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(updated 9-25-24)  Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”   Genesis 1:26-28 NRSV 
Did you get to see the Harvest Moon the other evening? The mornings are getting cooler, and the leaves are showing off BEAUTIFUL colors. Our kids and grandkids are back in school, and the calendar has officially turned from summer to fall. As the leaves turn, our congregation enters a beautiful month focused on stewardship. Stewardship is a broadly misunderstood concept in my opinion. Many of us, clergy and laity, shy away from this area, treating it as if it were the proverbial 3rd rail of theology – touch it and you might be dismissed!
Jesus did not feel this way. In fact, if you look at the text from Genesis that I printed above, the conversation of the entire Bible seems to build on the foundation of stewardship. In Genesis 1 human beings are given responsibility to care for this entire beautiful creation, lock, stock and barrel.
We recognize and accept this call to be caretakers of creation in our baptism and church membership vows. We promise to faithfully participate in the life and ministries of our local congregation through our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. 
Take a few moments this crisp fall season to measure your promise keeping in these vows.  Will you pray for our congregation? This is the area that moves and supports the rest – prayer is the engine room of our church. Will you attend, will you be present? There will be 52 Sundays in the year ahead – how many of those Sundays will you keep this vow? Will you support our mission financially with your gifts? Will you work together with the saints to accomplish Kingdom tasks? Your witness grows out of the way you live into the first four vows – we can do BIG things, Kingdom sized things together.
Come and join us at 9 am on Sunday mornings for our Heritage worship service. We are blessed to offer an American Sign Language Interpreter for hearing impaired at this 9 am service. If you know anyone who might benefit from this ministry, please send them our way! If you are unable to join us in person, we are livestreaming our worship services on YouTube and Facebook.  There are Bible Studies and fellowship opportunities and an open chair reserved just for you! Plan to come and join us – we’ll save you a seat! Serving Christ with You, Pastor Bill Mudge