Hello Church,
This month we are celebrating a churchwide stewardship program called “Defying Gravity.” Over a four-week period we’ll examine the generous life—what it is and why it can be hard to experience. As we look at the topic of generosity in the Christian life our work will include data from surveys, insights from experts, and holy conversations about goals and habits. Generosity brings joy to those who practice it and it works against competing forces in our lives. While many of us would like to experience the joy of blessing others we may feel trapped by past decisions and misled by a culture that persuades us to always want more and want better.
The good news (good news, indeed!) is that Jesus offers us a way to “defy gravity” and break free from the culture of more.
For four weeks, starting Sunday, October 31st, come to hear what the Bible has to say about the generous life. We have a book to read, Defying Gravity, and even have take-home cards for families to bring the discussion to the dinner table or family room. our Facebook page will have graphics and questions to help us reflect. There will be exercises and challenges during this series to help you consider your relationship with money, possessions, and giving. One of these is the Clean-Out Challenge — where we will be encouraged to clean out/declutter/simplify our lives by donating to Recycle For A Reason.
Sunday mornings at 9:15 AM Pastor Jim will be facilitating a class in Room B2. We will be masked and will maintain social distancing (if we have too many people to distance on October 31, we’ll need to move the class to a larger space). There will also be a video component.
But you do not need to attend the class in person to watch the video. Our church has access to Amplify Media where you can watch each of the videos, and a whole lot more. But you do need to set up an account.
Here’s how to set up an account to watch the videos without coming to the class:
- Go to the UMCC Channel at Amplify Media
- Put in our special access code — GJBPTD
- You will then be directed to sign in with a name, email, and password (this is so our church can see who and how many people have subscribed to our channel)
- Using your email and password you will then be able to watch on watch on iPhone, Android, computer, or a Roku TV (note from Pastor Jim: I was able to log in and watch on Roku and also download and watch on iPhone)
If you are planning on watching on your own, you may want to try to go through these steps a couple days in advance in case you have some difficulty.
You won’t want to miss a single Sunday of “Defying Gravity.”
Peace,
Pastor Jim