A Life Lived in Gratitude

A 2006-07 Stewardship Proposal for Community of Grace

Dear Friends,

I like stories. 

 I remember when I was about seven or so, and my mother read to me a book called The Hidden Cave.  It was a story about a wizard who appears to some children and hides out in a cave.  The kids do all they can to help the old man.  I can’t remember the whole story, but I can remember being enraptured by the story and had my Mom read the story more than once to me.  It grabbed my attention and I wanted more. 

 As I got older, other books held my attention that were just as gripping as The Hidden Cave.

 Somehow, stories seems to be an important theme in my life.  I think that’s why I decided to major in journalism in college and why I love to preach.  Preaching is about sharing a story.  Yes, I include some of the stories that is part of my life, but the joy I get is in sharing the story, the story of God working in the history of world.  There is God creating the world.  There is God, leading the Israelites out of Egypt and into freedom.  There is God coming in the human for of Jesus to live among us and die for us.  The story of God is one of hope and salvation.  As the old hymn goes, I love to tell the Story.

 This year, Community of Grace embarks on its first full-fledged Stewardship Campaign.  The theme is We Love To Tell the Story:  Lives Lived in Gratitude. Since Community of Grace’s inception in September of 2004, we’ve been a gathering of believers who hear again and again the story of God’s liberating acts through Christ Jesus and we live out our lives in gratitude, sharing God’s love with others. Instead of simply presenting a spreadsheet with boring and cold numbers, it is important that we tell you our story.  Because in the end, that’s what this is all about:  the story of Community of Grace inside a larger story: God’s.  So, the purpose of this booklet is to tell you about this ministry called Community of Grace, how it plans to live out a life of gratitude to others and to God and how you can be a part of that.

 I hope you will enjoy the stories you are about to hear.  It is a story of a people who Love to Tell the Story and who want to do new things in the Name of the One who brings us freedom. 

 Happy reading and enjoy the stories!

Dennis Sanders

Coordinating Pastor