Fresh Fruit in December
December isn’t really fruit season in Illinois. Long gone are the days when plump local berries and ripe apples cascaded in abundance at our local farm stands. But, even on these cold, short days, a different type of fruit is still in season: Spiritual fruit!
While we’re just wrapping up the pledge phase of our Hearts Ablaze Campaign,* this coming Sunday, we’ll share the exciting news of what our congregation has pledged in Sunday’s worship service. I don’t know what the number will be yet as I type this in the wee hours of Friday morning, but I do know that there have been all kinds of healthy signs of generous and sacrificial giving along the way. For example:
Kids as young as six, and senior saints well into their 80’s, and all ages in between have made pledges
All of our full-time staff and elected officers have acted as leaders and gone first in participation in Hearts Ablaze
There are at least 15 families who have just started giving to the church and have become not only attenders but investors and stakeholders in God’s work at Elmhurst CRC
Pledges have come in a beautiful variety of shapes and sizes. As a whole, our community is sacrificing to increase our average giving by more than two-thirds (or 166%) over the next two years. What a beautiful expression of generosity!
I’m praying that this coming Sunday’s worship service will be especially Spirited as we not only share the news of what has been pledged - BUT ALSO - as we make a firstfruits offering** to prime the pump of our generous intentions as we begin honoring our pledges. Our firstfruits offering will go a long way to reducing our outstanding building debt, thus freeing up dollars for ministry rather than mortgages in the years to come!
What a great way to say “thank you” to God and invest in his Kingdom through Elmhurst CRC as we turn the corner into a new quarter century. God has been so good to us over the first 75 years of our history. I have high hopes that the best is yet to come.
I’m especially hoping that Sunday’s firstfruits offering is the largest offering ever received in a single week in the history of Elmhurst CRC. I can’t say it enough: we are giving TO GOD through Elmhurst CRC. Our gifts are a prayer as we seek to cooperate with God’s Spirit in bringing the Kingdom of God about. Jesus’ purpose is to inaugurate a better, coming Kingdom.
I want to see more signs of Kingdom breakthroughs while I’m still here in the land of the living!
Even though it’s been bitterly cold these last few days, there’s no stopping the growth of the Kingdom in any weather. I’m so grateful for this church and for your part in this, too!
– Pastor Gregg
* You can still make a pledge by following this link
** If you’re not able to be present in person at the December 8 worship service, you can follow this link and make your firstfruits offering online.