Early in my pastoral ministry, a verse in Isaiah had a tremendous influence on me. It helped set the tone of the ministry.
I learned the King James Version of this verse, which states, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11
The portion of the passage, which resounded in my heart and mind was “…it shall not return unto me void.” God’s Word is always true and effective.
As a result, I was wholly committed to preaching and teaching the Word of God from the very beginning and basing the ministry and the principles of ministry on it. Twenty-eight years later, the Word has been found to be just as efficacious as ever.
As most of you know, we had planned a fundraising campaign at the end of 2005. Our unrestricted cash reserves had dwindled to almost a zero balance in part because we have been very active in church planting from day one of becoming Evergreen SGV. With every church plant, we expend funds to help them get started and we lose faithful givers as they become a part of the newly formed church family. It is an incredible blessing and a costly one.
At my behest, we planned to do a stewardship series from the beginning of October through Thanksgiving Sunday. We would concurrently conduct a giving campaign to raise an extra $300,000 (which in effect would be a positive cash flow or surplus) for the general fund to serve as unrestricted cash reserves.
The Monday before beginning the series, the Lord convicted my heart through our Youth Pastor that we have always believed that if we teach people to give biblically rather than give just based on need, that we would have enough funds to meet and exceed our budgetary requirements. As a result of that moment of conviction, we scrapped the giving campaign and decided to teach biblical giving and challenge the church family to respond accordingly. Over the next seven weeks, different members of the preaching staff shared and taught on what the Bible says about giving.
I must admit, I had my moments of doubt as to whether or not we would have a surplus of at least $300,000 by year’s end. Whenever those doubts appeared, I recalled Isaiah 55:11. God’s Word never returns to Him void and empty and that it accomplishes what the Lord desires.
Praise the Lord! The last quarter of 2005 was the largest giving quarter in our eight-year history. In 2004 (an average year), the last quarter generated approximately $585,000 for the general fund. In the last quarter of 2005, over $1.2 million was given to the Lord through the general fund.
When the books closed on December 31, 2005, there was a positive cash flow of $616,882, which far exceeded the goal of a $300,000 giving campaign. We now have adequate unrestricted cash reserves and the ability to venture forth in some areas as was shared at our congregational meetings.
The lesson for me in all this was the reiteration of the justified confidence in the Word of God. In particular, God’s Word never returns to Him empty.
I hope this column has blessed you and given you even more confidence in the Word of God and the faithful people who call Evergreen SGV their home.

Blessings,
Pastor Cory, d.v.
d.v., deo volente: God willing