Thursday, June 21: Hebrews 13:16

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

This particular verse made me think of Pastor Emily’s sermon on April 22, 2018 about the Good Shepherd, and how every one of us needs to help and encourage others, to be there to help where we can, to encourage others in their struggles and disappointments. We can all be that good shepherd sometime or other.

Very few of us are fortunate enough to go through life without any trials or tears, no loss of family, friends, or goods. All of us have experienced one or more of the above. This is all part of life. I’m sure that we can each say it would have been nice to miss out on that tragedy, or to have had it pass us by altogether. But this also makes us stronger.

I believe that we at St. Paul do very well with the above verse from Hebrews. We have been fortunate to be able to help two families purchase furnaces, and to help to collect items for needy families at Valley Interfaith, and many individual or group donations for things needed that the church funds did not have to be used for.

And there are many ways that we share. There is a new bereavement group started, and we share our space with groups who need a place for their meetings or for programs. We share our love for the children of other countries with our Samaritan Christmas boxes, and many more things.

May we never fail to do good and to share, knowing this pleases God, but also knowing it makes us feel good also.

God wants us to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Galatians 5:14b)

Carol Curless