From the Desk of Pastor Tricia McMackin
LET'S FIND THE EXTRA CAMEL THIS YEAR!!!!
There were these three sons whose father had left them 17 camels. He left half his camels to the eldest, a third of his camels to the middle son and to the youngest he left a ninth of the camels.
The sons soon were upset because none of them could find a way to divide
17 by 2 by 3 or 9. So the sons went to the town elder to seek his advice.
After thinking for a moment, the old man announced, "I am not sure I can help you but for the moment, take my camel." Now the sons had 18.
The first son took his half—9 camels. The next son took his third—that gave him 6. The last son took 2—a ninth of the 18 camels. 9 and 6 and 2 made 17. They had 1 camel left, which they gave back to the old man.
(Story by William L. Ury.)
Apart it may not seem that we can make our budget or staff VBS or take care of the grounds of New Jerusalem.
But if we bring our resources together we will find that we have more than enough to do the work of God and then some.
So here are the challenges ahead of us for 2012.
We are going to need teachers and leaders for our education programs. Currently we have no adult study courses. And we need them. Visitors are looking for a place to learn. Members are looking for a place to grow. If you can give just 4 Sunday mornings or 4 week nights to lead a discussion gruop or Bible Study. We can fill the year with chances to share the Good News in a more in depth way.
We are going to need mentors for our youth group.
Good youth fellowship needs caring adults to help our youth find their way. If you can give one Sunday every few weeks to play games, eat snacks, and talk about God—what a great way to support our junior high and senior high school members as they try to live out their faith each day.
We are going to need music.
Worship is the heart of what we do and how we invite others in. Nothing speaks louder sometimes than our songs of faith. We need people to sing or play the guitar or flute or drums or whatever you use to make a joyful noise.
And yes, we are going to need money.
We passed a budget totalling $153,047.48 and made a benevolence commitment of $3,780.00 to our Synod and $2,240.00 to our community
for 2012.
It is a budget cut to the minimum—no salary raises, everything kept to the bare necessities. Just like the sons with the camels, if we all contribute what we are truly able to give, we will have more than enough to pay our ministry costs and reach out to those in need.
Currently we have 246 giving units. Ideally, if each unit could give $646.53 for the year, we could make our budget. But realistically, we know some of us can do that, some of us can do less, some of us can do more. What God wants us to do is sit down and consider what we hve and give as we can. And the challenge is always to go to the next level. If we give 1% of our income now, how about going 2%. If at 10% how about going 11%. If at 7% how about trying 8%.
Yes, it is always a step of faith to give a little more—especially while we live in times that so uncertain. But if God will feed the birds and provide for the flowers of the field, how much more will he see that we have all that we need and more!
We can do it my friends—I know we can! We can put all our time and treasures together and find that extra came!!
Yours in Christ, Pastor Tricia