Epiphany Worship Series: A Grateful & Generous People
During the Advent season, I shared with you that there were two words the Lord kept bringing to my mind for our life as a church in 2024. Those words are gratitude and generosity, and we are planting ourselves in them. Did you know that the verb, “to give,” appears over 1300 times in the Bible? In most of those instances, God is the subject, the one who does the giving. In the remainder, God is commanding us to give. Gratitude and generosity are two practices rooted in such giving. We are recipients of God’s generosity, and out of our gratitude, we are generous to Him and with one another. You can’t have one without the other in God’s kingdom!
In our worship series that began on Sunday and continues through February 11, Scripture is guiding us in how to be both grateful and generous. In The United Methodist Church, members commit to give in these areas:
1. Our Prayers
2. Our Presence
3. Our Gifts
4. Our Service
5. Our Witness
We’ll be elaborating on each of these in the weeks to come with concrete examples of each and invitations in how to participate in all five areas. Thank you in advance for all you have done and contributed to our church in 2023. I look forward to opening God’s Word with you each Sunday and being filled with His Spirit each day!
all good things to each of you,
dr. darian