Gratitude and Abundance
Sunday was such a special day at Koloa Union Church! We celebrated with gratitude our many blessings and imagined ways to share them with others in the coming months. Our children presented a fun and meaningful skit on the importance of gratitude. Rose danced two beautiful hula on the theme of “gratitude and rainbows.” Most people offered a blessing that we might share with others in the coming year. I talked in my message about the meaning of the rainbow—traditionally a sign of hope and diversity. It is also a symbol of blessing, gratitude and abundance for me, for a rainbow requires both sunlight and rain in order to exist—the two necessary ingredients for life on earth. Just like the rainbow, every other blessing is dependent upon them. I am so grateful for life in all its fascinating diversity, and all of the blessings that come to us in our lives! The next time you see a rainbow, I invite you to give thanks for your many blessings and for God’s abundance on this amazing planet on which we live.
In our Gospel lesson on Sunday, Jesus said that he came that people would have life and have it abundantly. When we gather together as followers of Jesus, we celebrate the abundance in our lives and also share that abundance with others, for our blessings are meant to be shared, especially with people who have the greatest need of the basic blessings in life. As I consider our theme for the coming year, “With Gratitude, Welcoming All and Sharing Our Blessings in 2019,” I am especially grateful to everyone who made financial commitments to our 2019 general fund on Sunday. I am grateful for each and every one of our church members and friends who offer blessings to others on a regular basis!
In closing, I want to give a very grateful “shout out” to our Stewardship Co-chairs, Rosemary Smythe and Virginia Dunas, who do a wonderful job reminding us throughout the year of the importance of gratitude and generosity, as well as the possibilities of what we can do together when we give generously to the church with our time, talents and treasures. I must say that the cakes on Sunday, brought to you by the Stewardship Committee (including the one in the photo above), were some of the nicest cakes I have seen in a long time—and so appropriate to our theme!
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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Our Kahu (Pastor) offers a weekly message in church most Sundays during the year. Click HERE to see a video of his message from this past Sunday. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see many of his past messages and subscribe in order be notified when a new message is posted. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. Please feel free to “Like” any of the videos you see and share them on social media, such as Facebook, so that others will notice them.
“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by the Kahu (Pastor) of Koloa Union Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.
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