Dear Peace members and friends,
It’s hard to believe but it’s Thanksgiving week just around the corner! And what better way to begin the week than to join us in worship on Sunday and our second Sunday in a two-week stewardship emphasis.
What is stewardship, anyway? Stewardship begins with God. From the Psalmist we hear: “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.” It’s God’s, all of it! Sometimes I slip into thinking that says, “I have stuff and time and I give and serve out of my generosity.”
Yet, at its core, stewardship is not so much about our generosity to God but a grateful response to God’s giving himself to us. We are offering our lives, our serving, and, yes, our money, not as if they were our own tightly held possessions that we so generously share with God. Instead, we offer to God our thanks and our praise and we offer our ourselves and all that is ours, for the healing of this world that God so loves. All in all, we could sum up Christian stewardship, our response to God’s grace to us all, with three words: Serve, Give. Love.
With that in mind, last Sunday we asked all of our members to serve in various ways, both for the work of the congregation and in our outreach to others. And you responded! Thank you!
This Sunday in worship, we’ll follow last week up with an invitation to give. We’ll ask all of our members to give, to commit to financially supporting the ministries, mission, and outreach of our church for this coming year. We will hear from the Peace Choir, we’ll gather around the altar for Holy Communion, and we’ll sing of our gratitude to God with some wonderful hymns of the season. A joyful Sunday ahead!
What can you do to contribute to the joy? Bring a pie to the Pie Fest following worship. Join us in the Parish Hall to visit together and enjoy the varied pie offerings from us all.
If you’re not able to be here in worship and/or you were unable to be in-person last week, you will receive in the mail next week the opportunity to commit both participation and money toward ministry at Peace. I thank you ahead of time.
And, last but certainly not least, a note from the chair of the Service and Mission Committee, Dave Dynneson: “Thank you, thank you, thank you to each and every one of you who showed up early to set up tables and equipment, and to all who packed meals, loaded them on the truck and cleaned up afterwards. Special thanks to our church Administrator, Lori Thomson for organizing the event and directing our activities. The meals we packed will be distributed locally to hungry children in our area. For us it was a fun event and one in which we could put our ‘faith and stewardship into action.’ Thanks be to God for this congregation and opportunity to serve.” Thank you, Dave and thanks to all of you, the people of Peace!
See you Sunday!
Mark