Monthly Financial Update
December 2024
ONLY GOD!
There’s no other way to describe what we experienced at Riverside in December.
God used our series, Christmas at Riverside all month, and we praise His holy Name! He also worked powerfully through our productions of A Christmas Carol at both the Big Lake and Sauk Rapids campuses, as well as our Christmas Eve services, and some special outreach events in both RK and RS ministries.
We continued to see guests and people saying 'YES!' to Jesus as Lord every week in December, and we give the Lord the praise and glory for His grace and power! We celebrated all the amazing things God did in December at our January 5th services.
Thank you for being outward-focused as a church. I cannot emphasize enough how this makes such a difference in the life and health of any local church to keep the passion and priority of Jesus THE first priority of how it functions and ministers.
Our digital connection on Sundays helps people engage each week as well; as a reminder, if you and/or members of your household are traveling or are not feeling well, you can stay connected online on catch up on services later in the week on our webpage.
We praise the Lord for everyone of you who give to the ministry of Riverside, and our financial position is still okay. Your giving makes a difference in real people’s lives here and around the world every week. Giving in December, the sixth month of our new fiscal year, was our strongest financial month so far, and we thank the Lord for the level of generosity we saw. We are still behind our approved budget, but giving in December cut into that deficit.
Obviously we have the cash reserves available to pay all our bills. That’s not the issue. We simply want to be able to meet out approved budget so we will have all the funds we need to carry out our ministry and begin rebuilding a ministry fund balance for whatever God calls us to next. With our 3rd campus now a reality, we need to continue to see giving increase in January to our newly approved budget for 2024-25 for not just our Big Lake and Sauk Rapids campuses, but also our Buffalo campus.
Digital giving makes such a huge difference in so many people’s lives here, and it is the main way people give. It is a great tool that helps people develop the consistent practice of the grace of giving and putting God first in their finances. On average, 73% of all our giving happens digitally, and we have more households making reoccurring digitals gifts than ever before! Join many others at Riverside who are discovering how this makes such a difference in their spiritual journey. You can always give it a try; details HERE. We also have the ability through our partnership with Orchard Alliance to help you organize a will, and/or figure out how to give stock gifts, property, or other special gifts. You can learn more HERE.
Please ask the Lord what He wants you to do when it comes to your engagement in giving, and let God challenge your hearts. Pray for everyone who considers Riverside Church their spiritual home to practice the grace of giving, that generosity will simply be a “normal” response for our church (no matter what the economy is like) so we can reach more people for Jesus.
Both the opportunities and obstacles we face are very real in these challenging days as we navigate our lives and ministries in a deeply divided and confused world. This is true for any of God’s churches seeking to partner with Him in making a Kingdom impact. Keep praying God will clearly lead, empower and care for us in all areas of ministry moving forward.
God is at work in and through Riverside, touching the lives of thousands of people every week in significant ways. Your gifts help make that happen, both now and for eternity.
God bless you all!
Pastor Tom
Weekly Averages for December 2024:
- Average In-person Sunday Attendance: 2,607
- Average Online attendance: 468
- Fuel for Ministry Fund: $162,313
Our approved Big Lake/Sauk Rapids/Buffalo/Central weekly budget is $88,394 - Fuel for Global Ministries Fund: $10,038