Continued from page 1 – enjoying the journey
I also want to be honest about where we stand. Giving has stayed strong and consistent, yet our year-to-date deficit has grown to about $ 24,000. That number can feel heavy if you only see it on a page. In truth, it is not unusual. Our giving follows a familiar pattern: a bit lighter through the summer months, then stronger as fall and the holidays arrive. We have walked this path before. I expect October through December to improve, just as they usually do. No need to panic. Just keep doing what you have already been doing, give as you are able, and stay connected.
September’ s four-week series,“ The Goodness of God,” was a gift. Rooted in Psalm 23 and echoing the song of the same name, it asked us to slow down and remember that gratitude is not a mood. It is a way of seeing. It is a way of living. I am thankful for your participation— listening, singing, talking about it afterward. My hope is that we left September a little more rooted in gratitude than when we arrived. I think many of us did.
This month we turn the table, quite literally as we begin a new 2 series called“ Breaking Bread Together.” It grows out of Acts 2:42 – 47, that picture of the first believers who devoted themselves to teaching, to one another, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. They ate in homes with glad and sincere hearts, and people kept finding their way in.
That is the invitation for October. We start at the Lord’ s Table on World Communion Sunday, then we keep the practice going; meals in our homes, tables at Dinner Church, ordinary plates and ordinary conversation. When we break bread together, we strengthen the bonds of this church family. We practice hospitality that is not polished so much as open. And we make the good news visible in the most everyday way possible: by sitting down with one another and listening.
If you have drifted a little over the summer, this is an easy Sunday to come back. Bring someone with you if you can. Stay after worship long enough to shake a hand or share a story.
So come to worship on Sundays. Come to a small group or a Sunday School class. I will say this the same way I have said it before, because it is still true: when you are not here, we are incomplete. Not in a guilt-trip sense. In a family sense. Your chair matters. Your gifts matter. Your voice in the room matters. Someone is steadier because you walked through the door.
October is a good month to gather. The weather turns. The table gets longer. Let’ s eat together, give thanks together, and keep being the kind of church that makes room at the table.
I remain optimistic about the future of Trinity Church, and I remain grateful to be your pastor. The invitation extended by Jesus to his earliest disciples continues to be offered to us,“ Follow me.” Will we extend that invitation to others? We may not always know where we are going, but we know who we are following. God is faithful. Therefore, we expect great things, and we are certain we will enjoy the ride!