December 9th, 2024
Share Your Experience
On Sunday, December 15th, Pastor Jeff shared a heartfelt message in our Christmas series, The Message From The Manger, focusing on the theme "Strength in Submission." We were inspired and challenged by the incredible surrender, selflessness, and servanthood of Jesus.
After the message, everyone, including our elementary-aged kids, received a special sealed envelope. Each envelope was inscribed with the words "Surrendered, Selfless, Servant."
Inside, there was a surprise waiting—money in increments of $10, $20, $50, and $100, amounting to a total of $34,500! The challenge? To take this gift and use it to bring joy and help to someone else. You could team up with others to combine your gifts or even add more of your own. We only had three simple rules:
As a church family, we wanted to partner with the surrendered, selfless, servant-like submission of Jesus to go bless someone else in our community.
We'd love to hear your story! Please share how you used your gift to make a difference by leaving a comment on this post. Your story could inspire and encourage others to spread kindness and love!
If you wish to post anonymously, please feel free to type "Anonymous" for the name and "none@theharbor.life" for the email address. We are not collecting any of the information submitted here.
After the message, everyone, including our elementary-aged kids, received a special sealed envelope. Each envelope was inscribed with the words "Surrendered, Selfless, Servant."
Inside, there was a surprise waiting—money in increments of $10, $20, $50, and $100, amounting to a total of $34,500! The challenge? To take this gift and use it to bring joy and help to someone else. You could team up with others to combine your gifts or even add more of your own. We only had three simple rules:
- No keeping it for yourself.
- No giving it back to the church.
- Use it to help someone else.
As a church family, we wanted to partner with the surrendered, selfless, servant-like submission of Jesus to go bless someone else in our community.
We'd love to hear your story! Please share how you used your gift to make a difference by leaving a comment on this post. Your story could inspire and encourage others to spread kindness and love!
If you wish to post anonymously, please feel free to type "Anonymous" for the name and "none@theharbor.life" for the email address. We are not collecting any of the information submitted here.
Posted in Outreach
39 Comments
I love this. I’m giving it to s homeless person
We donated as a family to a family that house burnt and they lost everything!
I went to an HEB with my family to see if we could pay for anyones groceries who needed it and this one lady that we were going to pay for said that she didn’t need it and the guy who was bagging was an old man named Tim and i gave him 100$ to bless him
As a family, we collected a total of $80 to distribute. As we went to eat, we noticed our server was a young soon to be mom so we tipped her $30 and used the other $50 to buy toys to donate to the Toys for Tots organization.
I’m giving this to my son's daycare teacher.
Thank you for this. I am giving it to my nana/grandmother.
Nate and i giving it to one of our neighbors that is in a fixed income
A co-worker is a single mom who works two jobs and gives plasma to make ends meet. As a family, we received $80, which equals two plasma donations and we hope this can help her have a break from giving plasma over the week of Christmas.
As a family we received $50. My daughter is giving her $20 to a maintenance worker at the school where she teaches. The $30 my wife and I received was given to the local animal shelter. In the spirit of giving, we are also giving $75 to the family of Stefany, the little girl we sponsor in Peru.
So , there is this little old man I see walking when I’m coming and going most days. He walks with a cane…well more of a shuffle than a walk and I think a turtle could pass him. My heart always aches when I see him, I wave smile and pray as I pass him. After service, I asked God, "who do you want me to bless with this gift?" I could think people, but I was like "God, I don’t want it to be me…let it be you". I even went to HEB and sat in the car…praying about going in a giving it to our favorite cashier. I know my husband and a close friend were blessings her with the gift in the envelopes. I ended up leaving, trusting I would know who when God spoke. As I drove home from HEB I went into autopilot…then I heard Him…"there that’s who I want you to give it to." Without hesitation and with excitement I was obedient! The little man I see all the time! I parked, prayed, got out of my car, and smiled as I walked up to him. As sat next to him...he looked at me like I was a crazy white lady. I quickly realized he didn’t speak English, but I understood his name was Pedro. My mind panicked…"How was I going to be a blessing when we speak different languages, God?" As I gave him the money, he looked at me even more confused. I told him God loves you. He said no…no… no…I said YES, he sees you and loves you (I added some crazy lady sign language in there, hoping he would better understand ?) I reached for a hug, and he hugged back. He held my hand and spoke in words I didn’t understand. We hugged again and I repeated God loves you…He’s sees you. As I left, I realized it was the Spirit filled moment that was the true gift. I’m not sure I’ll be the same…I pray I’m not.
