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Pastor Peter Kuritz, Good Shepherd, Wilkes-Barre
Many of us think of Thanksgiving as our national holiday of giving thanks.
As Christians, however, we give thanks more than once a year. In fact, giving thanks is a regular faith practice of Christians.
On Sundays we regularly pray, "Merciful Father, we offer with joy and thanksgiving what you have first given us - ourselves, our time, and our possessions, signs of your gracious love." We give (back) to the world what God has first graciously given to us.
Another way to understand this is that we have been blessed by God so that we can be a blessing to others.
Our synod leaders are taking up this theme and spearheading an effort to help all the Lutheran churches in Northeastern Pennsylvania better understand how our giving to the church can be based on faith rather than on need.
This idea that we are blessed to be a blessing has its origins in the beginning of the Bible. God's call to Abraham is the pattern for God's call to us.
"I will bless you ... so that you will be a blessing" (Genesis 12:2). God promises to bless us that we might be a blessing through our stewardship of God's bounty.
Stewardship is the grateful offering of all that we have and all that we are to God's service, because we trust that it all is the gift of a loving and generous God. Gifts given to the church can be both a sign of that grateful offering and an opportunity to grow in our trust of God.
While the world around us teaches us to fear scarcity, God calls us to trust in God's abundance. Blessed in worship by Word and Sacrament, God sends us forth to be a blessing in everyday life.
As a community of faith here in downtown Wilkes-Barre, we have many opportunities to be a blessing to others. Through our partnership in the ministry of our congregation and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have been using our buildings to comfort and give hope to others. We have offered shelter to homeless men, meeting space for Narcotics Anonymous, space for a weekly free medical clinic, and housing for a Food Bank distribution center.
As we continue to grow in our trust of God, our understanding of our mission as God's people will deepen. Through the ministries of our congregation and dedication of our members, many people are touched by the graciousness of God.
May Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and all the congregations of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod continue to share their blessings with others and be communities where people are welcomed and encouraged and where love and hope abide.
"God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work." (2 Cor. 9:8)
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