Dear Presenter,
Thank you for your willingness to share the offering appeals with your local congregation. It is a wonderful and gratifying responsibility. How you present these readings will determine how effective they are. Here are some suggestions to consider before you share:
Pray: Pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray that God will use your words to speak to the hearts of the congregation.
Practice: Read over the appeal at least three times to familiarize yourself with it. Read slowly and clearly. Underline or highlight keywords to emphasize during the reading. Strive to share these readings with excellence.
Prepare: Sometimes materials for special days are sent to your local church to distribute or present along with the appeal. Determine how they can be used most effectively.
Personalize: If you have a personal experience that you think will add strength to the appeal, please share it. People connect with others through stories.
Present with Passion: A presentation can include all of the above elements, but without passion, it may not stir the hearts of the hearers. Ask God to fill your heart with His Spirit so that you can present the appeal with spirit and truth.
May God richly bless you and speak through you as we take this journey together in 2025.
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March 1 – Local Church Budget
Melvin Santos, the offertory reading author, shared that several years ago he was studying the motivational factors that drive people. He learned that some people respond to rewards or threats, such as receiving a paycheck or getting fired. Others are motivated by fear and guilt, so they respond to messages that create a fear of losing something if they don’t act. A third group of people are motivated by statistical measures and defined goals that provide them with a clear benchmark to strive toward. While studying motivational factors, he discovered that all of these are only short-term, low-level motivators.
In the spiritual world, the same principles apply when it comes to returning tithes and giving offerings. The highest motivation should be our love for Christ in response to His love for us! This stems from a deep, personal connection and commitment that far outweighs any other incentives.
Ellen G. White shared in Counsels on Stewardship, “We belong to God; we are His sons and daughters,—His by creation, and His by the gift of His only-begotten Son for our redemption. ‘Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s’” p. 72.
If we gave our offerings to pay for His sacrifice, it would not even come close. We give our offerings to show our love for Him.
As we return our tithes, let’s give our offerings in response to Christ’s great love for us! Today’s offering focus is for our local church budget.
Let’s pray…
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March 8 – Adventist World Radio
Find the AWR 2025 video and latest offering resources at awr.org/offering
Adventist World Radio (AWR) uses many forms of technology to reach people where they are, in their local dialect. From AWR’s shortwave towers in Guam to its 2,000 radio stations around the world, these messages are broadcast in more than 130 languages every day. For those who aren’t in range of a radio station, AWR’s YouTube videos, ministry app and tracts are ministering to millions.
In addition, solar-powered Godpods are reaching everyone from prisoners to shepherds! AWR’s semi-truck in Ukraine is both meeting needs in the community and broadcasting Bible-based messages of hope wherever it goes.
In 2023 and 2024, AWR joined with the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists’ “Total Member Involvement” initiative to conduct more than 1,500 meetings across 40-plus countries during Christ for Europe. From the UK to Italy to Ukraine, people made decisions for baptism. Shortly after these events, meetings in Zambia, Rwanda and Papua New Guinea saw record crowds and baptisms.
God predicted that one day we would be “utterly amazed,” as Habakkuk 1:5, NIV, shares, at what He would do—and we are!
As you return your tithes, please consider supporting Adventist World Radio with your offerings.
Let’s pray…
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March 15 – Local Church Budget
Melvin Santos, the offertory reading author, shared about visiting a country during a mission trip where the people didn’t have as many conveniences or material things as we do in North America. They lived in dilapidated homes where conditions were deplorable. No one owned vehicles, so they walked. Despite their sad situation, the people seemed happy and content with what little they had.
Their faith in God was rich and genuine, resulting in praise and melodious singing as they went about their daily activities. They didn’t seem to worry much. Santos was humbled and ashamed that he required so many things to be comfortable.
He learned that the greatest danger is the accumulation of things. Why? Because we focus most of our time and energy on what is not kingdom-worthy. We feel entitled to spend more on ourselves instead of helping those in need.
Ellen G. White shares in Testimonies for the Church, “If the hearts of God’s people were filled with love for Christ, if every church member were thoroughly imbued with the spirit of self-sacrifice, if all manifested thorough earnestness, there would be no lack of funds for home or foreign missions. Our resources would be multiplied; a thousand doors of usefulness would be opened, and we should be invited to enter,” Vol. 6, p. 449.
As we return our tithes, let us remember the local church budget as we give our offerings.
Let’s pray…
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March 22 – Texas Vision
How many of you here today are thankful for God’s blessings? Although we don’t deserve these blessings, they are generously given to us by our Father in heaven.
The Bible talks about God as the Owner of the universe and us as managers. God has set a divine plan reminding us of this owner-manager relationship weekly. Every seventh day of the week, the Saturday Sabbath, is God’s Day. This holy day is designed for us to worship Him and dedicate our time to Him, while we are entrusted with management of the remaining six days.
