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Every individual Christian has a choice to make about finances. He or she can either keep every penny for themselves, or they can choose to invest some of their funds in their local church.
As churches, we face a similar decision. We can keep every bit of what we receive for our own local congregations, or we can invest some of it to reach the rest of the world.
Our church could put every dollar we receive to good use, but to keep it all here in Lubbock would be selfish and spiritually myopic. We do have our own Jerusalem to reach, but what about Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth? As for our church, we choose to look up and see a world that needs to be reached with the gospel. Part of the way we make a difference in that big world is through the century old, tried and true method of the Cooperative Program.
By giving through CP, our church helps reach the world by cooperatively supporting about 3,500 International Mission Board missionaries. One of those missionaries is from our church and now ministers in a very needy place in a predominantly Muslim country.
By giving through CP, our church helps reach the world by training spiritual leaders for tomorrow. That training is done by our six Southern Baptist seminaries. To succeed in the difficult task future leaders will face, they need the very best training we can give them.
By giving through CP, we reach the world through the North American Mission Board by helping start churches all over our nation. Those churches will, in turn, reach their local fields and help in our worldwide effort.
When our church recently built a new commons area, we decided to display a huge map of the world in it. When asked why we did that, I like to say that it reminds our church we are only one small place in a very big world. Our church has chosen to make a difference in that big world through the Cooperative Program. We hope you will join us and thousands of other churches who give through the Cooperative Program and reach the world for Jesus together!
