As this new year begins, I give God deepest thanks
for the many gifts each of you brings to the church we love. There is no greater gift than your presence. You are the gift!
The past week of celebration, rest, and reflection brought these words of Irish poet John O'Donahue to mind:
"We bless this year for all we learned,
For all we have loved and lost
And for the quiet way it brought us
Nearer to our invisible destination."
Here we find ourselves in a new year and a new decade. We are propelled into this new time by the gifts that I happily read again this week---ones that you wrote down during our
Celebrate 2020 fall stewardship focus.
Here are but some of your answers to the question, "What is ONE natural gift, skill, passion, or talent that you would like to share in 2020 that could enhance your own life AND the life of our church?"
-Cooking monthly meals for the community hosted at the church
-Ability to analyze, often quantitively, situations
-Teaching is my passion! Being a small group leader
-I have no one big gift---small ones in reading, cooking, teaching, and taking notes
-Sharing more with others about our church
-Teaching yoga
-Helping with facilities in any way
-Supporting our staff
-Creativity and thinking outside any box
-My ability to sing
-I am 93 and just getting started!
This weekend's message will focus on, "2020 Spiritual Vision: Being Courageous in a Time of Corruption, Hazards, and Hopes."
To fulfill our call in 2020 to embrace everyone, inspire life, and create more, it will call on our courage to share our gifts generously and boldly. I look forward to the opportunities, known and unknown, that await us in 2020. Between you and me, I just have this feeling that it's going to be really, really good---due in part to the many gifts that you individually and we together have to give and share as a church.
Join your fellow Pine-heads tomorrow for this first Sunday of the new year, and we'll get it started the right way.
With joyful expectation,
Andrew