Showing We Care - Special Offering

Dear Southside Family,

I am excited to share with you information regarding the Showing We Care Special Offering that begins now and continues through January 31, 2010.

Over the last 3 years we have been a part of God planting a new church in the south side of Newberg. Southside was planted as a church that would show the love and healing that only comes from Jesus. Along the way we have used the resources that God has entrusted us with to tell our community, "God loves you and so do we". With this Special Offering we have the opportunity to deepen the impact on our city, enlarge our ministry to our regular attenders and engage those without a church in our country and world.

The offering will be designated for supporting global and U.S. missions, sharing God's love with our city through Servant Evangelism, fund our benevolence ministry that will assist the poor and needy and enhance the Southside Kidz experience on Sunday.

I hope you will carefully read over the enclosed documents to learn about this exciting opportunity for us to give sacrificially.

Will you begin praying now about what God would have you give, over and above your regular giving, to this Special Offering? Allow God to stretch your faith!

Your Friend,

Pastor Willy Burns

willy@southsidenewberg.org

P.S. The following post will give you an overview of the special offering and answer many common questions. However, if you have any additional questions please do not hesitate to contact me by phone (971*832*2427) or e-mail.




OVERVIEW
The SHOWING WE CARE Special Offering is a call to sacrificial giving with a goal of $3,000 for four ministry initiatives:

• To support Global / U.S. missions

• To share God's love to our city through Servant Evangelism.

• To tangibly support Love Inc. and to fund the 2010 Benevolence Ministry.

• To enhance the Southside Kidz experience on Sunday and address key capital improvements.

This Special Offering will be received through January 31, 2010.

Use the giving envelope or mark your checks with "Showing We Care."

THE PURPOSE OF THIS OFFERING

To support Global / U.S. missions.

Over the next year we will be doing missions work in the U.S. and Globally. This offering will help fund out missions outreach for 2010.

To share God's love to our city through Servant Evangelism.

We want to continue to be aggressive in reaching our city through Servant Evangelism by the combined efforts of our attenders We believe that together we can continue to show God's love in a practical way when we make it a priority across our church.


To tangibly support local organizations that assist the poor and needy in Newberg and to fund the 2010 Benevolence ministry.

We have a unique opportunity to help those in the greatest need in our community! We want to partner with local organizations that are really making a difference in peoples' lives and at the same time sharing the love of Jesus in a very practical way. That's why we partner with Love Inc. – because they have consistently made a difference in peoples' lives and demonstrated effectiveness in seeing lives change.

This year, we want to invest in them and join them in making a big difference in meeting the most basic needs of our city. This offering will go to support that effort.

We are anticipating and preparing for an increase in benevolence requests in 2010 due to the current economic climate.

To enhance the Southside Kidz experience at Southside.

We are a church that loves to invest in children and families. We consider it an honor to help a family make the best spiritual impact on their children's lives, help them raise a child that will choose to follow Jesus, and have a strong home. To do this, we have designed a fantastic experience for children on Sunday called Southside Kidz.

We are always looking to make BIG improvements in Southside Kidz, and 2010 is no different! We have several planned improvements over the course of the next year that will help you ensure that this is the best hour of your child's week, and that will put us in the best place to invest in your family spiritually.

To sum it up we want to provide the best opportunity for the people of Newberg to become fully-developing followers of Jesus! We want to use the best resources, offer the greatest opportunities to grow spiritually, and create unique and creative settings to consider a relationship with Jesus.

We know that in order to do that, we need to stay ahead in our equipment, facility setup, and resourcing to see this happen. In 2010, part of this offering will go to make significant investments in capital improvements to allow the church to stay ahead and remain relevant to this purpose.


Why a Special Offering?

As part of God's plan to grow the faith of the people in His church, He calls us to sacrificial giving from time to time. This Special Offering is an opportunity for us to grow in our faith and to prepare us for what God wants to do through our church in 2010. This offering is not because we are behind on budget, but rather is to position us to make a greater impact in our city, in our church and around the world in 2010.

What's the Difference Between the Regular Offering and this Special Offering?

The regular Southside offering is the proportional amount (the full tithe of 10%) that we set apart on a systematic basis and give throughout the year. From time to time there are opportunities to give in a sacrificial way. This Special Offering is one of those sacrificial occasions that stretch us and allow us to grow in our faith. The special offering should be over and above what you regularly give.

When Should I Give?

The best time to give will be the first Sunday after you receive this packet. Please pray about making your best gift on that day. However, you can continue to give until January 31, 2010.

Remember, consistent gifts over time add up – a person giving $50 per week over a ten-week period will give $500 to this Special Offering.

How Much Should I Give?

Since the goal is $3,000, this Special Offering will involve everyone. Please prayerfully consider a sacrificial gift that will stretch your faith. The precise amount you give is between you and God. Many in our church can give a $500, $750 or even a $1000 gift. Others will be able to give between $100 and $500. The issue is not equal giving, but equal sacrifice. What amount can you give that will stretch your faith?

Why is the Goal So Large?

We have been a church that has dared to dream big dreams for God. The ministries supported by this offering are BIG – supporting global and U.S. missions, sharing God's love with our city through Servant Evangelism, supporting local organizations that assist the poor and needy, funding the 2010 Benevolence ministry and enhancing the Southside Kidz experience on Sunday. Big dreams require big faith and big funding. The accomplishment of these big dreams will be determined by your gifts to this Special Offering.


FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS

Can I Give In-Kind Gifts of Stocks or Bonds?

