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A Good Story
 There's nothing like a good story. Some good stories
are told so well that it feels as if you were there when it happened. Other
good stories make you smile and remind you of God's grace. I want to share a
few good, grace-filled stories.
Someone told me about one of our
children who came to Sunday School one day this fall. She came at 9:00 a.m.
And when Sunday School was over, she had such a good time, she asked her
parents if she could stay for the 10:30 class too! Our Sunday School has a
wonderful warmth the children can feel.
The Fish-Tales art auction was a tremendous event. We
hoped to raise $4,500 and instead raised over $13,000. One gentleman
commented to me later in the week, "Everyone had such a great time. I've
never seen so many people having such a great time giving money away." The
homeless will find their lives changed forever because of this fish-tale.
Westminster has helped the Travis family to get a
fresh start after hurricane Katrina. They had nothing but the clothes on
their backs when they came to town - everything they owned was lost in the
storm. When the call went out to help furnish their apartment, enough goods
were offered to help furnish three apartments! Even more moving, was the
comment by one member, "We helped them, but I think giving to them helped me
just as much!"
Last week, Bill Palmer reminded the congregation of
our planting 100 trees in tornado-ravaged Hallam. Before we went out to dig
holes and plant the trees, Pastor Sara asked the Westminster folks and the
Hallam folks to join hands for a prayer. As she prayed, some of us peeked,
just to see the good faces gathered there in prayer. Not only did Bill see
some of the Hallam folks wiping away tears of gratitude, he saw some of us
doing the same.
Doris Cunningham came up to me after
worship last week and said she really liked all the "100's projects" we have
been doing this centennial year. She thought of another one we could do with
a focus on children. She brought 10 teddy bears and said, "How many people
have an extra teddy bear around the house? Lets give 100 teddy bears to
children this Christmas." What a marvelous, playful, loving idea!
The book of Acts says that when the Holy Spirit moves
in the church, "Your young men shall dream dreams and your elderly shall see
visions." The Spirit is with us. The visions keep coming and when we follow
the Spirit's lead, the stories keep coming.
We work with the Holy Spirit in our stewardship to
Christ's church. Stewardship callers will make home visits Sunday November
6th. They will have stories to tell, along with pledge cards for sharing. I
hope you welcome them with stories of faith and joy to share. God has
blessed us all.
In
Christ's service,
Andrew L. McDonald, Pastor |
