Celebrating Our Gifts Stewardship 2021
Lakewood United Church of Christ
…I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you….
2 Timothy 1:6
Dear Friends,
Many of us have memories of a fireplace, a campfire, or even sitting around a backyard firepit, waiting to toast a marshmallow on a stick. The big flames fade, leaving glowing embers. But we want to see the flames again. Maybe Paul saw that happening to Timothy, who had been given the gift of faith and community in the earliest days of the church.
We may be able to identify with Timothy at times, especially during the last twenty months of our church life. We’ve had to reconfigure our ways of coming together, of being a real church family as we masked up, washed our hands, gathered under the trees or opened all the doors and windows in good weather, and sat six feet apart.. But we adapted, survived, even thrived into new ways of being the church. We’ve shown up, embraced one another, listened to the words and melodies that warm and light our hearts, stir our thoughts. Like Timothy, we are given the gift of faith that we have called on in order to adapt and to care for one another and the world.
As we move into the season of gratefulness for our healthy little community here at Lakewood, we remember to nurture and care for it as we would a warming fire on a cold night. On Stewardship Sunday November 14, we have the opportunity to add our own kindling to the warming fire that is Lakewood United Church of Christ as we make our financial commitments to the church for the coming year. And like the ones who bring the kindling to the campfire, we are able to go into the world to share the gift.
Blessings,
Lucille Ruga, representing the Advisors, Patti Cooksey, Jane Diven, Malcolm Wells and Bill Parsons
2601 54th Ave S St. Petersburg, FL 33712 (727) 867-7961 lakewooducc.org lakewooducc@gmail.com
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga
Lakewood United Church of Christ 