Empathy and generosity are two of the recognizable indicators of a healthy community. When Jesus is central to a group of people, selflessness, sacrifice, and care for others skyrocket. We are never more like Jesus than when we are generous and caring, willingly giving our best to see the best come about for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s why it hasn\u2019t been surprising (but so encouraging) to watch generosity increase in and around Living Waters throughout 2024.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We are a community founded on and following the Way of Jesus \u2013 and the Way of Jesus continually forms us into people who live for a greater cause, believing that giving into what God is doing is always worth it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the economy has become increasingly challenging and unstable, your generosity has increased! It is counterintuitive, but it is Kingdom.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kate and I, and the LW Team, are so thankful for this Living Waters community. We couldn\u2019t do what we do without your financial generosity, and we get to see firsthand the impact you are having on people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My end-of-year update is this<\/strong>: I believe we are breaking out of a prolonged financial \u201cslog\u201d, and it\u2019s because of\u00a0YOU<\/em><\/strong>. You saw our need; you heard our hearts\u2019 desire to have enough resources to build a healthy community of disciples who are impacting the world around them for Jesus. You listened to the Holy Spirit and trusted enough to give\u2014not worrying about tomorrow, \u201cfor tomorrow has enough worries for itself.\u201d You didn\u2019t say, \u201cSomeone else will do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n You chose the harder way of generosity and gave into this house in 2024, and it\u2019s an incredible miracle to see the financial tide turning ever so steadily.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As the year comes to an end, do not let up! Now more than ever, your end-of-year gifts will help us finish the year in financial strength and give us the ability to approach 2025 with the resources, energy, and passion that come from within our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you give, you aren\u2019t just tossing a few bucks in; you\u2019re throwing fuel on the fire that moves us forward. As I look back over the last 3-5 years, it is a miracle of God\u2019s provision that we are where we are. But as I look back, I\u2019m also saying, \u201cNever again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The enemy tried to use finances to take us out, discourage us, and convince us to give up. Instead, the \u201clack\u201d drove us to prayer, and it reminded us of our actual provision, which isn\u2019t in \u201chow much we have\u201d but \u201cWho we have\u201d\u2014or, in reality, \u201cWho has us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Join Kate and me in prayer and hear our request: If you have the ability to give a \u201cyear-end gift\u201d for 2024<\/a>, please prayerfully consider Living Waters. We believe it is our responsibility to steward all that God has given us, individually and as a church family, and sow it into His Kingdom in our church and in our city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While you are under no obligation or compulsion to give, we invite you to partner with us generously, faithfully, and joyfully for His Kingdom\u2019s purposes as 2024 comes to a close!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We love you! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Empathy and generosity are two of the recognizable indicators of a healthy community. When Jesus is central to a group of people, selflessness, sacrifice, and\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":551,"featured_media":1390987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":147,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1399567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financial-update",""],"blockli_fields":{"post_type":"","post_action":"","post_type_icon":"","background_image":""},"bb_bookmark":{"bookmark_id":0,"is_bookmarked":false,"bookmark_date":0},"app_bookmark":{"bookmark_id":0,"is_bookmarked":false,"bookmark_date":0},"comments_count":"1","content_native":[{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Empathy and generosity are two of the recognizable indicators of a healthy community. When Jesus is central to a group of people, selflessness, sacrifice, and care for others skyrocket. We are never more like Jesus than when we are generous and caring, willingly giving our best to see the best come about for others.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Empathy and generosity are two of the recognizable indicators of a healthy community. When Jesus is central to a group of people, selflessness, sacrifice, and care for others skyrocket. We are never more like Jesus than when we are generous and caring, willingly giving our best to see the best come about for others."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" That's why it hasn't been surprising (but so encouraging) to watch generosity increase in and around Living Waters throughout 2024.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"That's why it hasn't been surprising (but so encouraging) to watch generosity increase in and around Living Waters throughout 2024.<\/a><\/em><\/strong>"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" We are a community founded on and following the Way of Jesus - and the Way of Jesus continually forms us into people who live for a greater cause, believing that giving into what God is doing is always worth it!<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"We are a community founded on and following the Way of Jesus - and the Way of Jesus continually forms us into people who live for a greater cause, believing that giving into what God is doing is always worth it!"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" As the economy has become increasingly challenging and unstable, your generosity has increased! It is counterintuitive, but it is Kingdom.