Dear Friends in Christ,
Last Sunday we started our 3 weeks of Giving Emphasis. This year our theme is Celebrating Giving! Our thanks to co-chairs Melanie Eubank and Pam Evans, and members Rosemary Boudreaux and Jim & Ruth Weatherman.
Our Giving Emphasis time is a wonderful time to be aware of all the gifts we receive each day – everything from running water, to a hug, to someone hearing our story, to roads, to children, to… It’s also a great time to be aware of opportunities to give. This giving might be time helping a neighbor, listening to someone else’s story, giving our time to help with a project, sharing our financial resources, smiling at someone in line…
When you think about it, the range and types of gifts are really too numerous to count, and much of the time, we may not even be conscious of them in our lives.
At Longview Chapel, we are incredibly blessed with gifts. We have people who volunteer to do everything from bookkeeping to yard work, to fixing things in the building, to visiting and welcoming others, and so much more. We are also blessed, due to the generosity of R.A. Long and many people after him, to have no building debt or debt of any kind. We are blessed with teams of volunteers who make our ministries grow and thrive, and we are blessed with each person who chooses to get involved!
As I mentioned in the sermon on Sunday, we were blessed to have one of our people planning to give $5,000 from their IRA. They thought it might be fun to see if we could challenge each other to match this $5,000. Can we do this, and how quickly can we do this? $150 has already been given, and we just announced this challenge!
All of us are able to give in different ways. Celebrating giving is choosing to set a time aside to give thanks for all we have been given, all we are able to give, and most importantly, God, who loves us so much that God gives us the opportunity to be partners with God and give, too.
“Each of you is invited to give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7
Celebrating Giving With You,
Pastor Donna