God’s Multiplying Economy

God's Multiplying Economy
By Dr. Dock Hollingsworth, senior pastor

Have you noticed how many stories in the Bible are stories of multiplication? The most popular, of course, is the story where the little boy offers Jesus his lunchbox and Jesus uses it to feed 5,000 people. But there are stories of seeds that grow into bushes, trees and flowers and multiply their seeds. There are 12 Jesus followers who tell the Good News, and it is multiplied into millions of lives changed. God operates an economy of multiplication.

I have a favorite Second-Ponce multiplication story that I tell often. The Elizabeth Grisham Brown fund was started in 1906 with a $3,000 stock gift. Today, SPdL is supporting Christian missions all over Atlanta and Georgia, from the income of that fund. God’s multiplication – the current value of the EGB Fund is 18 MILLION DOLLARS. This is how God works – over and over we have seen our (sometimes meager) contributions multiplied in impact by God’s grace.

I am asking you to pray about and then make a pledge to the general budget of our church. But this year I would ask you to think about what your gift means when it passes through the arms of God’s multiplying economy. Your pledge and your gift do far more than you realize. If God can feed a whole mountainside of hungry travelers with two fish and five loaves then your contribution is not small, no matter the number. God multiplies!

I would also ask you to consider the model of the Elizabeth Grisham Brown Fund. Legacy gifts, given to the church, then multiplied by God’s magic, offer generations of blessing. If the faithful gift of $3,000 has led to millions of dollars in ministry impact, what might a tithe of your estate do for the Kingdom of God? It is staggering to consider.

God is in the multiplication business, but our lunchbox, our tithe, our pledge is needed to activate the amazing economy of God. Please go online this week to www.spdl.org/pledge and offer up your lunch, plant your seed, make your pledge, and then stand back and watch!