Dear E-pistle subscriber,

Ah, beautiful snow!

It finally feels like winter here in Leesburg – what a gorgeous blanket of snow!

With Preschool classes meeting every day of the week and with temperatures expected to stay low as we enter the weekend, the snow brings one challenge: clearing it.

And so many thanks, once again, to Jim Pumphrey – a life-time parishioner of St. James’ and owner of Jock’s Exxon on Market Street – for coming over and plowing, free of charge, the driveway and entire parking lot of St. James’.

You’ve often heard that the three primary ways we give thanks to God for the wonderful gift of life he has given us is through our time, our talent, and our treasure.

Jim is a good example of a way that parishioners step up to help out their church with a contribution of time.

There are countless ways parishioners contribute their talent: just thumb through the Annual Report and I think you’ll be astonished at the number, and variety, of ways that parishioners contribute their talent in, and through, the ministries of St. James.’

St. James’ parishioners are good about giving back to God a percentage of their treasure. While in healthy churches money is always tight (not because people aren’t being generous, but because new ministries and new opportunities are always out ahead of new money – in other words “vision always proceeds provision”!) we are fortunate here at St. James’ that each year, more and more people feel called to give a higher and higher percentage of their material blessings back to God in thanksgiving.

The really exciting, and astonishing, thing about giving our time, talent, and treasure to God is this: We can’t out-give God.

Each time we give to God, God gives back way more:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

and do not return there until they have watered the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isa 55:10-11)

Thanks be to God!

Fr. John

P.S. This Sunday, Rev. Kate continues our three-part series on “Living in the Spirit,” with a sermon and an Adult Forum exploring the topic, “Why ‘Living in the Present’ is important, but overrated.”