October 1

Beloved families of Good Shepherd,

Peace be with you!  I hope you and your children are having an enjoyable fall break this week.  I decided to take some time off as well to rest and enjoy this beautiful weather.  As I was soaking in the sunshine earlier today, I was filled with gratitude for the many wonderful gifts from God.  The gifts of meaningful work, health, home, family, and friends are all huge blessings.  If I had to choose the most important blessing from God though, even above these other amazing blessings, it would have to be the gift of our Christian faith.  Fr. Hendree describes the gift of our Christian faith in this way:  “Everything we do in the church is founded on our believe that Jesus is Lord, and that his love is the most powerful force in the universe.”  Our faith in Jesus as Lord, the living God in flesh and blood, grounds us in the power and joy of Love that nothing in this world can ever defeat.  This is a priceless gift from God.  

In this Sunday’s Epistle reading, the Apostle Paul urges his friend in ministry, Timothy, to “guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us”.   One of big ways we can guard the good treasure of our Christian faith is to let go of everything that is not God.  I really struggle with the tendency to grab hold of many things that have nothing to do with God, such as my past resentments toward others and my worries about the future.  Brother Lawrence, a 17th-century monk who discovered the presence of God in his daily work, says to be careful to “faithfully reject every thought that is not God-toward, and to do all actions for the love of God”.

Another essential way we can guard the good treasure entrusted to us is to pass our Christian faith on to our children.  We do this by modeling Christ’s Way of Love in our roles as parents, caregivers, and ministers.  We also do this by sharing the stories, songs, and traditions of our faith with our children.   Our prayer is that our children will walk in Jesus’ Way of Love and pass on this good treasure of faith to their children (and so on) until God’s joyful reign on earth is complete!

I invite our children and families to join “Music Sunday Lunch” on Sunday, October 12, following the 10 am service, with our Music Director, Dr. Mattilda Middleton and our Music School teachers, Mr. Justin Felix and Ms. Lily Pearson.  The purpose of this lunch is to playfully introduce music activities for children ages 4+ at Good Shepherd and to fellowship with other families.  The nursery will stay open until Noon for children under 4.  Click HERE to RSVP for this special event!

We hope to see you this Sunday!

Many Blessings,

Patty