Friday's thoughts on Sunday's sermon

"We Are....First Church"

It seems to me the most important thing we need to hear about our church on Commitment Sunday has nothing to do with a budget; nothing to do with our dreams; nothing to do with a sense of concern; and nothing to do with a motive driven by guilt.

I am going to try to say something about our church; its character and its essence. What is our church? Who are we at First Church?

This is what I see:

I see incredible generosity. I see people giving to the church's ministry with enthusiasm and without hesitation. We name a need in the church and before long someone meets the need. We list a problem in the church and someone steps forward to solve it.

I see an amazing sense of hope in our church. People who have suffered loss who refuse to give up typify the kind of spirit that exists at First Church. You can never count our people out. You will not see us give up the idea that tomorrow will be better than today. When our members go through some of the darkest times in their lives we witness a tenacity and strength of character to rise above adversity.

I see our people working as hard as I have seen any congregation anywhere I've been to try to reconcile differences between each other and in the world where there are so many serious problems created by misunderstanding and confusion.

I see a congregation that is willing to do the hard work it takes to improve and grow. We have witnessed progress in the past but we have the idea that there is a future for us that we can hardly imagine.

Is this a congregation that deserves our financial support? That's what we will have to determine this coming Sunday.

What do you think about First Church? What is your sense of its strength?

Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net

If you are willing to share your thoughts with the readers of the blog click on the 'comments' box below.

If you would like me to send a rough draft of the sermon let me know by tomorrow afternoon and I am happy to send it to you.

I look forward to hearing from you.


Charles Schuster