Acts 2:37-47  ³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, "Brothers,¹ what should we do?"  ³⁸ Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  ³⁹ For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him."  ⁴⁰ And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."  ⁴¹ So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.  ⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  ⁴³ Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.  ⁴⁴ All who believed were together and had all things in common;  ⁴⁵ they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.  ⁴⁶ Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home¹ and ate their food with glad and generous hearts,  ⁴⁷ praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

            If you can remember back to Lent (it hasn’t been THAT long ago), you will recall that I preached from the Old Testament every Sunday.  For the season of Easter, I have been once again focusing on the Gospel lessons.  However, after our recent increase in visitors, perhaps I should be focusing on the first readings (which are from Acts in place of an Old Testament lesson).  Yesterday was the fourth Sunday of Easter, and it was also the fourth Sunday in a row that we have had visitors.  It seems to me that we need to be reminded every now and then that God is at work continually in our congregation, bringing new faces into our midst all the time.

            As I look at some of the recent texts from Acts (one that we have had recently is above, which describes the first converts to Christianity), I am reminded of the leaps of faith that this congregation has made.  18 months ago, we decided to set aside $10,000 towards evangelism.  Within 6 months, we added 20 new members.  At the start of this year, we took another leap of faith, in that we voted as a congregation to tithe on the money we received from the State DOT for the 1 acre of land they bought from us.  Your council has been hard at work designating this money to various local and national causes and charitable organizations. 

It seems to me that the more we try to do God’s work and be a blessing for others, the more that God continues to bless us.  Our average worship attendance has been up recently, we have had more visitors on Sunday mornings, and there is a greater sense of happiness and activity within the congregation.  Furthermore, our giving is higher than ever.  The generosity and stewardship of this congregation continue to amaze me, and you continually show me how blessed I am to be your pastor.

We are now half way through the season of Easter, well on our way to Pentecost.  We also have lots of things coming up in which we need your help.  VBS will be here before we know it, and we have lots of other things on the calendar.  I hope and pray that our enthusiasm towards being the hands and feet of Christ will continue to lead us in directions that enable us to be a blessing to others.

In our prayers this week:  Ann, Marianne, Norm and Jane