“He (Jesus) looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4  

A little child in church for the first time watched as the ushers passed the offering plates. When they neared the pew where he sat, the youngster piped up so that everyone could hear: “Don’t pay for me Daddy, I’m under five.” 

A little boy was attending his first wedding. After the service, his cousin asked him, “How many women can a man marry?” “Sixteen,”the boy responded. His cousin was amazed that he had an answer so quickly. “How do you know that?” “Easy,” the little boy said. ”All you have to do is add it up, like the Bishop said:  4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer.”  

Can you believe there are people who won’t come to church because they think they have to be able to put money in the offering plate? It is true. I have had people tell me just that — “Pastor I wanted to come to church but I didn’t have anything to put into the offering plate”. My friends, we have many things that we can offer to G-d — things other than monetary gifts. We have the gift of ourselves — offering our thoughts, minds, and bodies to the work of the Lord. We can offer our time — arranging our schedules so we put serving the Lord as a priority, rather than giving the Lord what we have left. We can offer prayer and devotion — taking time to pray, read the Bible, attend Bible study, and sharing our insights with others.   

One of the things you will be doing in 2018, I hope, is taking some time to re-prioritize your schedule — adding time for exercise, adding time for more sleep, and adding more time to spend with G-d. I hope you can find some ways that you can give more to G-d: more of your time, your prayers, your devotion, and yes your gifts of talent and treasure.   

Pastor Dave  

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:7-12  

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was? The girl replied, “I’m drawing God.” The teacher paused and said, “But no one knows what God looks like.” Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, “They will in a minute.”  

No one has ever seen G-d. We hear this in the Bible — we know it to be true in our lives. No one has seen the face of G-d — well no one except for Moses, and possibly a few others in the Old Testament. But, wouldn’t it be nice to get just a glimpse of G-d? Well, some people believe that when we look into the eyes of the poor, the needy, the “Anawim” of this world, that then we are looking into the face of G-d. As Christians we are encouraged to see Christ in the faces of everyone we meet.   

Here is another challenge for us as we enter into a new year. If we are serious about beginning anew in 2018, perhaps we can begin by changing our perspective on our neighbor. Instead of being annoyed with our neighbor who parks his/her car in our parking space, shouldn’t we step outside that anger and see someone who needs that spot more than we do? Instead of being angry at our co-worker who never stops talking, perhaps we can see someone who is lonely and needs someone who honestly will listen to them. Our true challenge in 2018 is to see Christ in the face of all people – even the annoying ones.  

Pastor Dave