End of year need: $708,671
I had to hold back the tears when it happened. Each year Bill and Janice Jernberg and Paige and Jeremy Pendery get our first graders ready to receive their brand new Bible with their names on it. During the semester they learn Bible verses and how to use their pointing finger to find books, chapters and verses. I was honored to participate with them this year during Sunday School and even learn their secret symbol (sorry, can’t tell you) and sign their journals. Mrs. Jernberg taught a lesson from Isaiah 43:1b, “I have called you by name and you are mine.”
This year we included the first grade Bible presentation in worship. After the kiddos received their Bibles, all the children in the pews were invited down front for a children’s moment. And that’s when it happened. Tess McNicholas came down and looked at her sister, who had just received a Bible, and said, “June, I’m proud of you. I hope you know that.” And Drew Murray went to his sister and said, “Annie, it has your name on it! Look!”
This is one of the beauties of Church, to remind folks God calls them by name and they are God’s. To remind them of the many things they are called to and by God and how we as children of God love them and are proud of them. We are a community of believers in Jesus Christ, which also means we are a community who is generous with our acts much like Christ. Yes, this is about how far we have to go in our monetary giving, but it is also a reminder of how generosity fuels so much of what we do. Generosity with our actions, our presence, our love. Generosity is necessary to the well-being of our community.
When you give to Wilshire’s Unified Budget, you make possible the work and worship that keep our community unique and purposeful. We have $708,671 left to go to complete what we budgeted this year. Someone shared with me last week, “Remind people that if they have an IRA, they can send their required minimum distributions to the church, and they will not be taxed on that money.”
There are so many ways we can give, and I hope you continue to prayerfully consider how you will.
—Timothy Peoples
For more about giving, visit wilshirebc.org/give.