Dear Caldwell,
Grace and peace to you this midweek. I hope the much-anticipated crisp, autumn air is a rejuvenation to you, a reminder that God is always recreating our world and our lives.
You are invited to join in our new devotion and reflection time with our shelter guests Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. We gather in one of the beautiful, comfortable, quiet rooms in the shelter. This week, Veronica Rogers will lead a discussion of what it means, as Psalm 46 says,to “be still” with God. This is the first of a series of conversations based on a book we will be following for the next few weeks. Last week, those who were there were blessed by the comments and perspectives of our guests.
By now, you should have received a letter from the church including a pledge card for your financial support of the church in 2011. Please prayerfully consider your response to God’s love, a response that is rooted, I hope, more in gratitude and joy than in a sense of grim obligation or solemn duty. As I said Sunday, the church is IN but not OF this world. Through our financial support for the church, we return to God a portion of what God has given us. This is not a calculation based on a percentage. It is not just what we have left over after we have paid all of our other bills. It is a reflection of our belief that we love God because God first loved us.
This Sunday, we will bring our pledges in worship and commit them to God’s use. If you need a pledge card, you can print one out at http://www.caldwellpresby.org/docs/resources/2011pledgecard.pdf.
Please continue to keep in prayer those among us who are ill, grieving or in need of encouragement. As always,
Yours In Christ,
John