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"As the economy has become increasingly challenging and unstable, your generosity has increased! It is counterintuitive, but it is Kingdom.<\/em><\/strong>"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Kate and I, and the LW Team, are so thankful for this Living Waters community. We couldn't do what we do without your financial generosity, and we get to see firsthand the impact you are having on people's lives.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Kate and I, and the LW Team, are so thankful for this Living Waters community. We couldn't do what we do without your financial generosity, and we get to see firsthand the impact you are having on people's lives."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" My end-of-year update is this<\/strong>: I believe we are breaking out of a prolonged financial \"slog\", and it's because of\u00a0YOU<\/em><\/strong>. You saw our need; you heard our hearts' desire to have enough resources to build a healthy community of disciples who are impacting the world around them for Jesus. You listened to the Holy Spirit and trusted enough to give\u2014not worrying about tomorrow, \"for tomorrow has enough worries for itself.\" You didn't say, \"Someone else will do it.\"<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"My end-of-year update is this<\/strong>: I believe we are breaking out of a prolonged financial \"slog\", and it's because of\u00a0YOU<\/em><\/strong>. You saw our need; you heard our hearts' desire to have enough resources to build a healthy community of disciples who are impacting the world around them for Jesus. You listened to the Holy Spirit and trusted enough to give\u2014not worrying about tomorrow, \"for tomorrow has enough worries for itself.\" You didn't say, \"Someone else will do it.\""}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" You chose the harder way of generosity and gave into this house in 2024, and it's an incredible miracle to see the financial tide turning ever so steadily.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"You chose the harder way of generosity and gave into this house in 2024, and it's an incredible miracle to see the financial tide turning ever so steadily.<\/em><\/strong>"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" As the year comes to an end, do not let up! Now more than ever, your end-of-year gifts will help us finish the year in financial strength and give us the ability to approach 2025 with the resources, energy, and passion that come from within our community.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"As the year comes to an end, do not let up! Now more than ever, your end-of-year gifts will help us finish the year in financial strength and give us the ability to approach 2025 with the resources, energy, and passion that come from within our community."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" When you give, you aren't just tossing a few bucks in; you're throwing fuel on the fire that moves us forward. As I look back over the last 3-5 years, it is a miracle of God's provision that we are where we are. But as I look back, I'm also saying, \"Never again.\"<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"When you give, you aren't just tossing a few bucks in; you're throwing fuel on the fire that moves us forward. As I look back over the last 3-5 years, it is a miracle of God's provision that we are where we are. But as I look back, I'm also saying, \"Never again.\""}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" The enemy tried to use finances to take us out, discourage us, and convince us to give up. Instead, the \"lack\" drove us to prayer, and it reminded us of our actual provision, which isn't in \"how much we have\" but \"Who we have\"\u2014or, in reality, \"Who has us.\"<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"The enemy tried to use finances to take us out, discourage us, and convince us to give up. Instead, the \"lack\" drove us to prayer, and it reminded us of our actual provision, which isn't in \"how much we have\" but \"Who we have\"\u2014or, in reality, \"Who has us.\""}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Join Kate and me in prayer and hear our request: If you have the ability to give a \"year-end gift\" for 2024<\/a>, please prayerfully consider Living Waters. We believe it is our responsibility to steward all that God has given us, individually and as a church family, and sow it into His Kingdom in our church and in our city.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Join Kate and me in prayer and hear our request: If you have the ability to give a \"year-end gift\" for 2024<\/a>, please prayerfully consider Living Waters. We believe it is our responsibility to steward all that God has given us, individually and as a church family, and sow it into His Kingdom in our church and in our city."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" While you are under no obligation or compulsion to give, we invite you to partner with us generously, faithfully, and joyfully for His Kingdom's purposes as 2024 comes to a close!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"While you are under no obligation or compulsion to give, we invite you to partner with us generously, faithfully, and joyfully for His Kingdom's purposes as 2024 comes to a close!<\/em><\/strong>"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" We love you! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"We love you! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}}],"app_access":{"can_access":true,"restrict_message":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1399567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/551"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1399567"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1399567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1399651,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1399567\/revisions\/1399651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1390987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1399567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1399567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1399567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}