Mabank church goes from gift to giver for God’s glory

MABANK—Grace Community Church enthusiastically voted recently to forward 15 percent of a significant monetary gift to missions, demonstrating by faith that God is able to supply their needs when they are generous to others.

The giver? According to Pastor Michael Cooper, someone who occasionally attends the church but isn’t a member and who “believes in what God is doing at Grace Community Church” handed a large undesignated check to him after a worship service.

Cooper said he immediately recognized the gift as a “direct answer to prayer” because the church of about 150 people is at maximum capacity in its current worship space and has been praying about next steps.

Before considering a new building, though, the church was motivated by the principles of Scripture to give generously, Cooper said.

With 2 Corinthians 9:8-15 as their guide, the church voted—no questions asked—to forward 6 percent to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, 5 percent to the Kauf Van Baptist Association, 2 percent to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions, and 2 percent to other missions and ministries supported directly by the church.

The total amount forwarded is larger than the church’s annual budget was when Cooper became pastor eight years ago.

When Cooper placed the recommendation on the screen at the church business meeting, the “sheer excitement of our folks” was “palpable,” he said. “Before I could make the motion, people were already giving seconds and saying, ‘Let’s do this. What are we waiting for?’”

After being diligent to give to others, Grace Community’s building committee is researching the costs of constructing a new worship center, believing the gift is a “green light” from God to proceed. The church property straddles three counties, Cooper said, and is strategically located to serve a booming population.

“What was given was actually over the number that I had in mind to start our initial building project,” Cooper said. “We can legitimately right now start pouring concrete.”

The pastor chose to keep the gift amount confidential for publication and said, “Our people are still talking about it a few weeks after, saying they’ve never been part of a local church that loves missions to the extent that we do and actually puts that into practice.”