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Christmas Eve Worship Services

12/7/2024

St. John’s Elma: 5:00 PM.

St. John’s Lancaster: 7:30 PM and 10:30 PM.

Pastor Jamie's December 2024 Article

11/23/2024

Drake has really gotten interested in football over the last two years. He’d pay attention a bit before then but now he’s all in. He keeps track of injuries and signings across the league, follows stats and standings, he even put the Bills birthdays on the calendar in his room. He has a tremendous memory for it too, for the most part he can tell me the week by week win loss record from last year. As a Father I’m happy that my son and I have a mutual interest and that it is something that we can both bond over. Never underestimate the value of bonding no matter how trivial the subject of it may be. As a long-time Bills fan I also want to make sure that he recognizes how good we have it, our team wins most of its games, we win the division every year, and our players are easy to root for. Its not always this good, if he’s going to be a lifelong fan I hope he recognizes how important it is to make the most of the good years, and value them because inevitably bad years will happen. Its important to make the most of the good times, and to not take that gift for granted. It’s a lesson that I want to impart on Drake not just about football but about all of our blessings. It’s a lesson Jesus taught his followers too.
In the 12th chapter of Luke Jesus is teaching in parables. He uses an example of a master and his savants. He highlights that good servants follow their master’s wishes. He also emphasizes that the more that the master trusts the servant with the higher his expectations of them. He concludes verse 48 with "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." We have all been given a lot. We live in a time and place with great abundance. Both St. John’s Elma and Lancaster were able to navigate the difficulties of the pandemic. Now both Churches are in a place to evaluate where God is leading us. We have been given much.
When it comes to talking about being given much, the elephant in the room is that both churches were given large bequests from generous and faithful members. Both churches were also able to set up endowments with those bequests that will yield fruits in perpetuity. Yes, we have truly been given much. As many congregations deal with the question of how to keep open, we are given the much more enviable challenge of “how can we be good stewards of these gifts given to the glory of God?” We have been given much and to reiterate what Jesus said from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Both congregations have already undertaken some renovation projects, and there are more such projects on the way. Beyond being good stewards of what we have in terms of ministry and property we must ask ourselves what ministry is God calling us to. Much has been given to us, which means much has been asked. This means that it is imperative that we continue to be generous with our weekly offerings, and not give into the temptation to give less because someone else gave more. It means we have to explore what new ministries we can undertake and support. We have been given much and much is expected. May we truly appreciate the Good times we find ourselves in, God has been good to us.

Peace,
Pastor Jamie

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