This week I have been thinking about congregational leadership.  Most leaders in the Church are volunteers and volunteers are not paid workers so, they often think about their jobs a little differently than a paid job.  I thank God always for the volunteers in churches.  Even though their “pay” is internal reward, or a simple “thank you” from the pastor or council, they simply give of themselves for the good of the  congregation and for God’s Kingdom.  We need to treat the leaders of our congregation with thankfulness and respect and they, in turn, need to treat the other volunteers that work with them the same way.  In fact, thankfulness and respect go a long way in all the relationships in our lives, even to strangers.   Some might call this way of caring for the other as “love.”  God expects, no, commands, us to love one another as Jesus loved us.  That love includes respect and care and thanks.  Paul often begins his letters with a word of thanksgiving for the people he is writing to.  So,  it is my turn!   I thank God always for you who lift up the Word of God, Jesus, in your daily lives and whose motivation is the love of others.  May God almighty hold you and keep you close this day and always.  You have been blessed: go and share that blessing.  Read James 2:1-9 and John 15:12 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Pastor Ed