Baskets

I'm still catching up with post-vacation work so I'm going to put off the sermon recap for a couple days, but I thought you might like to see our finished and assembled Good Neighbor baskets for yourself.  Behold!

They were stuffed with goodies ranging from cucumbers to caramels, cookies to candles, cozies to carrots.  (Yes, apparently we had a "C" theme going.)  And they were marvelous.

Those of you who have been through our evangelism workshop, this is a prime example of what evangelism should be.  Everybody gave a little of themselves, hand-making their unique contribution.  Nobody had to do too much, nor anything foreign to them.  When we collected everybody's contributions the whole was far more than the sum of its parts.  When we left the church it was to give, not to demand or take.  We made the world better, sharing the good news of who we are, who God is, the gifts he has bestowed upon us, and how much we value our neighbors.

It was natural and it was fun.  Who would NOT want to do this (or receive something like this)?  That's evangelism!  Congratulations!

In any case, we're still waiting for the neighborhood response, but I'm sure it'll be appreciation.  Thanks to everyone who helped out.  And fair warning...we may have one more go-around with this in a few weeks, as we've found another nearby neighbor.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)