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Caring Service to All
Bernard of Clairvaux, a Cistercian Monk who lived in the twelfth century, wrote the
following words:
"Go out into the field of your Lord and consider how even today it abounds in thorns and thistles in fulfillment of the ancient curse. Go out, I say, into the world, for the field is the world and it is entrusted to you. Go out into it not as a lord, but as a steward, to oversee and to manage that for which you must render an account. Go out, I should have said, with careful responsibility and responsible care."
As the church, we are called into the field of the world on a daily basis. We are called to proclaim the good news of God’s saving grace to all who await its healing touch. This proclamation comes in many forms, all of which are grounded in the enactment of loving and prudent stewardship, tending to the needs of God’s people with careful responsibility and responsible care. Every year, as we conduct our financial stewardship program, we reassess that commitment, and challenge ourselves to widen its scope and broaden the horizons of our ministry to God’s children. This year was no exception, undertaking the vital steps which will begin a new journey for the congregation of Middletown United Methodist Church. A congregation which continues to grow in faith, in commitment, and in the search for ways to
enact the Gospel message in the theater of world need.
On behalf of this congregation and all who will be touched by its ministry, I wish to thank all of those who worked to make this stewardship program a reality. And, I wish to thank all who renewed a faithful commitment to participate in the ongoing ministries of this church with your gifts which will open doors to many new avenues of advancing God’s kingdom. The gifts which all of you have pledged in the form of weekly offerings and capital improvement donations will sustain vital ministries in the coming year and make possible the beginning of new areas of ministry which we have only dreamed about until now. These gifts are the ones that last, the ones which find fulfillment in eternal places.
The years ahead will be exciting ones, as we expand our role as God’s stewards into different areas of service, using our individual gifts to advance the mission of the church in the world. This mission is one of caring service to all humanity as was demonstrated best by the life example of Jesus Christ.
The following text from Romans 12 serves as a personal reminder of the responsibility and calling each one of us shares as we undertake this mission:
"For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same
function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members
one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us..."
In a world which needs so desperately to feel the warmth of God’s love and the power of God’s saving grace, the gifts that we have to give take on a very special significance. I leave you with one more verse from Romans 10:
"...how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. By your constant commitment to this ministry, those feet have been enabled and energized to bring the good news wherever they go."
Thank you so much!
Grace and peace,
Joe
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Questions
about Middletown United Methodist Church should be sent to the Church Office. |
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7108 Fern Circle · Middletown, MD 21769
voice: (301) 371-5550 · fax: (301) 473-8090
TTY: (301) 473-9892 |
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