November 2014 – Pastor Anthony’s Letter

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

In last month’s article, I talked about how generous the early Christians were with what God had blessed them with.  Their generosity was not done out of obligation, but rather out of joy.  God has given us property and resources not only for our own use but also for our neighbor’s benefit.  With glad and generous hearts, we share with others what we have been blessed with.

Now sharing has two sides to it, those who give to their neighbors and those who receive from their neighbors.  Hopefully throughout your lifetime you will experience both sides of sharing in Christ’s name.  If we, the church, only teach about sharing with others, then we won’t be very good receivers.  And likewise, if we only teach about receiving, then we won’t be very good at sharing.

“All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” – Acts 2:44-45

The text says that these early Christians had “all things in common” and they would “distribute the proceeds to all.”  They fully shared with one another, sometimes being on the receiving end, sometimes being on the giving end.  The underlying message here then is simple: they took care of each other.

How are you and your family taking care of others?  How are others taking care of you and your family?  I encourage you to talk about this with your family in the coming weeks.  This can be a good topic of conversation at the supper table or as you are driving to/from sports/dance practices.

And how about our churches, how are they sharing with others?  On Wednesday, October 1st, a group of women from St. Peter stood at various bus stops in Ceylon to hand out little snack bags to the students as they got off the bus in the afternoon.  Our guests from South Africa, Pastor Duma and his wife Balungile helped us hand out these bags.  This is one example of sharing.  Where else do you see your congregation sharing with others?

One way in which all three of our congregations are sharing with others is the Food Shelf Challenge that we have accepted.  We have been challenged to collect at least 1 pound of food for each baptized member of our congregations.  If we meet the challenge, then as a parish we will have collected at least 850 lbs. of food to be shared with families who are in need of food in Martin County.  We are collecting now through our Thanksgiving Eve worship service.  Let the sharing begin!

In Christ,

Pastor Anthony