When the wise men came to Jesus, they gave gifts. Why do we give at Christmas time? "For God so LOVED, that He gave!" God's gift to us causes us to want to give back to Him in gratitude for all He has given.

Earlier in the fall, Pastor Shiflett challenged the church to pray about a special, sacrificial gift to our Lord this Christmas season.

The purpose of the giving was for some much-needed remodeling and updating to our twenty-year-old sanctuary. The date of the offering was scheduled for December 23. Since then, he has periodically reminded us of the privilege it is to give back to God a portion of what He has given to us.

Each Sunday in December, one of our men has shared a testimony with the church before the regular Sunday morning offering about the blessing of giving to the work of God. Our hearts have been blessed and challenged by our pastor and these men.

The PVBC is anxiously anticipating the offering on Sunday morning, December 23, to see just what God will allow our combined efforts to accomplish! That is one of the great joys of giving. That member of the body whose offering may seem insignificant gets the blessing of joining his offering with all the others to see the work of God go forward.

God's Word tells us in I Chronicles 29:9, "Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy."

The truth of the matter is, God doesn't NEED our money. In fact, it's not even ours. He simply allows us to be stewards of it. When it comes to giving, He allows us to be a part of what He is doing! What an honor!