A New Season at SAINT PAUL!
What will this new year of 2016 hold for us at SAINT PAUL? So many give generously of their prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness of what God is doing in their lives. It already feels so full of possibility and God’s promises. It would be easy to quickly fill the new rooms of the Ministry Center with activities, ideas and stuff! (So similar to our own homes.)
We want to be good stewards of what God has provided for us. Let’s discern and pray, talk together and listen for God’s Spirit that is leading us together.
Our mission as part of the United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Those disciples include people inside and outside the church – to come to know and follow Jesus and go deeper with him. Where is God calling each of us to follow Jesus deeper with our lives? Where do we find joy with Jesus and where do we long for more of him? Who are the people nearby that we have opportunities to share God’s love with through service and/ or words?
Our theme this year is More Jesus. Over the years, SAINT PAUL has been a diverse people welcoming others into community to have a vital faith in Jesus Christ. We are called to be an intergenerational community of faith.
Who can we invite to join in following Jesus? How and where will we explore and take new steps to prepare the way for more of God’s fruitfulness among us? I am sure some things will work and some will not. That is part of the journey. Let’s find out together!
How has your faith and trust in Jesus changed in the past twelve months?
My faith and trust in God have been changed by God’s generosity as we faced multiple construction changes and cost increases and saw God lead the way through. I had no answer but to pray and lean on God and saw Him answer again and again far more generously than I thought possible. What a God we worship! And I believe that God has even more of us. (Pastor Sun Hee spoke of having a cup or bucket to collect God’s blessings when instead we can forget about the container and fall into God’s ocean of blessings!)
I will be on vacation in February. I am grateful for the time to rest and recover from the work that has gone into the new Ministry Center. We all desire a safe community to worship, to care and be cared for and grow in our relationship with God and one another.
I trust that you will support Pastor Sun Hee while I am away to continue building a part of God’s community that is worth being part of.
I hope that soon we will all be saying, I used to pray but now I am talking to and communing with God. I used to read the Bible and now I understand more and am changed by it.
May we pray together, “God let us do what you are blessing. Help me and help us have More Jesus!”
St. Paul United Methodist Church 