GIVING
GIVING AT GCS
We deliberately do not take a collection at our Sunday services. We do not want any of our guests or newcomers to misunderstand our motives, and we want our church members to think carefully and prayerfully about their giving rather than just digging out whatever is in their wallets.
If you would like to begin giving financially to the work of GCS:
Read the rest of this page prayerfully and considerately
Please contact the church treasurer for further information:
If you are a UK taxpayer, fill in the Gift Aid Declaration
Set up a standing order with your bank using these details:
Recipient/payee: Grace Church Sydenham
Sort code: 405240
Account number: 00031215
Reference: Your initial and last name
WHY CHRISTIANS GIVE
TO RESPOND TO GOD’S GRACE
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
TO SUPPORT THE GOSPEL MINISTRY WE BENEFIT FROM
“If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?”
TO PARTNER IN GOSPEL MINISTRY ELSEWHERE
“Dear friends, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you… It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from unbelievers. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth”.
TO EASE THE SUFFERING OF CHRISTIANS ELSEWHERE
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?… When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’”.
TO SHOW THAT GOD ALONE IS OUR MASTER
“No-one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
HOW CHRISTIANS GIVE
JOYFULLY
“We want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian church. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity”.
THOUGHTFULLY
“Each person should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
SELF-SACRIFICIALLY
“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put… Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny… Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on”.
PRIVATELY
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them… But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret”.