Over the next several Sundays we will be discussing our membership covenant. As members of Main Street United Methodist Church, we pledge “to faithfully participate in its ministries by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness” (UMC Book of Discipline). This sounds very much like the early Church: “The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles. All the believers were united and shared everything. They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them. Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity. They praised God and demonstrated God’s goodness to everyone. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47, CEB) The early Christians prayed together, spent time worshipping together, shared their financial resources, served each other and the community, and told others about Jesus Christ. Today we pledge to do the same. (And although our membership vows do not mention sharing our food together, United Methodists are very good at that too!) In this way, we build up the Church, which is the Body of Christ in this world. There are times in our lives when some of those pledges are easier than others. There may be times when we cannot offer our presence with the congregation, but we can still offer our prayers and our gifts. Sometimes it is hard to offer our financial gifts, but we can be present and serve others. Our witness is something that we can always offer, through our actions and our words. Over the coming weeks, let us all renew our pledge to offer our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. It is the combination of all of our offerings that truly represents Christ’s selfless sacrifice, and demonstrates a better way to live.
