Congregation Continues Support for Willson Fund
The strong level of support for the Allison and Sandy Willson Church Planting Fund continues. With gifts continuing to come in, the total at the end of April stands at $940,849. The number of those participating in the fund is over 250.
While the fund is a permanent one held within the Foundation and thus gifts may be received at any time in the future, please be aware that a dollar for dollar match will continue to be made by the Foundation on cumulative gifts up to $500,000 until June 30, 2017.
Ron and Sarah Sadlow have made countless contributions to the life of Second Presbyterian Church over many years. In addition, Ron has served the Foundation from the very early days of its existence. He has:
Served as a resource on all matters related to World Missions
Understood the vision and the role of the Foundation in complementing the ongoing work of all of the church’s mission oriented ministries
Engaged the Foundation in new missional areas of ministry
Vetted many proposals for appropriateness of receiving Foundation support
Served on the Grants Committee of the Foundation
Provided good guidance to the Board through devotional messages and at times represented the senior pastor
As a demonstration of the deep appreciation to Ron and his joyful service, the Board at its most recent meeting, made a grant to the Allison and Sandy Willson Church Planting Fund in the amount of $50,000 to honor Ron and Sarah. You can also honor Ron and Sarah in this way.
Thank you Ron and Sarah for your faithful service!
Below is Ron’s devotional at the most recent meeting of the Foundation Board.
Millstone or On Mission?
By: Ron Sadlow
The missional mandate of the Second Presbyterian Church Foundation protects it from being an institutional millstone.
Too many institutions that have an endowment lose their gospel roots. Universities, and even churches, denominations, and well meaning para-church ministries that grew out of biblical and gospel-centered concerns, found that long after their original calling was lost, their endowments kept their institutions going.
The Second Presbyterian Church Foundation is designed to be different. It does not exist to keep Second Presbyterian Church supported. It doesn’t underwrite the church’s operating budget. Its stated purpose is missional, and for that reason it will always be biblical, because the Bible is essentially a book about missions.
Consider the major outline of the events of the Bible and the history of the world. God creates man and says “multiply and have dominion." Man becomes a sinner. By Genesis 10, the whole earth seeks to be its own god as it builds a tower into the heavens. So God confuses the people’s languages and they are dispersed over the face of the earth (Gen. 11).
What’s the very next thing God does? In Genesis 12 he calls the first missionary, Abram, and tells him that he will be part of God’s special family, and through his great family and nation, all the families of the earth will be blessed. He was blessed to be a blessing. There are many hints and reminders in the Old Testament that his offspring, the nation Israel, is to reflect God’s glory and make his name known over all the earth (cf. Ps. 67).
When Jesus is born it is Simon who takes the baby Jesus in his arms in the temple and says he is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to Israel." When Jesus begins his public ministry, though he proclaims his mission to Jews in the synagogue (Luke 4), he immediately challenges his audience by referencing God’s grace to gentiles in the Old Testament (Naaman, and the widow of Zarephath). And his ministry over the next three years includes outreach to Samaritans, Romans, and other “Gentiles."
He then prepares his disciples to continue his ministry of gathering people from the ends of the earth into his eternal kingdom. After the resurrection He is very clear about their mission. “As the father has sent me, so send I you” (John 20:21). “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Mt. 28:19). And finally before ascending: “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
Before his resurrection the disciples had wanted to know the timeline of history and asked, “What will be the sign of your coming [again] and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Mt. 24:3,14).
The book of Acts, traces the missionary movement of the gospel from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, to Samaria, the Roman Empire, and ends with Paul’s desire to take the gospel to those who have never heard; that is, to the ends of the earth, which mission continues until this day.
The Bible closes with the Apostle John given a vision of the end of history in the book of Revelation. And there we see the call given to Abraham reaching consummation when John says “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, …crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'” (Rev 7:9-10). The mission is complete.
The Bible is a book of missions. The commission of the Church is to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. That is where the resources of the 2PC Foundation are committed to being used and why they will be forever deeply biblical, supporting, both in Memphis and around the world, those who proclaim the Gospel and seek to make disciples of all nations.
Questions about the Foundation?
Contact vicki.simmons@2pc.org
or visit the 2PC Foundation online