WOW!!!!! December 29th, 2009 Update. Parkview - you are a generous bunch of folks! To date, we've received more than $97,000 toward our Advent Conspiracy / Living Water International project. We are absolutely amazed at your generosity, and excited to see what God will do with that incredible gift. Stay tuned to follow along as we see the story unfold as we help provide many, many glasses of clean water in Jesus' name!
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Join us this Advent season as we take part in the Advent Conspiracy, a rapidly growing movement among churches to encourage our people to worship fully, spend less, give more,
and love all. This season we're conspiring to change the world
by being focused on others rather than ourselves.
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Enter The Story from Living Water International on Vimeo.
Back to School: Uganda from Living Water International on Vimeo.
Below is a note from Pastor Ray to Parkview on December 4th, 2009
Friends,
This week I happened across a statement made by the Apostle Paul; "Bad company corrupts good character." RayK translation? We often become like the people we hang out with. Spend time with those who are fearful, you'll probably be afraid. Surround yourself with selfish people, and you'll no doubt be selfish. Here's a thought. If bad company corrupts good character, then the reverse must be true-good company enhances good character. Courageous people breed courage. Generous people bring out the generosity in others.
This Advent season, my hope is that the more we at Parkview hang out together the more we'll inspire one another to become courageously generous people. Certainly God himself exhibited such character in the giving of his son Jesus to the world. Fearless generosity is at the heart of Christmas. If you missed Sunday, November 29th, I'm asking you to follow this link, http://parkviewcommunity.org/dlgMediaPlayer.aspx?id=777 and invest 29 minutes listening to what I shared with the church. I think you will be blessed by the conversation we began then.
As many of you already know, one of the ways through which we can demonstrate our generosity this season is by means of
1. Gift Cards: Our Deacons will be distributing these cards to people in need. To help, you can purchase a $25 gift card to Starbucks [not a luxury, but a way to get the cold and homeless something warm to drink], Jewel, Wal-Mart, Target or gas station of your choice. Place the cards in the offering baskets on Sundays between November 29th - December 13th.
2. Another way to demonstrate generosity is through an Advent offering intended to provide Clean Water to the thirsty of our world. Our goal is to take Jesus' words seriously, "I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink." This year, Parkview is partnering with LIVING WATER INTERNATIONAL in giving those in need clean water to drink. LWI exists to demonstrate the love of God by helping communities acquire clean water and experience "living water" - the Gospel of Jesus Christ which alone satisfies humanity's deepest need. Working alongside local churches in places like Angola, Ethiopia, Haiti, India and Peru, LWI drills community wells providing clean water access along with hygiene education all in the name of Jesus. Generosity is a compelling community ethic. It's one thing when an individual gives to those who are in need - that's impressive. But when an entire group of people together do the same, it's a powerful statement of commitment to a common cause. For us this Advent, the cause is Jesus and the commitment is making a life-transforming difference in as many people as possible.
Peace, Ray K
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The Story of The Thirsty 1.0 from Living Water International on Vimeo.
Below is a recent letter from our senior pastor, Ray Kollbocker, that went to our Parkview family and provides an overview of Advent Conspiracy. You can also download a pdf version of the letter.
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November 6, 2009
Dear Parkview Family,
It is hard to believe, but the holiday season is almost upon us! As a church, each Thanksgiving we express gratitude to God by helping others in need. For those of you participating in this year’s Community Thanksgiving Dinner, your generosity and service will not go unnoticed. God is always aware of and pleased by such acts of mercy. Our Community Thanksgiving Dinner is the start of a season of generosity at Parkview. We are calling it the Advent Conspiracy. Our goal is to conspire as a church during the advent season to buy LESS, so we can give MORE!
Here are several ways to join. Consider being involved in more than one.
Giving Opportunities: During the four weeks of advent, give of your financial resources to assist with one of the following projects. Additional information is coming in the weeks ahead.
* Clean Water: We are partnering with an organization called Living Water International to help provide clean drinking water to people in developing countries around the world.
* Gift Cards: We will continue our long time tradition of collecting gift cards for those in our church who find themselves in a place of need. These cards are distributed by our Deacons.
Serving Opportunities: Give of your time and serve in the following ways. Sign-ups will be available soon.
* Christmas Store: For the third year in a row, we are partnering with Outreach Community Center in Carol Stream to help set-up before, serve shoppers during and tear down after their annual Christmas Store event which helps struggling families provide gifts for their loved ones.
* Feed My Starving Children: On January 2, 2010 we will once again be joining the FMSC team to assemble ready-to-eat packaged meals which will be sent all over the world to help those in extreme poverty.
As we express our thanksgiving to God and celebrate the advent of Jesus, I hope you’ll join the Conspiracy. Through our sacrifice and generosity, together we can continue to change the world’s view of Jesus by changing its view of us, the Church.
Conspiring with you,
Ray Kollbocker
Senior Pastor
He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their maker,
but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
-Proverbs 14:31