I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:3-4
The Apostle Paul had a great way of writing. He would usually start with a blessing and thank you. I want to thank our UMW for the honor of the Quiet Disciple Award. I was genuinely surprised and feel very humbled and blessed to be in the company of such amazing people as the other recipients of this award. All I can say is that I will try to live up to those words said about me.
I have always said that being here at CUMC is a blessing and this church and your friendships have certainly been that to me. This past Sunday it was so special to have people here back on campus for outside worship in our courtyard. I know that many do not feel safe enough to venture out, and I totally understand that, however it was truly wonderful to be able to speak in front of live people and to feel the positive energy and connection that we all share. We as a church family are trying to work out how we keep connected with each other and how we can worship together safely in different ways. Worshipping in person is not better or worse than worshipping online. It is simply different. We are blessed to have a tech team that can handle all the behind the scenes magic that lets us worship together in person and online. Without Bill Fugard, Kelly Smith, and Doug Blue we would be in a world of hurt. We have many people who are calling other church members to check in and see how they are doing. We have Kathie Lueck and Marilyn Leatherwood, delivering copies of the sermon and a weeks’ worth of Daily Blessings, to folks who are not online. Brenda Weikel who is teaching the online Wednesday evening class. There are so many people who are in ministry with one another it is amazing. Marsha Gove keeps us connected with our prayer chain and Sue Hicklin sends out handmade cards from the church. There are so many other people who do amazing ministry here, I just named a few for you all to know that it takes an active church family to take care of a church family. We are blessed to have this church family, even with our issues, for we are not perfect.
I write this for you to all know how blessed we are to have each other and this church family. I give thanks for you all in my prayers every day for you all are my daily blessing.
Gracious and loving God, you have provided us with the church to care and minister to church family and beyond. We thank you for all the folks in this church family who continue to minister in this ever-changing situation that we live in right now. Give us hearts to hear your voice and courage to act on the calling that you put on our hearts. Give us strength and patience for this journey, for it has been long. Let our hearts be warmed by the blessings that surrounded us each day and help us to be a blessing to those we encounter today. Amen
Stay safe, stay well and be the hope you wish to see in the world. Suzanne