Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing , for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
- Hebrew 13:15-16
September is a great time to commit and recommit ourselves to the journey of our faith lived out through St. Paul's. I have witnessed so many amazing acts of faith during the last two months that it makes me excited to see what month number three will reveal. I hear and feel a great desire from this congregation to be the church as God is calling us to be. We may not know what St. Paul's will look like in the next five years, but if we are faithful to Jesus Christ and reflect His love and hope today, that is our calling today.
This means saying yes to praying, reading scripture, serving the church, serving our neighbors and sharing our resources. The ministry needs all of this in order to Move Forward.
This is also a time to understand that you are important to Christ's church and vital in the ministry of St. Paul's. I do mean every one of you. God has equipped each person with exactly the right gifts, talents and presence for who we are right now. Tomorrow will take care of itself, but we will only each God's vision for us if we are doing what we need to do with what we have today.
This means saying yes to praying, reading scripture, serving the church, serving our neighbors and sharing our resources. The ministry needs all of this in order to Move Forward.
So, it is a great time to examine our financial giving that is needed, examine our time and energy giving as others need us, and giving ourselves fully to God.
Let us Move Forward with our love of Jesus Christ revealed through our Love for each other and expressed through our Love for our neighbors. God has big and wonderful things planned for us. Let's say yes.
In the Grace of Christ,
Pastor Vernon
