Good News
God Loves a Cheerful Giver

Giving is part of our lives. To those we love, we give birthday, anniversary, and Christmas gifts. As Chris-tians, an important way that we express our faith, love, and gratitude to the Lord for His wonderful blessings and goodness to us is though our giving.
Do you ever wonder how God views our gift-giving activity? Does God see us giving cheerfully or grudg-ingly? Are we giving less or more than our ability? Regardless of how we give, God loves to give because His nature is to give. Because of His tremendous love for us, He gave us the perfect gift and what we needed the most—His Son our Savior. The gift is given to us without any effort or merit on our part. He does not take back His gift of love; it is ours whether we like it or not. We may reject the Gift, but He will not take back His Gift of salvation and love.
God’s gift was giving Himself. “But when the time had fully come, God sent His son…” (Galatians 4:4a). Jesus poured Himself out so that we are forgiven and stand as redeemed saints. What a gift!
The wonderful thing that I see at our church is that so many of you are giving more than just financial gifts; you are giving yourselves. You are serving and giving with the use of your time and your talents to our ministry here at the church and to your brothers and sisters within our church. In essence, you are becoming the gift. Your gift is wrapped up in love for the Lord, for His Church, and for your neighbors.
I thank all of you for your continued prayers and the financial support of our mission and ministry at Immanuel Lutheran Church. With God’s help, we will continue to be a beacon of hope in our community.
May our Lord and Savior fill your heart with hope, your spirit with joy, and your life with peace while we continue to reflect on the gift of eternal life we receive through Him.
Informer
