Streaming the Good News
News breaks all the time. Notifications pop up on our iPads and smartphones with the latest news. The information tells us what is going on in the world – both good and bad. More often than not, the information is troubling. It covers conflicts and rarely report celebrations.
Honestly, having the news at one’s fingertips was never a reality of the past. People who lived in the 1920s did not consume in a lifetime the amount of news that people today do in one hour. Of course, this information may alarm some. Our different world today presents challenges to all of us. But it also gives us a unique opportunity. Streaming the inspiration of the Good News, which was once impossible, is now possible.
Imagine an All Shepherds Church App that pops up in people’s everyday lives with the latest breaking good news of Christ.
A shut-in or homebound parishioner unable to attend worship could catch the latest good news update;
Adults and families, while away on business or sitting at a child’s activity, could catch an inspiring word, and
College students who live at a distance could receive an encouraging message from back home.
Such an app would change lives.
Don’t take our word for it. Take the word of Nik Manngard, one of All Shepherds’ college students who listens to the same weekly faith podcast as his mother, then calls to have a telephone discussion about it:
“Listening to the same faith podcast as my mom made a huge difference in my faith life because the ability to discuss the good news with my mom makes it that much more powerful and meaningful. Seeing as how our faith is a huge part of our lives individually, it always gives me a special something to talk to my mother about weekly or every other week. And honestly, it gives me a reason to call.”
To spread to good news, an inspiring word or an encouraging message, the communications ministry of All Shepherds plans to develop an app to provide the latest good news from our faith community via virtual technology. Doing so will open up a multitude of new possibilities.
Streaming the good news is an innovative way to do ministry as we approach 2020 and is included in our Courageous Giving 2020 Stewardship Appeal. Our goal is to increase offerings by $1,081 per week (about $56,250 over the year), some of which will make the good news available in this new innovative way.
Pray for a generous response to this appeal. Pray about your own response. Consider increasing your giving as the Lord leads you. Bea ready to make your courageous commitment known on Courageous Giving 2020 Sunday, November 24. In our courageous giving, we will be saying thank you to the Lord and making the inspiration of the good news available to so many different people.
The heart that sustains All Shepherds’ ministry to one another and the broader community is our General Operations Fund. Contributions to this fund support encouragement, study and discipleship for the people of All Shepherds as we nurture, learn and worship together, equipping all of us to share the Good News of the Gospel with others. Your support of the General Operations Fund helps to make this possible.
In the coming year, we hope to further support these efforts and strengthen discipleship among one another. The aim of the Courageous Giving Stewardship Appeal is to increase offering by $1,082 per week (about $56,250 over the year) to grow several ministry opportunities. A portion of our increased offerings will be used for General Operations.
Be sure to read the letter that will come to you soon. The Stewardship brochure that will be enclosed will further outline how contributions will be used. Pray for a generous response to this appeal. Consider prayerfully about how you will respond to the invitation to increase your weekly offering. The Lord will continue to bless our offerings as they advance God’s kingdom everywhere.