I've come to understand that our church’s financial needs are not dependent on each member or their savings accounts. Praying to know that supply is coming directly from God, divine Principle, awakens our “. . . dormant understanding . . . to the apprehension of spiritual ideas . . .” (Science and Health, p. 583). We can truly expect abundant resources.
The Gospel shows that Jesus fed over five thousand people when there were only five loaves of bread and two fish. From a human standpoint, this seems miraculous, but according to the law of divine Principle, it only explains that the source of supply is not in matter or in people. God is the source of unlimited supply. There is no need to speculate about how or from where the supply will come.
More important, through prayer, we can recognize that the Creator knows what each one of His ideas needs and supplies it. The small church I used to belong to in Kyoto once needed to get its roof fixed. The cost was 30 times the budget we had at hand. The roof was in terrible shape, and even some of the boards underneath were exposed. We were known in the neighborhood as the church with exposed boards. For a long time, it was believed that the church would never have enough money to fix it. Just to think of the cost of repairs was scary. But at one of our business meetings, our church members agreed that there is nothing impossible to God, even if it seems impossible to human eyes. Throughout the year, each member took turns praying.
Then, some unexpected things happened. One day we received a postcard from a post office notifying us that a savings certificate had come to maturity. (In Japan, the post office runs a savings system.) The seed money had been deposited by the membership some years prior, and none of the current members were aware of it. A short time later, we were led to apply to another source for funding, and (to our surprise) a large monetary gift was made available to us. Our prayers continued, and a year later, the roof was completely rebuilt. The brand new roof seemed to gently remind us that God is omnipotent. The neighbors admired the roof.
Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). As we participate in church activities in the name of Christ, we will understand more deeply the healing power of divine Principle that is manifested in Christ. And through these church activities, we will be purer and higher expressions of the nature of man. This higher sense of man will be the light in our family and community and in society at large, and the source of happiness. Church is a place where people who believe in God gather. But the foundation of church is the sustaining omnipotent God, divine Principle.
