In his classic book Start with Why, Simon Sinek writes, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” Sinek’s TED Talk is now the third most watched TED Talk of all time with over twenty-five million views. His mantra is that great leaders and organizations start all communication with why they do things, followed by how they do things, until finally revealing what it is they actually do.
Everyone in an organization knows what they do. Some know how they do it. But few know why they do it. Only when we know the “why” of an organization will we go above and beyond to support it. Sinek says if you want to inspire others, you should start with why. Since my unabashed goal is to inspire you to give your best gift to Christmas for Christ this year, I will do what Simon says.
Why Give to Christmas for Christ
Simply, I give because North Americans have lost their moral compass and need the only saving hope found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Millions from New York to Los Angeles, from Toronto to Houston, and everywhere in between are struggling to solve their spiritual problems with natural means. Thirty-six other countries have a higher ratio of UPCI churches per capita than here in North America. If you have relatives in the Philippines, Venezuela, or one of the thirty-four other countries in this statistic, they have a better chance of finding a local United Pentecostal Church than we have in the United States and Canada.
I give so North America can find hope. I believe in the mission, so I give. Click To TweetWe must evangelize North America to continue reaching around the world. Planting new churches is the most effective way to expand the Kingdom in Mogadishu or Missouri. I give so churches can be planted. I give so North America can find hope. I believe in the mission, so I give.
How We Give to Christmas for Christ
You can give through your local church. Every pastor is encouraged to promote Christmas for Christ in early December in their local assembly. This is followed with an opportunity to give in an offering on the Sunday before Christmas.
Every new church brings hope to a community, and if there’s anything we need in our world today, it is hope.
This year the offering date is December 19, 2021. Multiple videos, bulletin inserts, and other resources are available for download at www.christmasforchrist.faith. After the offering is gathered locally, these funds are sent to the district office in January. Forty percent of the funds are assigned to district programs to support local missionaries. The remaining sixty percent is sent to World Headquarters to assist missionaries across North America.
What Christmas for Christ Does
Approved North American Missionaries receive monthly allocations to assist with building rent or purchase, equipment needs (such as musical instruments, chairs, audio/visual equipment), Sunday school supplies, portable baptistries, outreach materials, and much more.
Funds may also be used to help missionaries move to the city of their calling or to assist with personal living expenses. Christmas for Christ can mean the difference between having church in a living room or in a rented building. Christmas for Christ relieves financial pressure on the church planter’s family. No longer is the church planter forced to spend overtime hours on his job at the expense of teaching home Bible studies or important family time. Christmas for Christ funds assist our brave church planting heroes who are taking back the enemy’s territory in North America. Christmas for Christ is a mechanism of growth for North America because it supports missionaries and advances the Strategic Growth Initiative plans of individual districts. Every dollar makes a difference.
I would like to adjust Simon’s quote a bit by saying, “People don’t give for what you do; they give for why you do it.” I give because souls matter. Every new church is a new youth group where a teenager can find hope, direction, and purpose. A new church equals new young people who will raise Move the Mission funds, attend North American Youth Congress, participate in Apostolic Youth Corps trips, and start P7 Clubs. A new church means a new global missionary partner and potentially a new global missionary!
Every new church brings hope to a community, and if there’s anything we need in our world today, it is hope. Christmas for Christ gives hope to our church planters who are bringing hope to North America.
Scott Armstrong is the senior pastor of Solid Rock Church in Fenton, Missouri, and a veteran church planter. He is known for developing leaders and dynamic speaking. For more about church planting, read his story in Active Duty: A Church Planting Adventure.
(A version of this article was published in Pentecostal Life.)
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