Thank you Harbor leadership for giving us this extra opportunity to bless others. I was not feeling well Sunday morning so Gary and I watched the 9:00 am service on YouTube. Immediately after service I asked Gary to run up to the church to get our envelopes so we could participate. ? We had just been out shopping the night before for a family in Alvin whose house caught on fire. They have three little girls under the age of 6. It was easy shopping for them but we had no idea how to help the parents. We took the cash we got and added some to it to buy a Walmart gift card. ❤️
We, as a small group, bless a server or a delivery driver. God had already put an amount on my heart this year. This was just a bonus on top of that we have heard wonderful stories of how the blessing was received and each year how God’s blessing was, as it always is, so timely. Thank you Harbor Church for this gift. It truly is God’s light shining through. I am grateful and thankful to be a part of our church family.
During service I felt called to find a way to send food home with two kiddos in my class who come from a family with low income. I knew that whatever was in the envelope I would make sure I helped cover the need... God showed me that no idea that He calls us too is too large for Him there was $100 in my envelope so I was able to supply them with several meals in the upcoming weeks!
Donated to a family who’s 22 month old daughter is going through chemo at Texas Children’s.
As I prayed about how to share my money I felt the Lord say 2 things. First match what was provided and go now. I felt a very specific destination in mind right after service was over. I had planned on holding on to the money and giving it some thought and consideration before sharing it. But the idea of what to do with it was completely out of the blue and so specific I felt like it was from the Lord. I felt lead to go a specific place to get lunch and give the person who helped me the money. This is not my normal routine on a Sunday afternoon so it felt like this was what the Lord had planned for this money. Normally the sandwich place would have been fairly busy on a Sunday after church. I prayed all the way there that it would be empty and there would only be one employee. I walked in and there was not a customer in the store and 1 employee who seemed a little unfriendly. I ordered my sandwich and after I paid I handed her the money and said, “this is for you because Jesus loves you!” She took it, stepped back, unfolding the bills she looked up at me with the biggest, brightest , beautiful smile, and whispered “thank you.”
nI will never forget it.
My workplace has a program to help provide toys for families who cannot afford them. Generally, the kids that receive gifts are between the ages of 0-10. As I was walking past the different gifts for each child the other day, I noticed two 17 year old girls with not many items that seemed fitting for their age. Even during church on Sunday, they were on my heart. I wanted to go get them an age appropriate gift they can enjoy. I had mentioned it to my husband earlier in the week but I didn’t know if he thought much of it. When we got our envelopes, he looked at me and said, “I know what we need to do! We need to go get something for those girls.” I was so grateful that God had given us the same thought and even more excited for the provision. This was the best gift! Thank you so much for allowing us to experience the gift of giving.
I had the feeling that God wanted me to give the money to a single mom. I knew her the minute I saw her struggling with a crying child entering a restaurant. She dropped something on the sidewalk as she entered. I realized it was her credit card and took it in to her and gave her the card and the money. She thanked me with tears in her eyes.
My daughter and I decided to give our money to a friend. Her husband has cancer and the insurance company decided not to cover some of his medications that are needed.
My three daughters and I have been able to bless two families with the amazing generosity of our church. One family has experienced a great amount of loss with both the husband and the wife losing their dads this year within weeks of each other. They also have a one-year-old son. We were able to get some gifts for the baby and also give them a gift card so that they could treat themselves. The other family has also experienced a great deal of loss this year. In one year's time the wife has lost her grandmother her husband had a stroke and has been out of work and her Sons cancer has returned. We gave her a portion of the money as well. In both situations there was gratefulness and Tears by this unexpected blessing. And yet I think that we are more blessed for the experience. Thank you so much for allowing us the opportunity to feel God work through Us in such a powerful way. May we all carry this forward even past the Christmas season.
We gave our to the family of Lucy Minish. Our small group leader shared her story and we felt led to share our envelopes for her family.
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nThank you for the opportunity to share amd the great example as a church!
Our neighbors felt inspired to give their envelopes to my husband and I as an appreciation gesture without even looking inside. We pooled ours with theirs to bless a new momma and family struggling to make ends meet, the waiter at a restaurant above and beyond his predicted tip, and a small team of hard workers with very limited income. With each gift we included an invitation card to Christmas Eve services at The Harbor.
nThese folks were blessed by receiving unexpected dollars and a smile. But, the true blessing is in the giving!
nI could do this everyday all day long. Thank you for the gift to give.
I gave it to a single mom having trouble paying her
nbills.
