{"id":40819,"date":"2016-02-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/poor-chinese-church-gives-generously\/"},"modified":"2016-02-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-02-01T00:00:00","slug":"poor-chinese-church-gives-generously","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/poor-chinese-church-gives-generously\/","title":{"rendered":"Poor Chinese Church Gives Generously"},"content":{"rendered":"

Theologian Heiko Oberman tells the following story about the radical generosity of a poor rural church in China:<\/p>\n\n

\n

A few years ago I was with a group in Nanjing, China. On Sunday we visited various churches in the city. An older Chinese woman now living in Los Angeles chose to visit a church across the river from Nanjing, a poor church composed of farmers. The 900 who were present for the service wanted to hear a word from their sister from the states, so Mrs. Chang brought greetings from her church in Los Angeles. She told how the Lord had added many to their church and how they were currently building a large new addition. Then after a word of blessing for this church, she took her seat.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

At the close of the worship time, Mrs. Chang was called back to the front. The pastor said her words had thrilled their hearts. They wanted her to have the morning offering to help with the new building in Los Angeles — about $140. When their overflowing joy welled up in generosity, they gave beyond their ability.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[433],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3991,4043,4057,4374,4401,4410,4557,4661,4666,4669,4843,4872,5077,5081,5164,5266],"tax_ctp_topics":[388,392],"class_list":["post-40819","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-finances","tax_ctp_tags-generosity","tax_ctp_tags-giving","tax_ctp_tags-lifestyle","tax_ctp_tags-love-of-money","tax_ctp_tags-luxury","tax_ctp_tags-offering","tax_ctp_tags-poor","tax_ctp_tags-possessions","tax_ctp_tags-poverty","tax_ctp_tags-riches","tax_ctp_tags-sacrificial-love","tax_ctp_tags-stewardship","tax_ctp_tags-stinginess","tax_ctp_tags-tithing","tax_ctp_tags-wealth"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\nPoor Chinese Church Gives Generously - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/poor-chinese-church-gives-generously\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poor Chinese Church Gives Generously - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Theologian Heiko Oberman tells the following story about the radical generosity of a poor rural church in China: A few years ago I was with a group in Nanjing, China. 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