Mission of the Month

St. John's Mission of the Month allows members and friends to focus their outreach efforts on timely programs that benefit the church, the community, and the world.

MARCH MISSION OF THE MONTH: ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING

SHARING RESOURCES, CHANGING LIVES
"Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have."—Hebrews 13:16a

God counts our generosity toward our neighbors as an offering of praise. Offering hospitality to strangers was not only an ancient Middle Eastern tradition, but also a Jewish religious expectation. Isaiah 58.10-11 celebrates God's delight in those who reach out to others:

...If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.

When we share from what we have, God blesses that sharing.

While most of the world's people in greatest need live far from us, we can still respond to God's call with our gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing®:

• offering hospitality with a temporary home for people fleeing war or natural disaster, allowing them to have shelter and support to begin rebuilding their lives;
• doing good by providing a clean cup of water to a thirsty young girl, by establishing wells and sanitation systems in her community;
• sharing what we have so that hungry people will have food, by teaching sustainable methods of agriculture that help families increase their yields and their income.

ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING is the March special offering. Please share your resources by making a donation this morning. You are welcome to use the yellow pew envelope and write OGHS as the special offering. Together with UCC congregations around the world we are changing lives! Thank you for your generous support.

Learn more about One Great Hour of Sharing.