GROSS OR NETT?

The question is often asked “Should our tithe be on the gross (what my employer pays me before tax), or on the nett (what I take home after tax)?” It's a valid question, and here's my answer . . . “Do you want a big blessing from God or a small one?”. The bible says in Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Either way you will be blessed, but how much God blesses you back with will depend on how generous you were so give on the gross!

As a church we want to teach you to give both tithes and offerings. The bible teaches us to give back to the place that nourishes us, so give your church a tithe. But 10% is the absolute minimum we should give, so add a free-will offering to your tithe and give to a ministry or person in need.

When I taught on managing your money last month, I actually taught about the Nett. But the govt has just given us a way to make our Nett equivalent to a gross tithe . . . they are introducing tax-deductible giving! If you tithe on your Nett, claim your rebate from the govt and give it in as part of your annual tithe and it will boost your tithe to the same as a gross. If you tithe on your gross, then claim your rebate and set it aside as a free-will offering above your tithe, and give it to the poor (yes start that scholarship fund)

Let's take two members each earning Kshs 100,000 (just to make the math's easy)

While this works however, the person who tithes on the gross is ahead, because he can give the rebate of an additional 3,000/= to the Lord, making his total tithe 13,000/=.

Next week we will write more about the tax-deductible giving and it’s implications on us.

Interns 2006/07:

We extend a very special welcome to:-

Mercy Ngure: is a graduate of the University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Economics. She gave her life to Christ in 1997 and has a passion for children thus her desire to work in the Children's Ministry. Mercy has been a Sunday school teacher in Nairobi Chapel since the relocation. Her aim is to see children growing with Christ as their foundation.

Florence Wabaiya got saved when she was 13years. She studied Bible and Missions in Uganda for two years. Between Oct 2003 and April 2005 she served as an intern in All Saints' Cathedral in Children's Ministry. She then joined Covenant Church, where she served in the Children's Ministry from May 2005-May 2006. Joined Nairobi Chapel, Ngong Road as an intern in June 2006, where she is gladly serving in the Children's Ministry.
She explains her passion “Every Sunday morning when I awake, my mind flashes to the tiny little fingers that will be clutching at a fat crayon , the toothless gum that will be laughing as they meet their friends …another Sunday has come, the tiny palms as they clap during worship time. And the 'cool' 10-11year olds boys and gals, who strive to maintain the 'cool' attitude through out”. Her goal in life is transforming the lives of children through the teaching the Word and exciting programs as well as fun activities.

Tim Englemann: was born and grew up in Tanzania. He was led to Christ by a Chapelite at a youth conference dubbed 'the African dream”. Tim recently completed high school. He had the option of joining the German army, but decided to join the army of the Lord instead! He is doing his one year voluntary service at Nairobi Chapel, having been seconded to us by Diguna. aTim is passionate about discipleship of the youth and cross-cultural networking for the kingdom of God. During his internship, Tim hopes to learn a lot as he serves alongside seasoned leaders. He speaks fluent Swahili, besides English and German.

Sermon CD's : Did you know you can get a copy of today's sermon for 50/= within 10 minutes after the end of the service? You do not need to place an order for next week . . . that's so old school! We can now cut the CD within a few minutes.

If you want a “whole set” for the series, then you need to wait till the series is over, and then we can cut a them for you or even a single DVD with all the messages. If you d it this way, then yes you need to order and we will deliver once the series is over.

Free, free, free : Ahhh . . . we love free things! Download a copy of our sermons in mp3 format, free of charge from our website. There will be a 2 week delay to give us time to convert the format and load up. We now have this years sermons all up (except the current series). You can also get some PDF sermon notes on past series. Our policy on this is that there is no copyright on the Word of God feel free to download for personal use, and re-preach the same if you so wish. We do not even require you to acknowledge the source if it is for preaching purposes. But don't publish it for circulation.

Nairobi Marathon 2006 : Will take place on Sun 29th Oct. The route this year is along Mombasa Rd so as not to disrupt services on Sunday. We will therefore have our usual Sunday service at 10:30 am.

