As we enter into this season of thanks, it struck me Tuesday night what I am thankful for this year. I am thankful to have been appointed as your pastor at Cokesbury UMC, and I am thankful for each and every one of you who have committed yourselves to the future of this local congregation. What triggered this train of thought was the group of people in this picture gathered around the table.
When I looked at this group I saw something I have not seen in a long time in my serving the Church. I saw a Church Council committed to serving Christ with their lives and allowing the Holy Spirit to move in them and among them towards that common goal. We have lived through an undeniably hard season, and we are still in a process of healing and discernment. Yet, we are confident that God has called us together in ministry for a purpose. There is no denying that there is still lament, but there is also hope and excitement as the ministries of Cokesbury UMC are reimagined and move forward. For all of this I am beyond thankful!
Are we thankful for being a part of Cokesbury UMC? The season of Thanksgiving is certainly a time for reflection, and it also happens to coincide with the season of stewardship. As we come to the end of the Church and calendar year, I ask each of us to consider how we are living into our membership vows. Are we supporting and participating in the ministries of Cokesbury UMC as fully as we can be with our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service? If not, what is holding us back? Our faith is a journey towards a destination defined by God and not ourselves. Part of that journey is learning to rely less on ourselves and more fully trust God. Our prayers and our presence help to shape us. Our gifts and our service support the ministries of Cokesbury, of The United Methodist Church, and the Church Universal. Tithing and serving not only support the ministries of the Church, but they are also spiritual disciplines that God uses to shape us. Tithing is a way for us to show God thanks for all that God has given us. Tithing also demonstrates that we are willing to trust God to provide us with enough to sustain us and still give back to God what is God’s in the first place. If you are not tithing yet, what can you do in 2024 to move towards becoming a tithing member? If you have never tithed, then I encourage you to start taking steps on this part of your faith journey. If you figure you are giving 1% of your income to God, then commit to 2% in 2024. If you are giving 5%, then commit to 6%. Just as we are expected to take steps every day towards Christian Perfection, we can take steps in our financial support of the ministries of Cokesbury UMC. You might not think what you contribute makes a difference, but I promise you it does. On our own, we accomplish small things. With God, we accomplish miraculous things. If Jesus can feed over 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, what can God do in our communal and individual lives if we commit ourselves in 2024 to living more fully into our membership vows?
I am thankful for each and every one of you who make up Cokesbury UMC. I am thankful for God’s call on my life and God’s call on yours. As we move from Thanksgiving into Advent and from 2023 into 2024, I look forward to seeing what God does next among us and through us. Thanks be to God for God’s gift of God’s self to us, and thanks be to God for calling us together to be God’s people!