Rev. Chism's Weekly Message

"Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." - 1 John 4:7

Our church is coming to the end of our stewardship campaign. Moments have been shared during our worship service, mailings have gone out, and all of you are in the midst of praying about your commitment. Thank you already for what you give. For you give in love to support the ministries of our church and the Wider Church.

I want to thank Susannah, Matthew, and Russ for leading us in our stewardship moments this past three Sundays. They have reminded us that supporting the ministries of our church are very important. What they have done is an example of being good stewards in our church. I give thanks to Russ again along with Bruce and Mike for developing our campaign this year. Thank you!

This Sunday, November 22nd, we celebrate many things. Stewardship Sunday, Realm of God Sunday, and the beginning of Thanksgiving Week. All of these celebrations just came together to be one. Wonder how that happened? Always pay attention to how God puts things together.

There is a great example of stewardship in the Book of Exodus. You can read the story in Exodus 25-40. One day Moses was instructed by God to build a movable tabernacle during a visit to Mount Sinai. The new tabernacle would become a place of worship for the people. It would have a center tent and walls that surrounded it that would form a court. You could say this would be a model for the Temple later built in Jerusalem.

The people were excited to build the tabernacle. So much so Moses had to turn away people because they had more than enough to build. There was a lot of love in the hearts of the people to have a place to go and worship God. It's a story of excitement and giving hearts.

Where does our heart to give come from? 1 John 4:7-21 talks about God's love. The letter reminded people about God's love exhibited in the Incarnation of Jesus. Over time, as we love one another just as the early Christians, love is perfected. It becomes easier I guess you could say. The people know this because they are of God. But sometimes, apparently, they needed a reminder.

Recently, I received the blessing of teaching our Confirmation Class about the Realm of God. We most commonly know this as the Kingdom of God (or Heaven) that Jesus announces in the first three gospels. We talked about the teachings of Jesus in relation to the Realm. God's Realm is nothing like kingdoms in our world. It is a spiritual kingdom that has no boundaries. You can say it is every church in every community serving God. It's a realm where we practice the will of God.

Over the years I have been a part of many stewardship campaigns. There is one theme that I learned from my Methodist days. Love is the foundation of giving. It leads us to giving our time, our presence, our gifts, and our service. To me this encompasses all stewardship campaigns. We are reminded in God's Love to give all that we are.

Wouldn't it be nice if we were excited as the people called to build a tabernacle back in the days of Moses? Giving is more than building tabernacle tents or buildings however. We continue to build on our presence in our community to share God's good news. This is done out of love for God and the abundance we are given. The Realm of God connects us to all people.

All of you have talents you can use. You may have time to share. Your presence is important in our church. It inspires people when we worship together. Monetary gifts are important so our church can function in today's world. And of course our service in our church and the greater community of the world changes people and helps those having a hard time.

You might be able to do all of these things or just one. One is enough to change the world.

All of you inspire me in your service to God. You are working together to share the beautiful grace we are given freely. May we be excited to build upon God's "tabernacle" with excitement that knows no boundary. Always remember who you belong to and whom you serve...a God of Love.

Thank you for your giving hearts.

Stay Safe,
Rev. Baxter