For the first Sunday in our fall “Stewardship Season” Rev. Cari preaches on Jeremiah 29:1-14. This is the text our stewardship theme verse is from:

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says Our God, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” v. 11

In a time that feels not unlike the Exile of the people of Israel, Rev. Cari contends that this story is a good one for us to sit with… to let God rework our sense of our identity in the same way that the Exiles did. And to have a long view, as we (re)plant ourselves locally, offering the ministry and witness we can cooperate to offer right now.

Who is the source of the hope that will ground us through this time of great uncertainty? God, who keeps drawing us back to our purpose and forward into that future.