Dear New Life Friends,
The power of together…
Annual Conference was last weekend and Isabelle Sullivan and I were honored to be able to represent New Life among all the other Virginia United Methodist Churches.
During our time together, we were led in inspirational worship, voted on amendments from General Conference, celebrated ministry done throughout Virginia and around the world and so much more! Sure, there was business and budget to attend to, but we also got to hear about churches being planted, campus ministries thriving and new pastors being send into ministry with the blessing of the church.
What we can do on our own is one thing, but the power of what we can do together in entirely different!
Alone we can contribute hundreds to the offering, but together can can contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Alone we can contribute boxes of kits, together we can pull together over tens of thousands.
Alone we can represent our own voice, together we can more accurately represent the church.
That’s the power of what we can do together.
May we never underestimate the importance of what we have to offer. Little in the hands of Jesus, when combined with that of others and the power of God, becomes much. It worked in the feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21) and it’s the same miracle demonstrated today.
Those are the moments when I’m proud to be a United Methodist. Times when we realize we can only do but only so much on our own, but when connected together in mission and vision, look what God can do!
If you are interested in catching up on some of what happened, you can find more information at vaumc.org. I highly recommend watching our new bishop’s challenge to Virginia churches that can be viewed here - https://livestream.com/VAUMC/AC2017
Thanks for all you do to work together to make a difference in the world for Christ!
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Mike