Like many churches across America Saddleback Church in California recently found themselves in need of a big offering at the year’s end. . . so the Pastor, Rick Warren, made an appeal to his congregation for $900,000 to help the church finish out the year.

So far the members and friends of Saddleback have given over $2.4 million!!!

Here’s an article from USA Today. . .

Rev. Rick Warren’s staff is still opening the mail at Saddleback Church to see how much higher than $2.4 million donations will reach for the church’s service mission after last week’s “urgent” appeal from the pastor.

Meanwhile, folks were somewhat flummoxed by various reports on who gave and how much. Here’s some clarification from A. Larry Ross, a spokesman for Warren.

Although Associated Press said all the gifts came only from “members” and all were under $100, that’s not exactly on target.

The vast majority of gifts were under $100, “from individuals and families doing what they could, not from “fat cats,” according to Warren’s weekend message, says Ross.

Here are some lessons church leaders can learn from this story. . .

1. The Bible clearly teaches that money is a spiritual matter for every believer (regardless of what some people think).
2. God honors churches that are good stewards of their resources.
3. Faithful people always choose to respond when there is a need.
4. Today, more than ever, people need for churches to teach about personal stewardship and offer coaching to help people become better stewards of all of their resources.

You can read the full article here.