Category: Newsletter

“God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.” – 2 Corinthians 9:8

No matter what phase of life you are in, there will always be someone who has more – more money, more followers on social media, more time. For many people, the pursuit of more leaves them on a never-ending quest for something that is ultimately infinite and unattainable – ‘more’.   

While this “grass is greener” mentality is so tempting for us all, comparison is such a thief of joy. Instead of focusing on those pursuits, God invites us to focus on the abundance of gifts that we do possess, instead of what we don’t have. Because, truly, we all possess an abundance of unique gifts. When we recognize the gifts God has given us, we discover that we have much to be thankful for and far more opportunities to make an impact in the world than we often realize.

Find a piece of paper and a pen and make a list of the gifts – skills, relationships, opportunities, resources, etc – that are a part of your life. Put the list somewhere that you will see it again tomorrow. Take a moment to give thanks to God for these gifts and look for one way that you could share one of those gifts with St. Philip to build up the body of Christ. Consider trying to add an additional gift each week throughout our time of focusing on Generosity Matters: It’s a Spiritual Thing.  

If there are children or young people in your household, you may want to do this exercise with them, so that they too may recognize and give thanks for all the wonderful gifts in their lives!

Consider adding this prayer to your daily prayers:

God of abundance, thank you. Thank you for all that you generously give. In a world that always seems to need more, help me/us to appreciate enough. Bless me/us to deepen faith with you as I/we seek to mirror the generosity you have first shown. As I/we practice giving, use that generosity to be a way to love neighbors fully.  AMEN.

The pastors and church council are excited to offer the option of worship in the St. Philip sanctuary, beginning on May 2 at 9:30am! This worship will also be streamed live on Facebook at www.facebook.com/StPhilipLutheran as well as being available via conference call.

As we enter into the new phase of worshipping together, we are filled with many emotions; joy, relief, excitement, and so much more. We, as your pastors, cannot tell you how wonderful, and moving, it will be to see all of your faces as we lead worship together.

For some of you this day back in our sanctuary has been a long time coming, for others, the choice to be in the sanctuary is still down the line a bit. The reality of a year of pandemic living has certainly taught us that people have a wide variety of perspectives – which of course is the case for the St. Philip community as well.

As we return to the sanctuary, please remember to offer patience and grace for all those perspectives, as well as for a worship experience that is not quite like the one from a year ago. Remember that you may not be able to sit in your regular spot and we might all have a bit of trouble getting everyone’s name correct. Remember to ask someone if it’s okay to hug them and be okay with some people not being ready for that just yet. Remember that it has been a year since many have seen each other and stories and lives have changed in that time. Mostly, remember that we are a community of faith where the constancy of God’s love is promised and present. Thanks be to God for abiding with us through this season and guiding us into the next!

As the congregation prepares to attend worship indoors again, please watch this video by Pastor David and Pastor Laura about what worship will look like in the coming Sundays.