Support raising is not a 20th-century invention, but a way that the people of God throughout history have cared for and supported one another. Many Bible passages demonstrate how Jesus, Paul, and others received support from those who stood by them in their work. You may find it helpful to meditate on these passages in the weeks ahead as part of your fundraising.
I Chronicles 28:1-29:20 As his last act on the throne, David gets a start on his heart’s desire to build a temple for God. He presents this vision to the people and they respond joyously with their time, talents and money. In response, David prays a moving prayer before all the people, saying, “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” (29:14) After he leads the people in a final worship time, he passes on his kingship to his son Solomon who carries out his father’s intentions to build the temple.
Nehemiah 1:1 - 2:9 After hearing that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and that the surviving Jews were in great trouble and disgrace, Nehemiah mourned, fasted, and prayed. He then boldly approached King Artaxerxes (a non-believer) and asked him to provide the resources needed to rebuild the wall (and in so doing, rebuild the life of God in the people of God).
Matthew 7:7 - 12 God wants us to ask him for help. He wants us to come to him with our needs. As our faithful Father, he is eager and able to meet our needs.
Acts 4:32 - 37 As a community of Jews who had gathered in Jerusalem from far and wide, the first followers of Jesus shared all that they had. Though they had been strangers to one another in chapter 2, they became family in real and practical ways.
Philippians 4:10 - 20 The relationship Paul had developed with the Philippian church included their supporting his ministry and helping the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem hard hit by the famine. The Philippians had their own financial hardships, but despite their poverty, they gave sacrificially and generously out of what they had. They had compassion on their brethren in Jerusalem who were poorer than they, and they deeply loved Paul and believed in the calling God had given him to bring the gospel to other Gentiles like themselves.
2 Corinthians 8:1 - 9:15 Unlike the Philippians, the Corinthian church was in a season of plenty. Paul exhorts them to recognize that their abundance is meant to meet the needs where others are lacking, and in turn when their day of need presents itself, they will provided for by the abundance that others may have. He even pours a little shame on them by referencing the Macedonians (Philippi was a major city in Macedonia) and their generosity in the face of their “extreme poverty” (and that’s saying something coming from Paul). And as a positive motivator, he explains that generosity also benefits the giver.
