Some of you will know that as a church we benefitted from 5 years of funding from the JW Laing Trust. It’s part of our story of God’s wonderful provision for us as a church…

In short…

We received a letter one day from the Trust – a letter they’d sent to Brethren assemblies across the country (and because Cromwell Road is a former Brethren meeting hall we’d received one too). The letter was wondering if there were any small churches that wanted to employ a pastor but couldn’t afford to, and if so, inviting them to apply for funding.

So we did.

And they funded us. For 5 years.

It enabled us as a church to employ me on a full-time basis.

And in 2016 they also contributed to our building work.

God provided wonderfully for us through the generosity of the JW Laing Trust.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, this past Wednesday I went to a service celebrating 100 years of the JW Laing Trust. They’d invited anyone who had benefited from their funding. It was wonderful being there with so many others, representing all sorts of Christian denominations, organisations, and ministries.

Part of the service recounted the inspiring story of JW Laing.

Born in 1879, John Laing gave his life to Christ as a child. He left school at 14 and took an apprenticeship in the building industry to prepare him for taking on his father’s building business. At age 27 he encountered a crisis: one particular building project nose-dived, and for a time he feared he might lose everything. One day he cried out to God to deliver him, and pledged that if God would rescue him, then he would make God his partner in the business. God did rescue him, saved the business, and this marked a turning point for John. From that point on, he vowed to give away more than he lived off, and over time, as the business grew, he gave away more and more and more. In 1922 he started the JW Laing Trust (which over time has multiplied into various other charitable trusts) and he structed the company in such a way, that even today, a percentage of the profits of Laing construction company, goes into the Trust. Amongst other things, Laing constructed the M1 motorway, rebuilt Coventry Cathedral, built power stations and the Severn road bridge.

JW Laing’s heart was for God’s Kingdom, and this was reflected in how he sought to give money away. He supported theological education; church planting; church building, and overseas mission.

To date, the JW Laing Trust has invested more than £500 million in the work of God’s Kingdom.

Listening to his story I was struck…

In Mark 4 Jesus tells a parable about a man who scatters seed on the ground. “Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.” (4:27)

This was JW Laing. From his late twenties onwards, he had made a decision to scatter the seed of generosity and give and give and give. He had no idea how his money would take root and grow and multiply – but he was faithful to what God had laid on his heart. Through the faithful stewardship of this one man, God has had an enormous impact across the globe. Bible scholarship has been enabled; pastors trained; Christianity Explored has impacted lives around the world, buildings have been built; missionaries supported; student Christian unions and missions financed…the scope of work supported is quite incredible.

When he died in 1978, JW Laing had £371 to his name – everything else had been given away.

Now, we will never have the wealth of JW Laing. But each of us has been entrusted with certain things – wealth, resources, talents, and time. And whether we have much or little, it does not matter…it’s what we do with it that counts. It’s how we steward what we do have…it’s how we invest in God’s Kingdom…it’s how we scatter seed that matters. May we have the vision and faithfulness of JW Laing as we live our lives for God and His kingdom.