New to the church (as of last sermon series) I love this idea. I didn’t want to open the envelope, I wanted to just give it to a very special waitress at Kelly’s, that always takes care of our Monday night prayer group. Then God said, “ What if you double it!!!” So, that’s what I did! Gently, ever so gently…. I pulled the tape up careful not to rip anything, saw it was 50$ and said, “ ok God, now I know what I need to do”
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nI know her and her family will benefit greatly from this and I’m so very happy God told me to double it. He is an AWESOME GOD!!!
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nPs my friend whom has been attending with me is planning on doubling his as well and blessing a waitress at Olive Garden soon. Can’t wait to see God work!!! ?
As a family we made a list of how we could use the money. Then we voted. We voted on donating to a homeless family/family in a shelter. We decided to donate to Bay Area Turning Point. $75 provided a meal for 70 people. That is what we decided on!
nThank you church for allowing us to bless others and for allowing our kids to be apart of this too!
The hospice I work for
nHelped one of my
nPatients family get gifts for their 4 children
nAnd a ham for dinner Chad and I donated our $30 to the family to help get other food items they needed. Thank you for helping this family
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As I stood in line at the Dollar Tree, there was a lady checking out with a basket full of Christmas items. A young man was right behind her with a single Sprite. She offered to let him go ahead of her, but the checker had already started to scan her items. She said “Let me bless you today” as she grabbed the Sprite and had the checker scan it with her items. I felt a chill and I knew right away that God was telling me that she was the person I was supposed to bless. I stepped up and asked the checker to apply $20 to her bill. My heart was full knowing that she blessed someone and because of the generosity of our church I was able to bless her.
I gave my $50 to my college granddaughter, Haley. She goes to Baylor University in Waco, Tx.
nShe has been a student there for 3 years alone, without family or friends from home. She works hard and never complains about anything. I felt she could use the money for Pizza or Taco Bell, the food young people love to eat. I am so blessed to be a member at the Harbor. Thanks for the opportunity to bless her with this gift at this time of year!
I gave mine to an organization that helps girls with disabilities have to opportunity to dance at Chara. Covers class expenses and recital expenses.
I gave my blessing to my daughter Kindergarten teacher. She was so happy & thankful for this.
What a blessing and amazing service project! Truly was moved by this act by our church.
nI decided I would match what was in my envelope. I got $20 but decided instead of $40, I made it $50. I contacted my sons school's principal and a counselor there to see about secretly helping a student or two with lunch money, school fees, or some financial need. They did have 1 student that could use the financial help and so the money went to his school fees. It felt good to do this!!!
I was so overwhelmed on Sunday when this was announced. What a wonderful application of the message. Thank you! I left the money I received on a co-worker’s desk. I know she’s been struggling to make ends meet.
God put on my heart to give my envelope to a woman who only had a toaster oven for cooking but it stopped working. Two coworkers also gave me their envelopes which was almost the amount needed for a new toaster oven BUT then another coworker told me she had a really nice 3 way oven she was not using and would like to donate so not only did the woman get the oven she needed but she also got our envelopes which will cover her and her daughters doctor appointments! Thank you for this opportunity to love on our community!
Gave the unopened envelope to an 80 year old lady who is on a very limited income. She was thrilled to get it. Told her our story.
nThank you. GOD is great
Went to pick up my salad that was about $4 and gave him the $10 as a tip. The food runner was very appreciative! Thank you Harbor for the opportunity to serve the community with the greatness and spirit of the Lord!
Shake Shack at Nashville airport Dionne made my afternoon bright and it seemed like she loved serving others. She was elated and teared up to receive her Harbor gift. ? so wonderful!
We added to both envelopes and gave them to the family temporarily living with us.
I wanted to share my harbor gives back story… I picked my son up from school today and there was an Amazon delivery guy who was delivering a ton of packages to the houses right by the school. I looked at him and felt like that was the guy I was supposed to give the money to. Those guys are working long hard hours this week. I thought to myself - if my son is ready right when I pull into the parking lot, I should be able to catch him before he leaves the street. My son wasn’t ready so I thought it wasn’t going to happen and then in my rear view mirror I saw the delivery truck pull into the school parking lot!!! Just as my son was walking out, the delivery guy walked right next to my car!!! I rolled down my window and called out to him. He was gobsmacked when I handed him a $100 bill. I wish you could have seen his face. It was awesome!
We went to gutair center and I put the 50 I got between the strings on a gutair
I had 100$ and my husband 50$ We gave it to a young mother struggling with depression and mental health. God had put this young lady on my heart. I felt such a need to help her. It felt like God was tapping on my shoulder saying it is up to you. Long story short. Prayers are working. This young lady is doing much better and more open to things of God. This girl is our great granddaughter’s mother.