Similarly, one-tenth of our income or possessions, known as a tithe, is God’s. However, He entrusts us with management of the remaining 90 percent. We manage it according to His will and what will give Him glory.
God’s plan states that the tithe belongs to Him. We worship Him by returning His share and by giving our freewill offerings because of our love for Him. However, sometimes we forget that giving is part of our worship, not simply a financial donation.
The problem starts when we forget we are managers and assume the position of owner. It’s easy to forget that everything ultimately belongs to the Lord, including our time. Even every breath we take is a gift from God, isn’t it?
In addition to returning our tithes, our focus for today is the Texas Vision conference offering.
Let’s pray…
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March 29 – Local Church Budget
Jesus shared the parable of the talents to illustrate our relationship with Him and our purpose in life. The three servants were each given talents according to their abilities. In the end, two were commended for investing their talents wisely, and one was not.
The parable teaches us that we need to use the talents we’ve been given to grow God’s kingdom and increase God’s glory. We shouldn’t hide or neglect them. God rewards those who act in faith by investing what He has given.
He gives us the responsibility to manage our time, talents, treasures, temple and testimony. What belongs to God? For time, one-seventh of our week belongs to God; for talents, He asks us to use and double what He has given to us; for our treasures, God owns one-tenth; for our health, we give special care for our bodies because we are the temple of the Holy Spirit; and for our testimony, we must tell the story of what God has done for us and how He is transforming us.
God has committed these things to us; how we invest them reveals whether we can be entrusted with eternal riches. By using and growing our talents, we develop Christlike characters, and God then multiplies what He gave to us.
Why not ask God to help us manage His gifts as we return our tithes and give our offerings? Today’s offering focus is on our local church budget—a necessity for continuing our mission here in our community.
Let’s pray…
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NAD Stewardship Ministries
Our mission is “to reach the North American Division and the world with the distinctive, Christ-centered Seventh-day Adventist message of hope and wholeness.” Stewardship Ministries is dedicated to helping members catch this vision.
Systematic giving is part of being a faithful steward. When we return tithe, we are recognizing that God owns everything. Giving offerings expresses our gratitude for what God has done for us. God loves a cheerful giver, and He has chosen this method to support those who preach the gospel as they reach the world with His message.
You will find an extensive selection of videos emphasizing various offerings by visiting our website at nadstewardship.org/videos. You can use them in conjunction with the offering appeals or in place of them. They average between a minute-and-a-half and two minutes in length.
Faithful stewardship is a matter of the heart. We don’t give to receive love and blessings from God. We give because we have already received God’s love and blessings. We give because our hearts and lives are full of the joy of the Lord. We give because we want to live out God’s character of abundant generosity—especially as exhibited through the ultimate gift: the life of His Son. Giving is a natural response for recipients of God’s goodness.
God’s blessings to you as you help others experience the joy of faithful stewardship.
Michael Anthony Harpe, director
Stewardship Ministries
North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists
About the Author
Melvin Santos serves as the vice president for Administration and Stewardship director for the Kansas-Nebraska Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He is also the author and presenter of the Discipleship Master Plan: A Disciple-making Strategy for Churches and Conferences. At a young age, he was greatly influenced by the teachings of Mel Rees, a former General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Stewardship director.
Santos is passionate about establishing discipleship-driven churches and maximizing every member’s ministry potential and effectiveness as a lay minister. He also enjoys mentoring and training pastors and church leaders around the country.
He firmly believes that a successful disciple-maker also needs to be a committed steward. In his leisure time, he enjoys being a digital creator and influencer, traveling, gardening, exploring different countries and learning new languages.
He currently lives in Kansas with his wife, Juliet Santos, who is a board-certified family practice nurse practitioner and the co-founder and co-speaker of the Discipleship Master Plan Institute. They are proud parents of three wonderful adult children (and two sons-in-law): Elizabeth (Paul), Lauren (Brad) and their youngest son, Michael.
Calendar of Offerings – NAD 2025
Special Offerings
January 11 Religious Liberty
February 8 Adventist Television Ministries Evangelism
March 8 Adventist World Radio
April 12 Hope Channel International, Inc.
May 10 Disaster and Famine Relief
June 14 Women’s Ministries
July 12 GC Session Offering: Digital Strategy for Mission
August 9 Christian Record Services
September 13 World Budget (Emphasis: Radio Ministries)
November 8 World Budget (Emphasis: Annual Sacrifice)
December 13 Adventist Community Services
Thirteenth-Sabbath Offerings for 2025
First Quarter Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD)
Second Quarter Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD)
Third Quarter Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (SID)
Fourth Quarter South American Division (SAD)
Summary of Offerings, including number of weeks.
Local Church Budget 27
Texas Vision (Conference Offering) 12
Union Designated 2
North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists 5
World Budget 6
