celebrate good works

The Iowa WINs (Welcomes Immigrant Neighbors) Com-mission has received the Volunteer Group of the Year Award. The award letter read, “Trey, on behalf of the Iowa Disaster Human Resource Council, it is my pleasure to inform you that Iowa WINs has been selected as the Volunteer Group of the year!” 
 
I am so moved that this congregation is compassionate in so many ways. I know IowaWINs has received a lot of attention this past year and deservedly so. Yet, they don’t do it alone. They do it as one part of our larger body in Christ. The award is for all of our congregation. For example, I know for a fact that some of the leaders for IowaWINs eat cookies after worship. So, if you have ever set out cookies or cleaned up after hospitably time this award includes you. You make this church welcoming! If you have handed out bulletins in worship, sung in the choir, played in our bell choir, been a liturgist, this award is for you. You make our worship holy! If you have worked on budgets, cleaned our church yard, served our youth or children, this award is for you. You all make this church a great place to be nurtured! 
It takes so many of you who make up different parts of this body, that there are too many to name.  
 
1 Corinthians 12 says, “When one part of the body celebrates, we all celebrate together and when one part mourns we all mourn.” So today, let us celebrate together recognizing that we have created a place where God is worshiped and we are challenged to share God’s love, shine God’s light and be shaped as God’s people.