Announcement from
Our Shepherds

Good morning church family. Thank you for being part of our worship service this morning. Whether you are online or here in the auditorium. Your participation, your worship together is an encouragement to each one of us. And please know how much we love and appreciate what you are doing, and we appreciate the encouragement you are to your brothers and sisters.

As the Christmas holidays approach, it is a wonderful time, for many, of joy, for celebration, for gift giving and for reflection. And we also recognize that we have been blessed by the most important gift that we can have, that of the gift of our Savior. And we don’t just celebrate that once a year, but we celebrate that each and every day, and we rejoice in it. We reflect on it, and we incorporate that gift and the reflection on that gift in our lives.

As we reflect on this season of gift giving, though, we want to thank you for the gifts that you have already given: the monetary gifts, certainly your participation, your support of this congregation, and your financial gifts. However, like many of our families, we’ve recognized increasing cost in virtually every ministry for doing the same activity as costing more. As a result, our 2025 target for giving was $63,500 per week. You will notice that, as is reflected in the bulletin, that we’re a little bit below that. We’re at about $58,200, which is a wonderful amount that you have given us. But unfortunately, our costs have increased and we need your help in addressing this shortfall.

Our commitment to give is another way that the Father has worked on our hearts. He asks that we trust in him and that we shape our hearts after that trust, or consistent with that trust that we have in God. And as Wes in a recent his recent Wednesday evening series reminded us, everything we have is already his.

We also, as an eldership, want everyone to participate in every aspect of our corporate activity, of our worship, of our service. And while you as an individual family member, as an individual family, only you know what category you might fit into. But each of us fit into one of four categories. Some of us are going through a season of great difficulty, and your participation is honoring us by allowing us to help you in these times of need and times of distress. Others of you are giving significantly, and maybe even trying too hard at times to try to do too much. A third category of those that are giving consistently, but in your heart you know that you could be giving more and should be giving more. And then there’s a fourth category of those that should be giving or are capable of giving and are not consistently giving.

So, we ask that you, as you think about and reflect on the fact that we recognize the Lord gives each one of us different talents, different gifts, and that we are asked to steward those gifts in the way that the Father has granted them to us all. With the notion that ultimately we want our God and our Father and our Savior to look at what we have done and said, well done, good and faithful servant.

As we reflect also on the fact that our church family has grown, our church building, our collective house, is too small. We have a need for additional space to do the things that that, particularly in the areas of service, in the areas of connecting and outreach and training. We need more space for our adult education. We need more space for our FriendSpeak, for Embrace Grace, for marriage enrichment, and fellowship – fellowship and connecting not only with visitors that come to us, but also within this church family.

Early next year, we will hold a special family meeting to recommend a plan for a new building expansion to address these needs. As you consider your year-end giving, we ask that you keep in mind that if we, to the extent that we are able to catch up and meet this year’s expenses, that that will allow us, to the extent that we meet this year’s expenses and have more, that allows us to get ahead on this new building that we will need to expand our current home.

May God continue to bless us with wisdom, with insight, and with peace and love.

Will you bow with me as we go to our father in prayer?

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for this wonderful church family, for each member here. Father, we are so blessed to allow that you’ve allowed us to serve this congregation, the generous people that make up the Mcdermot Road family. Father, we thank you for that. And most of all, we thank you for Jesus. It’s in his name we pray. Amen.