Christmas Bazaar November 30

Remebering: God Is with Us

The Bible readings for Sunday, November 10, 2019 are concerned with questions about life and death.  In Hab. 1:15b:2-9, the people wonder whether life can ever return to the way it was before their temple was destroyed.  In 2 Thess. 2:1-5,13-17, the early Christian community of Thessalonica is experiencing great turmoil and confusion around the “second coming” of Christ.  In the Gospel reading (Luke 20:27-38) the Sadducees question Jesus about life beyond death.

It is appropriate to reflect on life beyond death not only in the Christian cycle of readings but also on the day before Remembrance Day.  One hundred one years ago on November 11^th an armistice was signed ending the First World War – the “war to end all wars.”  Today as wars continue to rage it is hard not to be discouraged.  As we remember those who gave their lives in two Great Wars and in the various conflicts since then, we think about death – the deaths of soldiers and civilians – and we, too, have important questions to reflect on.  Still, in the midst of it all, it is good to be able to declare to our children, “In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us.  We are not alone.  Thanks be to God.”

Stewardship Moments

So said the old man:  As a boy I gathered fruit from the trees planted by my forebears.  Am I not, then, required to plant the trees that will sustain my grandchildren?  Rachel Kadish in The Weight of Ink (2017)

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Empty pockets never held anyone back.  It's only empty hearts that do it. Norman Vincent Peale,  (1898-1993)

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The best kind of giving is thanksgiving.  G.K. Chesterton, writer, lay theologian (1874-1936)

Tend My Sheep

There is a difference between going to church and being the church.  When Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Feed my lambs...  Tend my sheep... Feed my sheep," it was a call to look after his people.  As member of the Church we, too, are called to this mission.  We need to do more than sit in the pews, listen to the sermon, and pray.  We need to go out and do what we can to make this world a better place.

(Thanks to Rev. Paul Guiton for this message.)