Annual Gift
God invites us to participate in ministry in many ways, and one of those ways is through generous giving. At St. Andrew, we believe sharing our resources is a faith practice that helps us live our Christian calling more fully and that God wants us to discover the abundant life that comes with giving generously.
Embracing Our Past To Build Our Future
As we step into 2026, I want to remind you of something the Bible names repeatedly: forty is a number of preparation and transformation, looking forward to the magnificent future that God has promised.
Noah spent forty days and nights as God re-worked his plan for humanity. Israel spent forty years in the wilderness while God shaped them into a people ready for the Promised Land. Moses spent forty days on the mountain before receiving the law that formed a nation. Jesus Himself spent forty days in the desert preparing for a ministry that would change the world.
FORTY IN SCRIPTURE IS GOD’S WAY OF SAYING, “GET READY. I’M DOING SOMETHING.”
As this year is our 40th year as a church, I believe we are set for a magnificent future. Our church today is comprised of people who have been present at every step, from that first Sunday at Shepton High School, where we ran out of chairs at our first worship service, to just this last month as we welcomed a whole new class of members into this journey. We have been handed an extraordinary opportunity to use every bit of what God has given us to expand the kingdom of heaven today.
As you prayerfully consider your role this anniversary year, I’m inviting you to make 2026 a year of intentional preparation and transformation. That requires prayerful, joyful, and sacrificial giving that expands the foundation for the next forty years of ministry.
For these past forty years, this church has been strengthened by faithful saints who prayed when praying was hard, gave when giving was costly, and served when serving wasn’t convenient. Their faithfulness and the grace of God are the reasons we stand here today. They sacrificed and gave so that we could use all their preparation to make this world a little more like heaven today.
Together, let’s move boldly into the magnificent future God has been preparing!
Arthur Jones
Senior Pastor, St. Andrew Methodist