianity: Finding Your Way Back to Jesus-Shaped Spirituality)

Change Me

"Lord make me what I should be, change me whatever the cost." ~ Anthony Bloom

Hope in HIM

“When men know they cannot hope in a country, in a political belief, or in themselves, they become free to hope in God.” ~ Randy Alcorn (Safely Home)

Our Concept of God

"We become more and more like our concept of God. If I see him as harsh, that’s the way 

I’ll become, but if I see God as compassionate, that’s the kind of person I’ll become." 

~ A. B. Cobb

The Facts of Life

"The facts are: people die, jobs are lost, finances are tight, slanderers sometimes prevail. Situations may turn from bad to worse. People need authenticity from the Christian community not clichéd answers." ~ M. E. Anderson

The Seeds

“I think most American churchgoers are the soil that chokes the seed because of all the thorns. Thorns are anything that distracts us from God. When we want God and a bunch of other stuff, then that means we have thorns in our soil. A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled on top of it.” ~ Francis Chan (Crazy Love)

Fulfill the Great Commission

"Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited it's biblical right to exist." ~ Oswald J. Smith

The Resurrection of Jesus Means...

"Let’s get it straight that Easter is not just the remembrance of something that happened in the past. It is the good news that the risen Savior is alive and is on the road ahead of us. We will not find him in the tomb of our broken dreams and shattered expectations, in the graveyard of defeats and failures, embalmed in some experience in the past. We will find him out ahead of us on the road that leads to a radically new tomorrow." ~ Harnish

Nothing Irredeemable

"Nothing irredeemable has happened to us or can happen to us on our way to our destiny in God’s full world. " ~ Philip Yancy  (The Question That Never Goes Away)

Deep Belief Cost Something

“The trouble with deep belief is that it costs something And there is something inside me, some selfish beast of a subtle thing that doesn't like the truth at all because it carries responsibility, and if I actually believe these things I have to do something about them. It is so, so cumbersome to believe anything. And it isn't cool.” ~ Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

Excellence

People forget how fast you did a job- but they remember how well you did it. 

~ Howard W. Newton

Shockingly Personal

"Grace is shockingly personal. As Henri Nouwen points out, “God rejoices. Not because the problems of the world have been solved, not because all human pain and suffering have come to an end, nor because thousands of people have converted and are now praising Him for his goodness. No, God rejoices because one of his children who was lost has been found." ~ Philip Yancey (What’s So Amazing About Grace?)

Encourage Christ-like Generosity

“As humans, we can never direct potential donors’ desires and actions. All we can ever hope to do is present a true picture of our mission, and in turn, encourage Christ-like generosity.” ~ Terry T. Munday (It’s Not About the Money, 2009, Pg. 111)