A Season of Gratitude

It’s finally starting to feel like fall, my favorite season.

The angle of the sun has shifted, making the colors a little richer. Cool mornings invite me to pull out my flannel shirts, jackets, and sweaters, and pumpkin spice is in the air (for better or worse). Football season is underway (go Chiefs!), and Halloween is just around the corner. I still need to find a plastic tulip for my Calvin costume – (that’s John Calvin, the Reformation leader, not the boy with the tiger.) Meanwhile, for my kids in college, midterms are already fast approaching. The season is changing, and somehow the calendar keeps moving faster than I expect.

Here at Grace, autumn also brings stewardship season. I’m grateful to everyone who has already returned a pledge and added a leaf to our gratitude tree. Each leaf offers a glimpse of the blessings we recognize and the life we share. But our tree is still looking rather bare. We’ve received fewer than 20 pledges toward our goal of 100, and there is plenty of room for more gratitude to take root.

As you enjoy this beautiful autumn weather, I invite you to take some time this week to reflect on what you are grateful for in your own life and in the life of our congregation. Where have you experienced God’s care? Who has offered you encouragement, friendship, or hope? What ministries at Grace have helped you grow, or made a difference in the lives of our neighbors? Let that gratitude become a starting place for prayer as you consider how God is calling you to participate in our shared ministry and mission.

A pledge is more than a promise of financial support. It is an invitation to be part of what God is doing through the hands and hearts of the people at Grace. Our gifts help sustain that work, and so do our time, our talents, and our willingness to show up for one another. Together, we respond to the grace we have received by sharing it.

This Sunday, we’re also beginning our Network Discovery class at 10 AM, an opportunity to discern your gifts and discover where you might share them at Grace. For those who cannot attend on Sunday mornings, we’ll offer classes on Saturdays, November 7 and 14. Whether you already have a sense of where you are called to serve or are wondering what your next step might be, these classes offer space to explore those questions together.

The autumn months always seem to pass quickly. Before we know it, Advent will be here. So, take a little time to get outside, feel the cool air, and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. Give thanks for the gifts around you and prayerfully consider how you might share yours. Then bring back your pledge and the leaf from your stewardship packet, with something you are grateful for written on it, and add it to our gratitude tree on the bulletin board by the sanctuary. As our tree fills with leaves, may our hearts grow in gratitude and our lives in generosity.

See you in church!

Peace, Grace, and Love,
Pastor Kevin