Pay It Forward is a 2000 American film about kindness. In it, twelve-year-old Trevor McKinney starts a movement in Las Vegas: when someone receives a favour, they pass it on to three others. The idea spreads, and its impact grows quickly.
At its heart, paying it forward is deeply biblical because it reflects the very nature of God. As 1 John 4:19 says, ‘We love because he first loved us.’ And how did God love us first? ‘This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him’ (1 John 4:9). God’s mercy and grace to us in Jesus change our hearts, reshape our motives, and transform how we treat others.
How do Believers Pay it Forward?
The Bible shows how God’s word and Spirit reshape the minds, hearts, and actions of believers, transforming how we treat others. In Luke 10:27, Jesus calls his followers to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ This reshapes how we think, speak, and serve, and moves us to want others to know God.
The Bible also shows how God’s grace in Christ reshapes our thinking about money. In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul urges the believers in Corinth to be generous. But notice how he does so:
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
2 Corinthians 8:9
Paul does not present Jesus as a model for managing money. He points to Jesus giving up his life so that we might be brought into a relationship with God. That grace is what drives us to serve others generously, including with our resources.
An Opportunity to Pay it Forward – the Gospel Future Fund
The Trinity Church Adelaide site development has created a significant opportunity to invest in gospel ministry for generations to come.
Work at 88 North Terrace is progressing quickly. A student tower for 1,000 residents is under construction on the car park behind the church. Trinity will retain ownership of the land and lease it to the developer for the long term, with the developer owning the tower.
At the same time, on the church site, we are refurbishing the heritage buildings, removing run-down structures, and creating new ministry facilities that are fit for purpose.
Once the new church facilities are paid for, surplus funds will remain. Rather than retaining them within Trinity Church Adelaide, we plan to invest them and use the income to support future gospel ministry across the Trinity Network by establishing the Gospel Future Fund. This will help us plant more churches, launch new ministries, develop gospel leaders, develop resources, and strengthen churches across our Network so they can more effectively make and grow disciples.
Giving to the Site Development Project Frees Up Money for the Gospel Future Fund
The developer has made a one-off payment to Trinity that is sufficient to cover the cost of the new facilities at North Terrace. However, our hope is to preserve as much of that payment as possible for the Gospel Future Fund. Gifts towards the site development will make this possible. Every dollar given to the development is a dollar we do not need to draw from the developer’s payment – and another dollar available for future gospel ministry.
Why Give?
Sue and I are planning to give, and here is why …
We want to leave a legacy for future generations
In the 1830s, God moved people in the UK to invest in the colony of Adelaide for the sake of gospel ministry. For 188 years, the facilities at 88 North Terrace have served as a base from which the gospel has been proclaimed to countless thousands. Then, in 1994, members of Trinity Church Adelaide generously gave to purchase the car park behind the church as a deliberate investment in future ministry. That same land is now being developed to provide better facilities for generations to come. We stand on the shoulders of brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone before us. It would be a joy if future generations looked back and thanked God for the sacrifices we made so they could take the gospel to our city, state, nation, and world.
We want to see the rapid spread of the Gospel
In 2 Thessalonians 3:1, Paul asks for prayer ‘that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honoured.’ Over the past 25 years, we have seen God graciously at work among us through church planting. Our Network has grown from one church to fifteen. Last year alone, pastors across the Network reported more than 50 conversions and baptisms. We long to see many more churches planted in the decades ahead and many more friends, neighbours, and family members come to faith in Christ. We believe that giving now is a strategic way to support that future gospel growth.
A unique and limited opportunity to give in a tax-deductible manner
Because 88 North Terrace includes heritage-listed buildings, gifts made through the National Trust SA can be tax-deductible. By contrast, our regular giving to local church ministry is not. Sue and I can see the wisdom in using this opportunity to maximise the impact of what we are able to give.
How Can You Give?
1. Giving through the National Trust SA
If you would like to make a tax-deductible gift, this link provides the information you need on how to make gifts to the National Trust SA.
2. Giving directly to the Gospel Future Fund
If tax deductibility is not particularly helpful for you, you can give directly to the Gospel Future Fund. Whilst we finalise the Gospel Future Fund bank account, donations can be made to the following bank account or online via the link below.
a) Electronic Bank Transfer
BSB: 065-000
Account Number: 1174 1091
Account Name: FRIENDS OF TRINITY TRUST – MASTER ACCOUNT
Reference: Gospel Future Fund
b) Via credit card
Click here to give via credit card directly to the Gospel Future Fund.
Please note: Gifts direct to the Gospel Future Fund are not tax-deductible.
If you need more information or would like to ask any questions, please contact Andrew Severin at andrew.severin@trinity.network or 0407 388 118.
What if You are Not in a Position to Give?
We know these are challenging economic times. You may want to give but simply not be in a position to do so right now – and that is completely okay. But can I ask you to pray? In 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul asks his friends to pray for the gospel’s rapid spread. Please pray that God will go before us and glorify his name.
Paying it Forward
Ephesians 2 tells us that we were ‘dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.’ By nature, we are spiritually dead and unable to change our condition. But then comes this glorious truth: ‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us … made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.’ God, in his kindness, makes spiritually dead people alive. That grace changes everything. It gives us a new purpose, a new outlook, and a deep desire to see others experience the same mercy. One practical way to serve that end is by giving to the site development, so that more funds can be deployed for future gospel ministry. What a joy!