Of course! Since Southside is a 501c3 organization there can be tremendous tax benefits for you by giving in-kind gifts. For information on this type of giving, simply contact Pastor Willy at: willy@southsidenewberg.org


Are My Gifts Tax-Deductible?

All gifts to Southside, whether via the regular offering or this Special Offering, are completely tax- deductible. Your gift will be deductible in the tax year given (i.e., gifts given in 2009 will be deductible on your 2009 taxes). Please be sure to include your name and address when you give so that a receipt can be sent to you for your tax preparations. You are not required to utilize a tax-deduction for your gift, but it is available for all gifts.

How Did We Arrive at a $3,000 Goal?

The $3,000 goal was prayerfully set by the Southside Leadership. It is approximately three times our regular weekly giving. It is a God-sized goal that can only be accomplished through 100% participation and sacrificial giving by our Southside attenders and members. Since we are expecting God to bless this Special Offering, it has been determined that any amount over and above our goal will be divided equally between Missions and Ministry Advancement.

How Will I Know if We Reach Our Goal?

Please pray for God's guidance as we all give sacrificially. You will be updated on our giving progress during the service, beginning this Sunday, and continuing through the last Sunday in January. Reaching this goal will be a celebration of what we can do together as we stretch our faith under God's leadership.

Have additional questions? Please contact Pastor Willy Burns at: willy@southsidenewberg.org, or call 971.832.2427.

The Anthropic Cosmological Principle

Over the last month I have been reading a series of email teachings put out by my lifelong pastor, Greg Knox. They have been discussing the anthropic cosmological principle. Basically it outlines what conditions would be necessary for life to exist on this planet and the mathematical odds of life occurring.


It is important as believers that we grapple with the claims of the Bible and science to prepare ourselves to always be ready to give a defense for the hope that lies within us.

Over the next few weeks we will be exploring some of the fine tuning that is required for life to exist on planet earth.

We will learn how everyday conditions on Earth are necessary for life to continue, even conditions that we wish did not exist, such as earthquakes and lightening.


Here is a layman's definition of the anthropic principle:


 In physics and cosmology, the anthropic principle is the collective name for several ways of asserting that the observations of our physical universe must be compatible with the life observed in it. The principle was formulated as a response to a series of observations which seemed to show that the laws of nature and its physical constants were uncannily set in a way that allowed conditions for life.

Let's get started with this brief intro... I am looking forward to this discovery together!

Pastor Willy

Quotes from Scientists Regarding Design of the Universe


by Rich Deem

Does science lead us down a road that ends in the naturalistic explanation of everything we see? In the nineteenth century, it certainly looked as though science was going in that direction. The "God of the gaps" was finding himself in a narrower and narrower niche. However, 20th century and now 21st century science is leading us back down the road of design - not from a lack of scientific explanation, but from scientific explanation that requires an appeal to the extremely unlikely - something that science does not deal well with. As a result of the recent evidence in support of design, many scientists now believe in God. According to a recent article:
"I was reminded of this a few months ago when I saw a survey in the journal Nature. It revealed that 40% of American physicists, biologists and mathematicians believe in God--and not just some metaphysical abstraction, but a deity who takes an active interest in our affairs and hears our prayers: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
The degree to which the constants of physics must match a precise criteria is such that a number of agnostic scientists have concluded that there is some sort of "supernatural plan" or "Agency" behind it. Here is what they say:
The quotes
Fred Hoyle (British astrophysicist): "A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question."

George Ellis (British astrophysicist): "Amazing fine tuning occurs in the laws that make this [complexity] possible. Realization of the complexity of what is accomplished makes it very difficult not to use the word 'miraculous' without taking a stand as to the ontological status of the word."

Paul Davies (British astrophysicist): "There is for me powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all....It seems as though somebody has fine-tuned nature’s numbers to make the Universe....The impression of design is overwhelming".


Paul Davies: "The laws [of physics] ... seem to be the product of exceedingly ingenious design... The universe must have a purpose".

Alan Sandage (winner of the Crawford prize in astronomy): "I find it quite improbable that such order came out of chaos. There has to be some organizing principle. God to me is a mystery but is the explanation for the miracle of existence, why there is something instead of nothing."

John O'Keefe (astronomer at NASA): "We are, by astronomical standards, a pampered, cosseted, cherished group of creatures.. .. If the Universe had not been made with the most exacting precision we could never have come into existence. It is my view that these circumstances indicate the universe was created for man to live in."


George Greenstein (astronomer): "As we survey all the evidence, the thought insistently arises that some supernatural agency - or, rather, Agency - must be involved. Is it possible that suddenly, without intending to, we have stumbled upon scientific proof of the existence of a Supreme Being? Was it God who stepped in and so providentially crafted the cosmos for our benefit?"


Arthur Eddington (astrophysicist): "The idea of a universal mind or Logos would be, I think, a fairly plausible inference from the present state of scientific theory."


Arno Penzias (Nobel prize in physics): "Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, one with the very delicate balance needed to provide exactly the conditions required to permit life, and one which has an underlying (one might say 'supernatural') plan."


Roger Penrose (mathematician and author): "I would say the universe has a purpose. It's not there just somehow by chance."


Tony Rothman (physicist): "When confronted with the order and beauty of the universe and the strange coincidences of nature, it's very tempting to take the leap of faith from science into religion. I am sure many physicists want to. I only wish they would admit it."


Vera Kistiakowsky (MIT physicist): "The exquisite order displayed by our scientific understanding of the physical world calls for the divine."


Robert Jastrow (self-proclaimed agnostic): "For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries."