• Everything comes from God
  -we are just giving back to God a small part of all the gifts he has given us
  -everything we have we are just holding in trust for God
• God must come first in our financial planning
  - when budgetting, we should first decide what we want to give to God
  - then we decide what to spend on other things
  - in Christian discipleship, God takes priority
• All our giving is part of our Christian discipleship
  - giving is a spiritual issue, not just a material one
  - giving embraces all aspects of life (inc time, talents & money)
• Our giving should be carefully considered and planned
  - we need to pray about it
  - we should give a proportion of our income, according to our circumstances
  - the Biblical pattern is to tithe – to give 10%
  - the Church of England recommends giving at least 5%
  - our circumstances may change (we may need to decrease our giving in times of hardship)
  - we need to review our giving regularly

PRACTICAL ISSUES

There are simple ways to help with planned giving:

• set up a standing order through your bank. Get a form to do this from church or from here.
• Join our envelope scheme
• Gift aid - if you pay tax, we can claim an extra 20% free, at no cost to you! There are simple forms available for this.
• Wills - a legacy is a wonderful way to thank God and support the work of the church; we can plan our will for the future, just as we plan our giving today.