WELCA Thank Offering Service - 11/16/2008

Waterville Lutheran
WELCA Thank Offering Service
11/16/2008

And it was so...

Lutheran World Relief needed bars of soap...and it was so.

Quilts were needed so you gathered in the church basement...and it was so.

Funeral luncheon was needed so the family had food and fellowship....and it was so.

Your church needed to be cleaned from vacuuming to dusting and it was so.

Your friends and relatives needed prayer so the call tree was activated and it was so.

You needed the nourishment of God’s Word and fellowship with other women so you made Bible study a priority and it was so.

So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then the woman gathered together for common work, study of God’s Word, fellowship, and companionship - and man was left wondering - “man I wish I had a group like that.”

While we men may be able to do the grunt work of the church like replacing a toilet (not that women can’t do that) the women have held a conviction to keep the church focused on mission, ministry, Word and study, outreach, and fellowship.
You have “given all that you have” for the mission of this church and the greater mission of the ELCA. Thank you for your efforts and may indeed this be a thank offering to further God’s work in this place and beyond.

Applying the Word

(1) Giving yourself away for the sake of the “and it was so”.

“...by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

I have served in that position for too many years and I am done. I just don’t have the time anymore with family commitments and my job. Yet in all these things rediscover the calling to “present yourselves” as a living sacrifice for the sake of the mission of this congregation
and aiding in the completion of God’s work in the world.

(2) “And it was so” type of mission work requires the bakers, the hotdish queens, the quilters, and the musicians to do the work of God’s mission in this place.

“For as in one body we have many members, and not all members have the same function, so we who are many are one body in Christ.”

(3) Live in harmony

Just do it!