Dr. Mark Ballard, {hD, Chancellor,

NEBC students may be on Christmas Break, but they are not taking a break from serving Jesus!

This last week has found students serving in many places all across the Northeast. Here in Bennington some of our students kicked off the week by leading a worship service last Sunday that included baptizing two new believers. Others participated in a Sunday night Community Christmas Concert in Petersburg, NY. The event was hosted at a church led by an NEBC graduate, who was able to share the Gospel with the crowd of around 200 people. Several students participated in Christmas and Christmas Eve services in various churches throughout Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. God is at work in and through NEBC.

Your partnership throughout 2025 has made a significance difference not only in the lives of our students, but in the many lives they touch by sharing the real meaning of Christmas across this region. Our prayer is that the light of the Gospel will shine even brighter across the Northeast in 2026 as it has in 2025. Please join us in asking the Father to expand the work of NEBC more in 2026 than in any year since we began.

As we move into the last week of 2025, there is still time to help NEBC reach our 2025 Year-end goals. A gift to The Presidential Partner’s Scholarship Fund will enable us to continue to provide educational opportunities to students who would otherwise not be able to attend college. A gift to the Dr. Gray Allison Village Student Housing Fund will help us make room for more students to gain the mind of a scholar the heart of a shepherd, and the perseverance of a soldier. A gift to the Downtown Campus Fund will allow us to move forward in purchasing and renovating a long-term campus that will support our rapid growth for years to come.

Today we pause to consider the Baker’s Dozen Principle #11. We find this principle revealed in 2 Corinthians 9:8.

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

Notice several key words in this short verse. “God is able.” What a thought! Sometimes we want to do something, but we are not able. Yet, our God is always able to accomplish whatever is needed. Here the Apostle makes the point that He is able to “make all grace abound toward you.” God’s grace is not limited! God’s grace abounds! While we usually think of God’s grace in the context of the greatest gift of salvation, in this context, Paul says His grace abounds financially as well. Notice that he writes that God’s grace is able to abound in such a way that “you (will) always have all sufficiency in all things.”

When I was a teenager, I remember being surprised by a story my pastor shared. He told about how when he was in seminary, he pastored a small church in Texas. During the week, he attended classes and worked at a local grocery store to provide for his young family. On the weekends they would travel to a small town and preach at a church, where his weekly offering was typically more than the church could pay him. Things were always tight, but the Lord provided for him and his family.

One particular weekend, he had not been able to cash his check from the grocery store before the bank closed. So, he had the check in his wallet when he arrived to preach at his small church that Sunday. As the service began, the Lord convicted his heart that he should endorse the check and put it in the offering plate. Pastor Roy explained that he did not have any extra money. If he put his entire check in, they would not have money for groceries, gas for the car, and the other needs that would arise through the week. Yet, he sensed the Lord’s leading strongly.

When the offering was received that Sunday morning, Pastor Roy pulled out his check, signed the back of it, and placed it in the offering plate, trusting that God was able to meet the needs of his family.

As the week progressed, various people approached Pastor Roy with unexpected gifts. By the end of the week, 90% of the check he had placed in the offering plate on Sunday had been given back to him. His family had food, gas for the car, and every other need met that week. He concluded that when we give as our Lord leads, the Lord will make sure we have all sufficiency in all things we need. The fact is we can trust our Lord to meet our needs. We can never out give God!

Today’s principle is clear, We can experience the joy of giving by trusting God to meet our needs.

In Him,

Mark H. Ballard, PhD

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