Happy Almost fall y’all!

September is a month where fall sports begin and we gather around with family and friends and watch (and argue about) our favorite high school, college and NFL teams. We enjoy going to sporting events with other people.  I mean, it would be no fun doing all that cheering from the stands in a sporting event all by yourself, would it?  We tend to enjoy things together because being together in community often amplifies our experiences. 

Community is important to us! A community can be a physical space; the geographical location that we share, or it can be a virtual space where we come together in a group from many different geographical locations. Communities bring people together for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes they bring us together because we’re like-minded, sharing similar interests, ideas and views on the world. Other times, we’re just together because of where we are. We might not all agree on everything, but we live together in the same neighborhood or town or state. I believe that the concept of community is without question central to our human experience. 

Community provides opportunities for unique growth; we learn from one another, we encourage one another, and sometimes we challenge one another and we grow through it all. When we’re together in community we share our gifts and our talents. We share our ideas and these innovative ideas breed new ideas and together we are so much better than when we are by ourselves. 

I think about the ministries that we’ve done here in this church. From Christmas in July, our Back to School drives, Scrap and Stamp, Blanket Sunday, and the CROS food pantry. Also, the things we are on the verge of doing with Careportal, Fall Fest with our neighborhood, and the Giving and Receiving table that you might have noticed in the Narthex. It’s just a wonderful exciting experience to realize what we can do together as a community.

The questions before us today and in the days ahead are: How do we continue to grow this community? Where does it start for you? Are our best days behind us, or are they still ahead of us? 

 

As you pray for leadership, our steering team and in the coming weeks begin to think about  your pledge for 2026. Not just in the monetary sense, but in service. I invite you to think about how you might take part in the community. How might you push and challenge yourself to grow? I would love it if all of you came forward and said “I would love to give a couple hours a month or bring a friend to church!” or, let us know you have a special skill because together we can do so much and that’s what church is all about! Every single thing we do here is because God gave us our individual gifts. We work together, whether it’s volunteering our time, our treasures, and/or our talents. It’s trying new things even when they feel a little bit uncomfortable; it’s about listening for God and prayer

So, I invite you to take this journey with us these next few weeks as we prepare for 2026 to pray and to find where God is leading you. I hope and pray God is leading you to grow and serve and live in love.

Pressing On!

Pastor Bruce