Giving Tuesday

December 2, 2014

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

One of the signs of how consumer-driven our culture has become is the way we have allowed retailers to holidize the act of gift giving.  We have used the term “Black Friday” since the 1980s to prompt the busiest retail day of the year.  Since then, we’ve added “Cyber Monday,” “Small Business Saturday,” and most recently, “Gray Thursday.”

I’m reluctant to add yet another “day” to the mix, except this one is really worth bringing to your attention.  Today only – December 2 – the United Methodist Church Board of Global Mission is sponsoring “Giving Tuesday,” and you can give a gift in honor of someone that will make a real difference in the world.

If you visit www.umcmission.org/give or click here, you can choose from over 2,000 missionaries and missions agencies that are putting God’s love into action all over the world.  You can make a contribution of any size as a gift to someone on your list, but here’s the best part:  For today only, the Board of Global Ministries will be contributing up to one million dollars in matching funds contributed to these various Advance projects.  That means that the impact of your gift will be multiplied to help people in need.   

After the girls and I discussed it, we have decided to give a gift in honor of you, the people of St. Paul’s UMC.  It is one small way we can thank you for the amazing privilege it has been to be your pastor, in gratitude for the deep love and support we have felt from you over this past year.  So, we will be making a contribution to a project called Literacy for All, sponsored by the organization Alfalit.  They teach people around the world to read, write, and do basic arithmetic, and our contribution will fund an individual’s entire year of education.

I hope that, in the midst Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping frenzies, you will pause for a moment today to give a gift that really matters.  Visit umcmission.org/give or click here, and be sure to designate your membership at St. Paul’s UMC.  That way it will get credited toward our Rainbow Covenant Missions effort.  And you’ll want to let Carolyn VanAmberg, our Missions Committee chairperson, know about your donation so she can include it in her figures for this year. 

NOW SHOWING:  A CHRISTMAS STORY

I’m grateful for the response from many of you from our current Advent sermon series.  Every week, we will be analyzing a classic Christmas movie through a biblical lens, and welearned a great deal last Sunday from the timeless classic It’s a Wonderful Life.  This Sunday, you’ll want to join us as we follow the boyhood adventures of Ralphie, who dreamed of getting that special BB gun in A Christmas Story.  Rest assured, I’ll be practicing how to say “Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle.”  And I’ll try not to shoot my eye out!

Grace and Peace,

Magrey  

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega

St. Paul's United Methodist Church

531 W. Main St.

Cherokee, IA  51012

Ph:  712-225-3955

Email:  mdevega@sp-umc.org

To view past editions of the Mid-Week Message, visit  http://mdevega.blogspot.com. 

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