Timeless and Timely
By: Ron Sadlow
You can’t read the Bible without hearing the call to invest your life and resources in something that will outlast this life. Jesus said, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20) and Paul and James talked about the crown that awaits those who persevere (II Timothy 4:8 and James 1:12).
What are those things we are to invest in that have eternal significance? The Bible says there are only two things from this life that will outlast us:
The Word of God—“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." (Matthew 24:35)
The lives of people—“These (those on Christ’s left) will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:46)
It is therefore good to ask “What did I invest in?” when we look back on our lives.
Paul gave what seems like an uneventful “epitaph” about King David’s life in his first missionary sermon. In Acts 13 he said, “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers." But it is really quite profound and poignant, for David invested in the timeless and the timely. “David served God”—that is, he understood God’s eternal purposes and that God’s glory was the most important service of his life. “In his own generation”—David did what was needed in his day and committed his resources to advance God’s Kingdom.
I am grateful that Second Presbyterian has a Foundation that not only blesses the work of advancing God’s Kingdom in my day, but will continue doing so indefinitely. Sarah and I are delighted to have planned to make that part of our investment.
College Bound
This month, 73 students who participated in the Neighborhood Christian Center’s College and Career Program (CAPS) are headed off to college. These students participated in CAPS’s College Scholarship Incentive Program.
The Foundation supports this effort through its Neighborhood Christian Center Scholarship Fund, which was established through the generous gift of donors who had the passion to see that these and other students receive financial support to assist in attaining this important step in their lives. Over three academic years, 167 students have been given this opportunity with support of $222,290 in college scholarships.
NCC provides the College Scholarship Incentive Program in order to meet their organizational goal to provide opportunities to connect under-resourced high school youth to college preparatory activities, college tours, peer mentoring, and more in order to promote increased high school graduation and college enrollment rates.
This program is offered to students in 10th-12th grade. In order to qualify for tuition points, which are then translated into monetary support, every student must attend an array of empowerment and educational programs. These funds are truly vital in not only incentivizing young people to participate in NCC’s programs in order to build strong, hard-working, productive, Christian leaders, but also to ensure that these students have every opportunity to attend college despite their financial circumstances.
In order to educate and empower young people in the underprivileged community of Memphis to break the cycle of generational poverty that includes truancy, high school drop outs, drinking and drug use, teenage pregnancy, violence, and arrests, NCC works to engage high school-aged students to participate in various programs and events that promote educational attainment and empower them to develop and reach their educational and life goals and to effect long-term change in the lives of the students.
This year, as part of the CAPS program, NCC piloted a new initiative in partnership with Mid-South Community College (MSCC) to provide the opportunity for high school students to gain college credit during the summer. Thirty-three 10th-12th grade students enrolled in CAPS attended college courses at MSCC during the summer. In addition to providing the tuition for each student, NCC supported them with their homework, helped them develop study skills, and mentored them throughout the process, all while they earned college credits that can be utilized towards traditional college degrees and/or technical certifications. The results from this initial summer include the fact that 87% of attendees earned between three and six college credits and with a grade point average of 3.25.
Allison & Sandy Willson Church Planting Fund
The purpose of this newly established fund is to provide financial support for church planting efforts at home and around the world that are strategic, missional, and Reformed in character.
It has been established out of gratitude for the faithful ministry of the Willsons to our church and reflects their passion for the particular ministry of church planting.
You may contribute now or discuss ways in which you can participate by contacting Vicki Simmons at (901) 507-7898 or by sending her an email.