From Rev. Ben –
When I was starting out as a pastor—more than 27 years ago now—it was traditional in Presbyterian churches to designate a Sunday in early to mid November as Stewardship Sunday. The assumption behind this designation was that congregations would tie their annual budgets to the calendar year, and having a Stewardship Sunday in November would give the session time to set a budget before the December session meeting when the budget would be adopted. Nowadays, most congregations have a budget year that starts in June, but the lectionary still provided a stewardship-themed gospel lesson for this week’s Gospel reading. So this week we will be looking at the parable of the talents. We also are starting our celebration of Thanksgiving a week early because there are reasons for gratitude this year.
Thank you to everyone who put together this week’s service!
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View November 15th Celebration online
- Kim will provide a prelude.
- Talitha will welcome us to celebration,
- Jen Hansen and her daughters Leila, Myra, and Ada will call us to celebration,
- The opening hymn will be “God Whose Giving Knows No Ending”,
- Bonnie Hamlin will lead us in a prayer for peace,
- Jane VanderVeer will read Matthew 25:14-29,
- I will preach a sermon on the parable of the Talents,
- The hymn of response will be “Here I Am Lord”,
- Talitha will lead us is a pastoral prayer,
- The closing hymn will be “Come, Labor On”, and
- I will close the service with a family life, charge and benediction video.
The Charge (say together) Go out into the world in peace. Have courage; hold on to what is good. Return no one evil for evil. Strengthen the faint-hearted, support the weak, and help the suffering. Honor all people. Love and serve God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.