Good afternoon, friends. I want to give a shout-out to our faithful History Team today: Joyce Huston, Joan Kroop, Caroline Maslowski, and Ruth Simons. Every week, they give of their time to sort, file, discard, and I suspect they find time to do a little bit of swapping stories too! I appreciate what they are doing. Our history is important. It is, to a large extent, the reason why we are who we are for good and for not-so-good. It ought to be one of our textbooks from which we learn.
Speaking of history, Saturday, January 7, is the day 140 years ago that a number of visionary and committed people entered our church building for the first worship service at our present location. They walked from a building that had been their church to the new building here on S. Walnut street. Can you imagine what a spirit must have been in that first service? Those German-speaking Christians were visionaries and committed to providing a place where their friends and neighbors could find a sense of community and regular encouragement to seek God in the middle of busy lives.
In a way, their vision is our vision too. I hope we never forget what a debt we owe to those ancestors of ours. I also hope we never forget how vital it is that we keep our focus both on the needs of our own church family and on the needs of those around us. It is a fine balancing act.
I’ve called this coming Sunday Heritage Sunday. Join us as we honor those early members of what was then called: First German Evangelical St.Johns Church.
Let’s Pray: God of our past, our present and our future, we are happy to be a part of your work to bring the kingdom of God to the place where you have put us. Amen.
