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On Sunday, January 10, we will begin a church wide study and worship emphasis called Treasure: A Stewardship Program on Faith and Money. The study will be based on Jesus’ words, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).
Over a period of four weeks, we will look at the many ways that our treasure (time, energy, money) affects our hearts. We will consider how financial challenges in our personal lives affect our relationships with people and with God. We will see how giving helps to determine the way we feel and act. If you have stress related to money or feel there may be more that God is calling you to do with your resources, this will be a helpful study. At the end of the four weeks, we will have the opportunity to make personal commitments of giving to Oakland United Methodist Church for the coming year. All of us will receive commitment cards in the mail, and the cards will also be available on Sunday mornings. We can fill out these cards and bring them to worship on Sunday, January 31. We look forward to an exciting month considering our treasure and God’s treasure.
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As I was thinking about the coming of a new year, I recalled words I had read in a book titled Joyful Living in the Fourth Dimension by Charles L. Allen. Although this book has been on my bookshelf for as long as I can remember and has a copyright date of 1983, I believe it has words of wisdom for all of us as we begin a new year together as the family of God. There is so much in our world that is out of our control. It is so hard to hear of the violence that has taken place in our country and around the world, often times directed at innocent bystanders. How we wish we could change the hearts of others. The truth is a change of heart is possible through the power of God. Ezekiel 36:26 reads, “I will give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that is God-willed, not self-willed.” May we pray for all people to turn away from their sinful ways and turn toward the One who has the power to transform hearts and lives. One of my favorite songs in our The Faith We Sing hymnal is Change My Heart, O God. Following are the lyrics: Change my heart, O God, make it ever true. Change my heart, O God, may I be like you. You are the Potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me, this is what I pray. Change my heart, O God, make it ever true. Change my heart, O God, may I be like you. While it is true we cannot change another’s heart, we can ask God to change ours. As we seek to follow our Lord more closely by loving God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and loving our neighbor as ourselves, our hearts will be changed. In Allen’s book Joyful Living in the Fourth Dimension he shares four actions a minister friend of his asks his congregation to think about each month. They are:
As I read those questions, I thought what a difference we could all make in our own lives, the lives of our family, the life of the church, and our community life if we all worked toward making the world a better place. What plans are you making for 2016? Wishing you a Blessed Happy New Year! And All God’s Children Said, “Amen.” Pastor Karen |
AuthorPastor Kim Dewey Archives
December 2022
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