There are two main reasons for giving to the Jar of Grace. The first is that we want to express our solidarity with the poor of our planet through the work of TEAR Fund.
So what exactly is Tear Fund?
This is what they say about themselves.
“We’re following Jesus where need is greatest, working through local churches to unlock people’s potential and helping them to discover that the answer to poverty is within themselves. When disasters strike, we respond quickly. We won’t stop until poverty stops.”
St John’s wants to help them do that.
Secondly, we want people all over the world to hear the good news about Jesus Christ. That is why we are partners with the church in the diocese of Luweero in Uganda. Christianity is spreading fast in Uganda, but always needs resources to meet the demands of ministry. We also help with various medical projects; and we continue to support the school we have built in Bwaziba.
How will we give?
This year, as ever, the Jar of Grace will be a means of providing a small mountain of coins. The original idea was to drop a few coins in the jar as we say grace. We have continually been astonished at how they have mounted up. But, people don’t always have coins about them these days. The contactless debit card has made them even less necessary.
So this year there will be a new approach. In addition to the Jar of Grace and its coins, on two specific days we will be inviting you to use the Smartphone of Grace.
The first Smartphone of Grace day will be 5th November.
We will be taking as our starting point the words of Paul, “They asked me to remember the poor, which was the very thing I was eager to do.” So this is the slogan you will be seeing around.
“Remember, remember the poor in November.”
The second Smartphone day will be one week before Christmas, Sunday December 18th . We still need a slogan for that one. Maybe you can think one up for us.
The Coins in their Jars will be gathered in from Harvest to Christmas. The Smartphone offerings will come in on Nov 5th and December 18th. Tony Nash will be keeping a tally on how much comes in from each source. There is nothing wrong with a little healthy competition in generosity. In fact, there is a surprisingly strong example of it in the New Testament ……… as we shall see.