A note from Pastor Travis 11-7-24

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” Philippians 4:4.

“Rejoicing always” is a tall order. To be honest, there are times when I do not feel much like rejoicing. Why would Paul write this? He wasn’t naive. He knew that “rejoicing always” was hard. He had faced hardship, rejection, and suffering. He was even in a shipwreck one time! Yet he understood something important. Rejoicing in God, even when it is hard to do – especially when it is hard to do, shapes our lives. It helps us find peace in hardship, rejection, and suffering. God’s presence and abiding peace gives a sense of love, and, even a reason to rejoice.

This is the spirit of gratitude and rejoicing that fills us both in this season of stewardship and as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday. It is appropriate that our season of stewardship coincides with Thanksgiving. This is no accident. They are really one and the same.

The practice of the season of stewardship being in the fall comes from the time when the majority of the country was agrarian. During this time people could not make a pledge or gift to God through the church until the harvest came in. They understood their gift to God as an act of thanksgiving, a way of rejoicing for the goodness of God and the bounty of the crop. This is why Thanksgiving is in the fall as well.

Though the designation of the 4th Thursday in November as a day of thanksgiving was done by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War; the fall harvest has always been the traditional time of thanksgiving celebrations. It was a time to thank God for the harvest, which would assure their safety in the stark winter months to come.

It is in this tradition of thanksgiving for God’s goodness, with hearts filled with gratitude and rejoicing that we consider our pledge for 2025. Our gift is not about how much we choose to give, but what will be our response to God in gratitude for all that God has done for us. This is the same reason that we sing the Doxology when we give our offering each week. The Doxology isn’t a hymn about money, but a song of praise to God. We sing this because our giving is an act of praise to God.

On Sunday, November 24 we will be invited to make our pledges. We invite you to prayerfully consider your pledge for 2025 and then come with a spirit of rejoicing to share your pledge as you make a commitment to the church’s future.

Thank you for your generosity and faithfulness in the past, and for the pledge that you make for 2025.

Blessings and Grace,
Pastor Travis