“God does not give us everything we want, but God does fulfill all God’s promises, i.e., God remains the Lord of the earth, God preserves the Church, constantly renewing our faith and not laying on us more than we can bear, gladdening us with Divine nearness and help, hearing our prayers, and leading us along the best and straightest paths to holiness. By God’s faithfulness in doing this, God creates in us praise for God alone.”
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dear Caldwell,
As people of God, can we have faith without promises? Can we have vision without hope?
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes above, we would have little to fuel our faith without the promise of something greater than what we see around us every day.
But hear the good news: God has made each of us a promise and a pledge.
It is the promise of the Kingdom of Heaven, a fair, just and compassionate world, marked by love, established in Jesus Christ and left in our hands. This promise inspires our vision, renews our hope and gives our faith both form and purpose.
As people of faith, we also make a promise to God.
We promise to participate with God by joining in the work of the church, the body of Christ. On Sunday, we will bring our Discipleship Campaign, “Abounding in Hope”, toward its close as we all bring our promises and pledges of time, talent and treasure to be dedicated to God’s use.
God has touched every one of us – in grace and in many particular, individual blessings, including the community of faith at Caldwell. No one is left out of God’s love. Thus, we want to leave no one out of our shared discipleship. Our goal is 100% participation, emphasizing that EVERYONE has talent and some money to pledge to our Lord’s use.
Reaching that goal will require many people to pledge who haven’t before. Why pledge? First, it is a concrete expression of where we put God in our lives. Second, it brings to life our many ministries in service to others. Third, it helps the church plan its various ministries.
Please take time to consider your individual expression of discipleship, complete your pledge cards and bring them to church on Sunday (using the envelopes we provided for priavacy). If needed, we will have pledge cards for Time/Talent and Treasure available Sunday morning.
Pastor-elect Veronica Rogers will preach a message titled, “Time, Talent, Treasure and ….” What do you think is the “fourth T” of discipleship? Come and find out. Her scripture is Romans 15:13 and II Corinthians 8:1-7.
I look forward to celebrating God’s abundant love and our abounding hope.
Yours in Christ,
John