Dear <>,
What a year we’ve all had! 2024 was the best of times and the worst of times for many of us at Liberty Vineyard Church. In last year’s giving statement, I encouraged us to practice being present in the present in the presence of God. I asked us to help one another not give in to the anxieties of the age and keep on encouraging one another as we’ve been doing. I challenged us to roll up our sleeves, look 2024 square in the eye and say, “You don’t scare us – we’re focusing on the glory and majesty of God!”
It’s hard to encapsulate all that happened in the last 12 months in just a few words. We experienced some new beginnings and some difficult endings. We celebrated, we laughed, we grieved, we wept. We felt our feelings a little deeper and thought through some tough issues more thoroughly. We voted our consciences and protected our authentic relationships. We learned to trust each other in important ways. We made incredible memories together. We listened compassionately to each other. We teamed up together in countless ways. We focused on goodness, truth, and beauty. We loved fiercely and showed up for one another all year long. We shed some shame and grew in our acceptance of our brokenness. We dared to let our broken shapes become part of God’s new world.
And through it all, we learned how to really sing together. We sang songs of worship, prayers, Christmas songs, hymns, rock songs, ballads, bluegrass, campfire songs, nursery rhymes, love songs, show tunes … pretty much every kind of song imaginable. We sang in church, at prayer meetings, in parks, at Meadowbrook, at Atria, in hospitals, in each other’s homes, while cleaning up trash, while telling our stories, even during Christmas Carol Bingo! We sang and made music to exalt and embrace God. We sang and made music to encourage and exhort one another in the body of Christ. We sang and made music to echo and emulate God’s love in the world.
I am so very grateful for each and every one of you. And I’m proud of who you are. And it’s a joy to journey together with you on the way of love, following Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, secure in the Father’s embrace.
This is your annual giving statement. Thank you for showing up with financial support, too. Everything costs something. Your gifts have made it possible for us to do what we do at Liberty Vineyard Church and beyond. Thank you!
I want to encourage us with two final things here, to remind us to be still and know that God is God-with-us:
- The Scripture and words prayed over us by our Vineyard USA Super-Regional Leader, John Elmer, back in November: “Exodus 14:14 – ‘The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.’ Life is hard. Know that Jesus, the Savior of the World, the all-powerful Creator God, this warrior God, this gentle and gracious God, will fight for us! We need only to be still, to trust God and to rest, and to let God do God’s business.”
- The beautiful new-to-us song that Tamera and Patricia shared with us this past Sunday, with traditional and new-by-Tamera words: The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. Keep silence, keep silence, keep silence before him. Lord, you made this temple holy. Let all that is within me keep silence. Keep silence, keep silence, keep silence before you.
May it be so with us, Lord!
If you have questions about this 2024 Tax statement, please contact us. It is our desire to have an open-door policy concerning our finances. As such, if you have any concerns or questions, please share those with us. Thank you again for investing your time, energy, and finances in what God is doing through Liberty Vineyard, as we do small things with great love, reaching out to neighbors and nations, for the greater glory of God!
With you on the journey,
Karen Sculley for the Pastoral Care & Leadership Team
Pastor, Liberty Vineyard Church
(404) 388-0518