2019 ... The Year of "Doing"

I pray you enjoyed the Christmas lights, cookies, and time with loved ones. I am so looking forward to embracing a new year. 2018 was a year of breakthroughs. Let’s make 2019 the year of “Doing.” During our Christmas Eve service, we learned that the gospel of Jesus, the Christ is always waiting to break into the world and the conditions in which it is born do not matter. The Word of God came into the world in a dirty stable with loud, smelly animals. Jesus’s arrival symbolized the notion that because of what was happening in the world, God wanted to do something. And that is the Gospel…the Good News of Jesus. Whatever is happening in your life, God is prepared to do, not just watch. So this year, I hope you will look for the places God is actively moving on your behalf.

But just as we might be looking for God to do, we have to be willing to move as well. This Christmas we were able to help a young mother and five-year-old son who recently became homeless. That is how we spread the Good News message of Jesus. I am challenging us to spread the Good News of Jesus by our “doing” and not just our speaking. In what ways can you spread the Gospel through our actions in addition to our words?

As a congregation, one of our initiatives, Team Vital, calls for us to make intentional, active transformation in the life of our church. One of the ways we are spreading the Gospel message is through our commitment to sending love notes out to each of our members who are unable to physically make it into the church. We have begun discussing how to formally create new small groups, and we have even begun thinking through what worship will look like. We don’t want to be a church that just says we care about God’s movement in our lives, but we want to be a church that actually moves toward welcoming God. If you have ideas or suggestions for how we can do that, please reach out to our Team Vital members: Bruce Petrie (Chair), Beth Lebens, Robin Howes, Barbie Lewis, Sandy Reed, and Will Reed.

This January, we are also going to be making a move to have our leadership better reflect what the Book of Discipline says our leadership should look like. For those who are unaware, the Book of Discipline contains the rules every United Methodist Church must abide by. We have not had committees that reflect what the Discipline stipulates in many years. Our first step, therefore, will be to hold a special Charge Conference in January to elect and vote on a Nominations committee. From there, we will elect SPRC, Trustee, Finance, and Worship committee members. This is a year when we will start to do and I am excited about it. Again, have a blessed New Year. I look forward to seeing you soon.

In God’s love and peace,

Pastor Gerard and Khadijah

#Doers #NotJustHearers #MoreThanThoughtsAndPrayers #GraceFilled #WesleyUMCPburg