Time After Time
Dear Beloved Friends,
Every day we are inspired by your patience and generosity, by your acts of love and flexibility, and by the unseen duties you have kept in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you.
Time, once given, can’t be taken back, nor will it be reclaimed. What our ‘time’ together looks like has been reshaped over the last two years of this pandemic and we are still growing into our new reality. This is why we are impressed by how you make time for the mission of Jesus through Christ Church, Ridley Park. Whether these gifts of time are measured in hours spent on Sellers Avenue, or being knit together in prayer, or in minutes spent taking care of another, CCRP is generous with its time!
However, as Johnny Cash used to sing: time’s a-wastin. Our financial security in this era is under-girded by the planned giving of generations past. The time to do your part and assure that CCRP is included in your estate planning is now. Do so in thanksgiving for our foundation in Christ, take the time to pay it forward for generations of disciples yet to come.
Whether you are a longtime member or a newcomer, this year we ask you three things: to continue being a pledging partner (or become a pledging partner), examine your planned giving, and search for a way to increase your commitment to study and/or service.Here you will find a prayer and scriptures to consider over the next few weeks until we send out the follow-up letter and the pledge cards in November.
In this lively season, we want to remind you how much Jesus loves you and the importance of continuing in the best practices for as long as it takes. You are a gift, each of you, and you are gifts to each other, and now is the time to be the gift of hands and hearts sharing in Jesus’ name.
In Peace,
Reverend Jane Gober and the Finance Committee
Reflection Guide
Settle your heart, mind, and body.
Pray the prayer.
Read through the four scriptures taking your time.
- What feelings did you notice stirring in you?
- How do these passages ‘bring us up short’?
- Did you feel encouraged in your practices of faith?
Being a pledging participant is making
a promise to God to do your part in the mission he is showing us at CCRP.
- How could pledging connect with any or all of these passages?
- Is there a change that God is calling you to explore?
Our True Home
God before and God behind,
God for us and God for your own self,
Maker of heaven and earth,
creator of sea and sky,
governor of day and night.
We give you thanks
for your ordered gift of life to us,
for the rhythms that reassure,
for the equilibriums that sustain,
for the reliabilities that curb our anxieties.
We treasure from you,
days to work and nights to rest.
We cherish from you,
days to control and nights to yield.
We savor from you,
days to plan and nights to dream.
Be our day and our night,
our heaven and our earth,
our sea and our sky,
and in the end our true home.Amen.
From Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth.by Walter Bruggemann
Psalm 147. 10-11
God doesn’t prize the strength of a horse;
God doesn’t treasure the legs of a runner.
No. The Lord treasures the people who honor him,
the people who wait for his faithful love.
Genesis 1. 14-18
God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will mark events, sacred seasons, days, and years. They will be lights in the dome of the sky to shine on the earth.” And that’s what happened.God made the stars and two great lights: the larger light to rule over the day and the smaller light to rule over the night. God put them in the dome of the sky to shine on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw how good it was.
Ephesians 4.2-3
Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love,and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together.
Matthew 13.44-46
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that somebody hid in a field, which someone else found and covered up. Full of joy, the finder sold everything and bought that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he found one very precious pearl, he went and sold all that he owned and bought it.