Last week in our church yoga practice our teacher Michelle and I had a conversation about this congregation. She looked at me and said, “I told the class that this is my favorite part of my week, and I’m not kidding. This is what I look forward to every week…a chance to share prayer time with all of you.” Michelle is a devout and practicing Catholic and we often get into conversations about her faith and the faith of this congregation and our shared love of practicing yoga. What I realized in her statement was that Michelle was not just helping us out by volunteering her time to teach, we were serving her by giving her an opportunity to share. There is a difference between asking people for favors and giving people an opportunity to share in ministry.
I often find myself in the position of needing to ask other people to help with various projects and tasks, and sometimes I come to it with a feeling that I’m asking for a favor. Do you ever feel like that? Do you ever think, “I don’t want to ask them to do that, it’s a LOT of work!” What if we thought about it as giving people an opportunity to live into their calls instead of asking for favors? Michelle does a lot of work for us, volunteers her expertise. This isn’t work, this is her living into her calling…what a gift to all of us. This week when thinking about tasks and asking other people to help with tasks, take some time and realize that these are opportunities to minister…what a gift!
The office will be closed on May 25th to recognize memorial day. If you have an emergency, please call Pastor Justin on his cell phone.
May 31st We will begin our new schedule of worshiping at 10 a.m.
May 31st is our 5th Sunday worship. We will meet at 10 a.m. for a short liturgy and then engage in various outreach projects in Jordan Hall.
Taize worship is coming up on Thursday June 4th. Come and share in prayer at 7:30.
Staring in June the Second Sunday in the month we will be working with our friends from Quest Church (a recent church plant in Arlington Heights) to engage in the PADS Summer Suppers. From 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on the second Sunday of the month during the summer Quest and CCAH will host a meal here at the church for those who may need a free meal. Quest is providing the food and some volunteers, we are providing the space, and if anyone wants to help please talk to Pastor Justin.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Justin