A Voice in the Wilderness

2019-11-13

Faithfulness

"The crying need today is for people of faith to live faithfully.” Richard Foster

God is faithful. It is his nature and character and as his people he expects us to reflect his faithfulness. Stewardship is about living by faith and in faith. It is by faith that we seek to live a life true to God's call to us. It is in faith that we act on that call, trusting that God himself is faithful.

In light of God's faithfulness, I call on the people of St. John’s to steward our lives to reflect God's character by our:

Faithfulness in prayer:   

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6) 

I encourage you to pray daily trusting in God's faithfulness. Pray for the people of St. John’s, for our life together, and for our ministry in the communities of Grand County. Pray for the other churches in our community, for our diocese, and for the church throughout the world. Pray that we might be faithful to the gospel work to which we are called.

Faithfulness in study:  

We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers.   (1 Thessalonians 2:13) 

Set aside time each day to read and study the scriptures. There are many guides available to help structure your study. For some, the daily lectionary provides a way to read a little bit of scripture every day. Please talk to me if you would like some suggestions.

Faithfulness in worship:   

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42 NRSV)

It is a good thing when God's people gather to worship and I encourage you to make our times of worship a priority. When we gather together, we are reminded of God's mighty acts, his faithfulness to his people and above all his love poured out to us in Jesus Christ. As we are faithful in coming together we find that we are formed individually and corporately into the likeness of Christ.

Faithfulness in giving:

The earth is the LORD's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it. (Psalm 24:1 NRSV)

Finally, I encourage us to be faithful in our offering of ourselves: our time, our talent, and our treasure. Please take time to pray and seek how God would have you give of yourself for His work in this place. This giving is a natural extension of our faithfulness in prayer, study and worship. We give not out of duty or obligation but out of gratitude that the One who called us into being claims us as his own and as precious in his sight. When we steward our lives by faith and in faith to God's call we offer a powerful and counter-cultural antidote to an anxious world that desperately needs to know that the God we serve is a good and faithful God!  

Blessings,

Matthew+

Stewardship

One way of thinking about Stewardship is this:

Using the gifts we’ve been given to do the work God is calling us to do.

Hopefully by now you have received a stewardship letter along with a pledge card. Thank you to all of you who have already turned in your pledge for the coming year.

If you did not receive a letter and pledge card, let us know and we will be happy to send one to you.  You can also find a digital copy of them by clicking the links that follow.

2019 Stewardship Letter

St. John’s pledge card

Journey to Faith:
The Five Thresholds

This past Sunday, Melodie Marske, a Regional director at InterVarsity gave a presentation after the service on how to help people on their journey to faith. If you missed the presentation or want to revisit the videos you can find them here.

Coming up...

Deacon Kaye is back from her mission trip!

Kaye will give a talk at St. John's in Granby about her experiences after she returns. This will be on Wednesday, November 13th at 7:00 PM. All are welcome. (Hopefully, she will have pictures to share!)

On Monday, the 4th of November Kaye left for Nogales, Arizona with several other members of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado.  

She spent time working in a shelter and a children's health clinic. This mission was part of our Baptismal Covenant, "to seek and serve Christ in all persons".  

Season of Giving

St. John’s members are actively involved in a number of activities with the Mountain Family Center (MFC):

Thanksgiving Basket Project:

In addition to our monthly “In-Gathering” of food and supplies for MFC, church members have assisted with mailings that increase the awareness of the availability of Thanksgiving food baskets for families, sorting of foods donated, and packing boxes for families. Distribution of food baskets will be Saturday, November 23^rd. Last year over 400 hundred families were helped, and the number is expected to be similar this year. If anyone wishes to help with a donation of food, the Grand County Sheriff’s Department will be holding a food drive at City Market November 15^th (this Friday) and November 16^th (Saturday) to fill a trailer with food items.

Holiday Gift Project:

St. John’s and Trinity (Kremmling) will be sponsoring families through the MFC Holiday Gift Project. Families who are not able to provide gifts for their children for the holidays apply for help with items on their children’s “wish list”. These wishes are not extravagant and, in many instances, reflect basic needs or small things that all kids seek.  Look for the “Giving Tree” in the gathering area at St. Johns if you would like to take an ornament tag and purchase a gift or gifts for these children. Gifts along with the ornament tag should be returned no later than December 8^th to the church and under the Giving Tree. We will have a wrapping party that day from 11 AM-1PM. If you have questions and/or wish to donate a monetary gift for the purchase of gifts, please contact Elaine Skoch at 785-218-5599 or pfyre@centurylink.net

Support for Seniors:

Each year Grand Seniors/MFC provide a holiday gathering (a meal and a small gift) for seniors. They also provide transportation throughout the year for various needs. In addition to monetary donations, MFC is also seeking donation of Socks for Seniors (new men’s and women’s heavy/Christmas socks) to pass out to attendees at the annual dinner, which will be held December 15^th. These may be brought to the church and placed under our Giving Tree as well. Watch for the location and time. Anyone who wishes to volunteer to serve at the event should contact Elaine (above).

The holiday season is always a good time to take stock of our many blessings and to share with those who are less fortunate. Thank you to all of you who so generously give to make life a little better for those around us

New Text Section

Cranmer Dinners

Its time to get ready for the kick off of the 21st year of the Cranmer Dinners. Our first dinner is always Thanksgiving Dinner. You can sign up to help by donating food and/or as a volunteer to help with the dinners. 

Church Directory

We are in the process of updating our church directory. Please click here to fill out your current information.

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