You Are Invited…to Pray, Engage and Give with Us!
So many people have said to me lately how much they enjoy the season of fall and everything that comes with it – the changing leaves, sweater weather, apple-picking, and all things pumpkin spice! Fall is an invitation to settle down into our work and school routines, get out our sweatshirts and jackets, rake leaves, breathe in the brisk air, listen to the crunching leaves under our feet, and enjoy the transition between seasons.
Here at church we are also in the midst of a season of invitations. Our fall worship theme is “You Are Invited…,” and each week we are inviting you to join us in some aspect of our faith or life together as a church community. So far, we have been invited to walk together, to grow, to serve, to go on a faith safari, to pray together, to get involved, and to make music with us.
Not only do we hope you will join us, but we hope that you will invite others to join us too – like maybe your neighbors, your friends at school, your colleagues at work, your relatives, the other parents you hang out with on the soccer field or someone who has just moved into the area. We are inviting you, and we hope you will invite others, not simply because we want more people or volunteers or money, but because we believe that we have something valuable to share, something really wonderful and important for living our lives with meaning, purpose and hope. That special something is the life of faith, grounded in God’s love for all of us, lived in community, and reaching out into the world all around us. We believe that God’s love shared in community has the power to transform individuals and the whole world.
As a Christian congregation in the Protestant Reformed tradition, our primary role model for this kind of life and this journey of faith is Jesus, and when you read the gospels, you quickly realize that Jesus’ whole life and ministry was one big invitation. When he called his first disciples, Jesus said, “Follow me.” Throughout his entire ministry, and even in his death and resurrection, Jesus invited people to come and follow, to listen, to watch, to see the kingdom of God all around us, to feed, to heal, to break down barriers, to ask questions and challenge injustice, to reach out with God’s love and grace, justice and peace, and to offer God’s abundant life to the whole world. Both way back then and here and now, Jesus’ disciples are people who say yes to Jesus’ invitation to the life of faith lived in relationship with God, one another, and the world.
Our ability to be both the individuals and the church God is calling us to be depends on you, on me, on all of us, saying yes to Jesus’ invitation to discipleship and shared ministry at FPCY. As we look to the future, we hope you will reflect on how and where God is inviting you to join us, and especially how God may be calling you to pray, engage and give. In the coming weeks, you will hear more about both the invitation to and the impact of our ministry and mission, and we hope that you will prayerfully consider the ways in which you can commit to our life together by filling out a giving covenant and growing in your generosity. We are eagerly awaiting your RSVP and who we will continue to become together as we embody God’s abundant love and generosity through our ministry and mission in our community and world.
We are grateful for all of you and the ministry we share together!
Tami & Chip