"Stewardship is Discipleship" - A Pastor's Testimonial

I have a wonderful testimonial today on how a pastor challenged his church to step up in the area of stewardship – and the results that followed. Gregg Matte, senior pastor of Houston’s First Baptist Church, used the principles from my book, Maximize, to make an impact on his church’s giving. He recently shared this at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting.

Dave Clippard, IMB associate vice president of development, introduced Gregg Matte at the luncheon.

“[Recently Matte] challenged the church to step up in their commitment to reach the world in missions giving,” Clippard said. “They were praying for $15 million — the church gave $30 million, and it’s still coming. … Those are the kind of things that you can’t explain by just human effort. God has spoken to [this church family].”

While teaching from the Book of Acts, Matte and the church gained a vision for giving money away, an endeavor based on Acts 1:8 that they called “Mission 1:8.” Their goal is to give missionally to reach their city, the nation and the world, and to not forget the poor, the widow, the orphan and the prisoner.

Matte advised pastors seeking to increase giving to find their voice and find their vision, to realize the effort is about discipleship, and to make sure their hearts are in the right place.

The church used the ladder model from the book “Maximize” by Nelson Searcy, asking members to consider where they were in the giving “ladder,” and then to take a “step up.”

Through this emphasis, 709 families became first-time givers to their church, 449 became intentional givers, 541 became tithers and 686 went to extravagant giving.

“Let God begin with you,” Matte told pastors. “And when He begins with you, you will find you can’t out-give God … But the more we give, the more God gives us.”

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Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

P.S. – Stewardship is one of the Eight Healthy Church Systems that you can upgrade to maximize your church growth. Healthy systems are essential to reaching your church’s full redemptive potential. I’d like to help you gear up for fall growth, so in the Summer Systems Sale, this week only, you can choose ANY of my 8 Systems Seminar resources for HALF OFF.

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About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.