The early 20th century pastor and author Henry Ironside once found himself involved in a prayer meeting at the financially struggling Dallas Theological Seminary. During the course of the meeting Ironside prayed the following prayer: “Lord, you own the cattle on a thousand hills. Please sell some of those cattle to help us meet this need.” (source)  Shortly after that prayer it was announced that a check had been delivered to the school for a rather sizable sum. The one who provided the donation let it be known that the source of the money was the recent sale of cattle. The Lord provided for His work.

As is our custom at Patee Park Baptist we held our annual budget planning meeting in late November. At the beginning of the meeting we took a look back at giving over the past several months and determined what our average monthly giving has been. We then turned our attention to preparing the budget for 2010 with no attention to what the sum total of the budget was going to be. We simply went line by line stopping at each point and considering what was the appropriate amount to be budgeted for that item. It wasn't until we made it all the way through that we added it all up. Remarkably the amount needed on a monthly basis to support our newly planned budget was incredibly close to the giving pattern we observed at the beginning of our meeting. Once again the Lord provided for His work.

And now, just this week, the Lord has done it again. We're coming to the end of a year in which the International Mission Board announced they were in danger of having to scale back their missions efforts due to economic conditions. Many churches around the country took up a special missions offering earlier in the year to help ease the strain felt by our missionaries. Our local Chamber of Commerce sponsors a contest each year during the Christmas shopping season. The winner receives a $10,000 cash prize. This year's winner chose to anonymously donate the entire amount to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering at his church to support the work of the IMB. Yet again the Lord has provided for His work.

My hat goes off to this anonymous giver, what you have done very few would even have thought of. Your selfless act demonstrates a firm commitment to Christ and to His work of seeking and saving the lost. It's also a testimony to the heart and ministry of your pastor. Anyone who knows Pastor Micah knows that he has a heart for missions and leads his church to give sacrificially. Not because God would be unable to do it without our help, but because He offers us the blessing of taking part in His work. As we become the path through which He channels his blessings we receive a blessing of our own.

Now THAT is in keeping with the spirit of Christmas!