New Philadelphia News Across the Pastor’s Desk Dear Friend(s): This year we swapped “stewardship” for “discipleship.” It is a good trade. Stewardship is nothing without discipleship. In 1st Corinthians 13:3, Paul said, “If (we) give away all (we) have, and deliver our (bodies) to be burned and have not love, we gain nothing.” There is stewardship without discipleship, but there is no discipleship without stewardship. Jesus said that we cannot serve God and money. He certainly does not mean that money is bad. Jesus and his disciples used money. Rather, he means that it is bad when we allow money to be the primary influence in our decisions, whether we make those decisions as individuals, or as a congregation. Our congregation puts money in its proper place when we contribute almost $200,000 each year to the work of the Moravian Church, and more besides to missions and ministries in our community and world. As individuals, we put money in its proper place when
set aside a certain amount, usually according to a percentage, and give it to God’s work. Because I am bold enough to believe that we are doing God’s work, I personally set aside a percentage of my income and give it to the General Fund at New Philadelphia Moravian Church. I hope that you will join me in the conviction that what we are doing at New Philadelphia is important to God, and pledge your support to our congregation in the New Year. Oh, this fall, this is all you will hear from us about money. We dedicated the four weeks of our traditional fall stewardship campaign to talking about discipleship. Come out and help us “Serve like Jesus, Love like Jesus, and Live like Jesus. If you missed any of the sermons in that series, you can hear them or view them at www.newphilly.org. Blessings, Pastor Green
Elayne, my parents, and I wish to thank the congregation for the many kindnesses extended to us over the last month. My illness and downtime came out of the blue, and was complicated by the fragile health of both my aging parents. The meals you provided, whether delivered by you, or picked-up by us with gift cards to K&W, etc., were most welcome, and enabled Elayne to keep up her strength and retain her sanity. Likewise, the books were most welcome, every single title is interesting, and each one is in my reading queue. We continue to be amazed by the generosity of the New Philadelphia Congregation. ~ Pastor Green