This fall Shining our Light events have allowed us to explore how our light shines in the world, to grow in relationship to Christ and to experience God’s grace.  We continue this faith walk with our pledges.  Stewardship is not church-speak for fundraising, and pledges are not budget-building tools.  Rather, stewardship is part of our spiritual lives, an opportunity to reflect on God’s abundance in our lives.  And pledges are an expression of praise and thanksgiving for all that we receive from God.  We invite you to prayerfully consider God’s abundance and grace, and consider sharing that abundance with your pledge.  Together, we will shine the light of Christ brightly into the world in 2020. 

 

 

One of the basic building blocks of stewardship is gratitude.  It costs nothing and replenishes itself.  We can devote a lifetime to chasing after what the Jones have that we don’t.  Or pursuing what Madison Avenue tells us we should have and we don’t.  We can judge our happiness by what’s missing – material goodies, opportunities, education, social status.  But, for this month in the midst of Lent, why not turn things around and focus on what we do have?  At the end of each day, reflect.  What joy, peace, beauty, blessings did we enjoy?  Maybe the best Lenten practice we can adopt is not one of giving up, but of taking on:  taking on an attitude of gratitude.

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. – Proverbs 17:22