Dear Members and Friends of St. John,
This past week I wrote “thank you notes” following our 12th
Annual St. John Colony Day’s Picnic. You
may know that we estimate that we fed a free picnic lunch to about 1450 people
again this year. The lunch, held on June
9 after the Colony Days Parade, consisted of a hamburger or hot dog, potato
salad, beans, slaw, chips, and ice cream! This picnic is a big event that takes a lot of
planning and volunteer labor. There is
also some cost involved in feeding this many people. If the job of offering this picnic fell to just
one person, or if just a few people handled this responsibility, the task would
be overwhelming and unmanageable. But,
when many chip in, then St. John and the members of our community are able to join
hands and serve the people of Palmer.
So, I wrote “thank you notes” to the committee that
planned the picnic and the parade entry.
These notes went out by e-mail to the thirteen members of our Evangelism
and Fellowship Boards, as well as to the 6 others who voluntarily and regularly
attended planning meetings. Thank you
Picnic and Parade Committee members!
I sent 50 “thank you messages” to people who provided
food or helped serve. I first sent
messages to those who signed up to bring food, to set up and take down, and to
those who volunteered to serve. In
addition, I looked at pictures of those who marched in the parade and I looked
at pictures of those who helped at the picnic and then sent messages to thank
them as well. Please know that in some
cases I sent one “thank you” to a whole family who volunteered. But, we thanked 50 people or families at St.
John who helped in one way or another.
Some of these committed volunteers showed up on Saturday morning at 8:00
a.m. and did not leave until 4:00 p.m. that afternoon! Thank you, volunteers!
I also sent thank you letters to the 16 businesses and
organizations who donated so that St. John can offer the picnic. The cost of parade decorations and candy was
$350.00 this year. The picnic supplies
cost $2046.68, for a total cost of $2396.68. (My wife, Kathy, commented that we fed 1450
people for less than $1.50 each!)
However, local businesses and organizations made cash donations and in-kind
donations for the picnic and parade entry.
These donations totaled $2370.00!
An anonymous individual who knew that figure then wrote a check for
$26.68 so that this event broke even!
Along with the thank you letters, I also sent pictures of people eating
and enjoying themselves at the picnic in order to show those who donated how
their money and donations were used to serve the people of Palmer. Thank you Palmer Community!!
I am thankful for the people of God at St. John who worked
together on this event. In 1 Corinthians
12 God inspired Paul to describe His church as a body, where each part has a
different job or function, but they all work together. Paul summarizes this section of Scripture by
saying of God’s church, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of
you is a part of it.” (1
Corinthians 12:27) Personally, I get tired of seeing people
disagree and fight so much in our culture today. Partisan politics, and even divisions in
churches, cause people to work against one another. What a blessing to see so many of God’s
people working diligently on a single task.
I believe over 100 people at St. John were actively involved in one way
or another. Thank you, Lord!
However, in our divided time, it is
perhaps even more amazing to see so much community support and unity in one
event. Members of the Picnic and Parade
Committee did solicit donations from the local community. But, a number of businesses actually came to
us and asked if we needed help for this effort.
In Psalm 133 the King David writes, “How good and pleasant it is when
brothers live together in unity!” I understand and
appreciate the sentiments of David.
It is important for God’s people to know that, while God primarily
sent Jesus to save the world, Jesus also brings God’s blessings to our lives in
this world. By Jesus’ suffering and
death and resurrection, through Jesus’ forgiveness and love and the sure hope
of eternal life, the sins and barriers that divide us have been overcome and
broken down. Or, as Paul also writes, “13 But
now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through
the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one
and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,” (Ephesians
2:12-14) On the Saturday of Colony Days
I believe I saw barriers broken down and “brothers living in unity!”
As we watch the news, as we peruse social media, and even
as we talk with friends, we hear much disagreement and division. I personally hear shouting and even hate from
people who have differing opinions from one another. What a blessing to see such unity in this
large and diverse Group! Thank you, Lord
Jesus, that you are our Peace!
A Child of God, Thankful for Unity and Cooperation,
Instead of Division!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. I have
included a list below of those businesses and organizations who have supported
the picnic with donations this year.
P.P.S. If you did
not receive a “thank-you e-mail”, I’m not sure that everyone got the e-mail messages
I sent. The spam blocker that MTA now uses
indicated it stopped the sending of many of my messages. These messages did include a link to
pictures. I was told that including that
link may have caused the messages to be rejected for sending.
P.P.P.S. I thought
about it, but I did not go fishing this past Monday. On a day of wind and rain, I stayed home and
played “Mr. Fix-it!”
******
ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am
sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and
friends whose e-mails I have. (I am regularly adding new names of friends
and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.) However, if you do not
want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your
name off my list for this message.
******
No comments:
Post a Comment