We have gotten off to a good start for our new year even in the face of the adversity from the parsonage fire and the damage to the fellowship hall here at Deerfield. The presence of the Holy Spirit has been powerful and moving during our worship. This is the hope for the whole United Methodist Church, is the life giving presence of God with us in worship. People want to be with God. If we can provide hospitality to people and to the Lord, God will bless us and let us know that we are in a holy place physically and spiritually. We were glad to have our District Superintendent, Rev. Fred Jordan, come to be our guest the first Sunday of the year. The fire has brought with it times of daily challenges. The people of Deerfield were already facing a very lean time financially and we just did a financial campaign to be completed at the end of the year. I am so proud to be able to report to you that one hundred percent of the promises that people made to help the church above and beyond their regular giving all came through. Yes, that means 100 percent of the people who made a promise kept their word! As a pastor, you have made me so proud. In this faithfulness I can see the hand of God at work! We determined that we would shoot for the goal of paying out our apportionments at 100%. I can't tell you how happy I was to see the report from our financial secretary come across my desk that said amount owed on apportionments-"zero." If it were not for the commitment of the people of Deerfield to the United Methodist Church, I know this would not have happened, and for that commitment to the church and to Christ I give the Lord praise.
In the last week, we give the Lord praise for the folks from Boone UMC and from Faithbridge UMC for coming to help clean after the fire, and for the financial support that has come from our community. Thank you so much for your help. God has a strong history of being able to take a mess and be able to bring something good from it, like from the cross, God brought resurrection. In our situation, God is bringing people to help with their volunteer labor, prayer support, meals, skilled workers with different companies able to do what needs to be done. There is a tremendous reverence for the work going on at the church. It is not just a building. We represent the love of Christ to this community. Deerfield has a good name in the community for helping others, and now we want to say thank you for all the help that has already come our way. We appreciate your time and your thoughts and prayers so much. We keep watching to see what good God will bring. We have a taste of the goodness of God working already. The fellowship is closer, the bond of love is stronger, the choir sounds better, the people are smiling, the prayers of the people are heart felt and these are just to name a few. I can't wait to see what happens when we get on our feet again. God is moving in a great way. Day by day, the Lord is our shepherd and because we know who is leading the way, we can look forward to a better day tomorrow. God is the source of all our hope.
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