The Africa You Never See : Bet you missed this story that appeared in the Washington Post . . . “In the waiting area of a large office complex in Accra, Ghana, it's standing room only as citizens with bundles of cash line up to buy shares of a mutual fund that has yielded an average 60 percent annually for the past seven years. They're entrusting their hard-earned cash to a local company called Databank, which invests in stock markets in Ghana, Nigeria, Botswana and Kenya that consistently rank among the world's top growth markets . . .” read more on our website (Direct link to document here )

Do you feel the call of God upon your life? The Worship and Music ministry is auditioning for vocalists and instrumentalists on 28th October from 2pm. Please sign up at the Info Desk.

Form four work placement program : Do you have a son or daughter finishing form four this year? Tanari Trust is constructing a work placement program that begins January 2007 that will be preceded with ROPE even. Parents meetings are already taking place. Please contact Tanari Trust Office on 2730807 or contact Sammy on 0722-740508. You can also visit www.Tanari.org

Finance seminar : following the recently ended series on financial matters, we will conduct a financial seminar on Saturday 28th of October, from 8.30-1pm, here at the tent. The seminar will be run by financial advisor who featured in the series. Invite your friends, or members of staff from your company to attend the seminar. Charges are Ksh.1000/= per person.

PMCC class : Are you intending to get married soon? Join our new Premarital Counseling Class on Sunday 22nd Oct, 3pm, at our Paresia offices, opposite Uchumi hyper Gong Road. Register at the Information Desk if you are interested.

Interested in starting up a bank? A different sort of bank an 'Educational Trust Bank' . . . . Well, not really a bank but an Educational Trust Fund. Pastor Oscar shared his dream of educating 100 orphans, and you might be interested in joining up with him to fulfill that vision together. He needs just 5 6 people around him to launch this vision would you like to be one? Please sms him at 0723261944.

On that note you may want to set up a fund yourself. How about offering a company scholarship to the brightest 8-4-4 candidate at a specific children's home each year. Cheryl's Children's Home had 3 orphans with a score of 400 marks at last years std 8 exams, but they have struggled to pay fees for these bright students! You could even make this a personal fund from your salary. How about offering a University Christian Union scholarship to a needy CU student in your career discipline, or a fellow countryman scholarship to a student at NEGST. Live a legacy now.

African Dress : Our 1st Anniversary Celebration on Nov 5th is coming up! Our theme thro that month will be celebrating our African ness, so the dress theme will be African! Pls come prepared. Nov 5th is also the Sunday we will receive our new Pastor Janet Mutinda. We want to receive her with honor as a servant of the Lord whom God has anointed and will use to bless us. Let's practice what Pastor Muriithi is teaching us about on Pastor Janet!

The music ministry is seeking new members to join the worship team. Pray that we will get the right kind of people to minister alongside, people whose walk with the Lord is blameless, who have a calling in the music ministry and are gifted for it and people who will enable us to excel in the worship ministry at Nairobi chapel.

We have been praying for more office space to accommodate our growing staff. Praise God for giving us an extra office flat within the same block where our current offices are, at Paresia Center. We are in the process of renovating the flat to suit our needs. We are also trusting God for one more flat within the same block to fully accommodate all our staff, ministry leaders and interns. Pray with us about this.

Pastor Richard Chogo and Ministry leader Heddwyn (Tumaini kwa Watoto) will be in Uganda between 17th and 22nd October for Watoto conference. They have been sponsored to go for the conference by Al and Cathy Snowball. We praise God for giving of this couple to enable them to attend conference. Let us pray for journey mercies that they will travel safely. Let us also pray that that this will be a spiritually enriching experience for them, and they will be better equipped to minister amongst us when they get back.

From Children's Ministry: we have several items to pray for as we come to the end of the year. It is our tradition to hold the exciting project-TREE OF JOY. Pray with us that this ministry will bless the children we minister to, in a new and fresh way. Pray also for the growth of our ministry to Jamhuri Primary School every Wednesday. We teach Bible lessons to Std 5 and 6 children, who are mostly from Kibera, Jamhuri and the surrounding slums. Pray that as the teachers teach, they will be encouraged in the Lord, and as the children eagerly wait for every Wednesday, they can be shining beacons and the salt to their friends and family back at home. As we celebrate our first anniversary here at the Impala grounds, we thank God for our teachers who have come with us this far. Please pray for blessings upon them even as they continue to teach God's Word and impact our children's lives in that way