<p> September 11, 2016 Dear APC Parents, </p><p>In our Sunday services, our offering is an act of worship, a response of gratitude. </p><p>We give to others and the church as a way of saying thank-you to God for all that we </p><p> have received. The offering we share each week at APC supports the work of our church </p><p> and the many ministries our congregation supports. Our children are stewards, too. They </p><p> have been blessed with many gifts and opportunities. It is important that, as part of their </p><p>Christian development, we teach them what it means to give. Here we are reminded of </p><p> the words of Solomon in Proverbs 22:6,“Start children off on the way they should go, </p><p> and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Helping children to understand </p><p> and participate in stewardship is essential to their faith journey, and is an important </p><p> element of a congregation’s stewardship ministry. We teach our children from a young </p><p> age to say thank-you. One of</p><p> the ways we can teach this is by helping them participate in the weekly offering. </p><p>Included in this letter are ‘offering envelopes’ for your children’s weekly offering </p><p> collected during Assembly. Please take some time to talk to your children about what </p><p> these envelopes represent. Our Sunday School will endeavor to teach your children the </p><p> many aspects of stewardship. We will inevitably teach the words of the apostle Paul on </p><p> the subject of giving, namely, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not </p><p> reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (1 Cor. 9:7). Moreover, </p><p> we will also remind them of the words of Solomon, as he rightly said, “One gives freely, </p><p> yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want” </p><p>Astor Yelangueuzian Director of Christian Education (Prov. 11:24). This should remind us of the power and pleasure that one can experience </p><p> when generosity abounds. Ultimately, we give because God gave first. God’s greatest gift</p><p> to us was His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. </p><p>Thank you for the many ways that you support the APC Sunday School ministry. </p>