Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds.
– Phil 4:6-7
November 2023
Dear Friend,
We are surrounded by messages that encourage feelings of scarcity. We worry that we will not have enough. We fear that we will come up short. Not enough money, not enough time in the day, not enough energy to do what we want and hope to do. We start to hold onto what we have for fear that we will run out. We begin to live in “Scare City” where feelings of being overwhelmed and swallowed up can lurk around every corner.
The Good News is that this is an illusion. What feels to us like scarcity is replaced by God’s abundant provision and grace. God provides us more than enough to satisfy our needs. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). When we see how God amply provides for us, we can begin to share more freely and joyfully with others.
Our stewardship campaign this year will have us “Moving Out of Scare City” and traveling to the vast, open habitats of God’s abundant and abounding grace.
As we consider the ways that God provides for us over the next weeks, I invite you to pray about what you will plan to give to God through the church in the coming year. You will find an Estimate of Giving Card enclosed in this mailing.
Please plan to complete the card and bring it to worship between now and Sunday, November 26 or you can send it to us by mail, email or by completing the card online at www.calvaryumc.org/give.
Let this be a time in which God leads you into greater faithfulness and trust. We can leave behind the worry that diminishes us and recognize the ways that God has richly provided for us. We can live with a greater sense of gratitude and trust born out of a growing awareness of God
…Who from our mother’s arms,
has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.
Indeed, we are blessed so that we may be a blessing to others.
Yours in Christ,
-Pastor Steve Larsen
2024 Pledge Form