“God Loves a Cheerful Giver”
Sunday was another special day in the life of Koloa Union Church. In my message, I talked about how 2 Corinthians is a testament of generosity and joy among the early followers of Jesus. The Apostle Paul points out that the Christians in Macedonia and Corinth were both extraordinary in their generosity. When Paul wrote the letter, the Macedonian Christians had already given more than he thought they were capable of giving and the Corinthians had committed to giving an extraordinary gift themselves. Paul also wrote about the abundant joy they experienced. When he wrote, “God loves a cheerful giver,” it wasn’t to try to get them to give more, but to point out the reality of their experience. I feel very much like how I imagine Paul felt, for the people of Kōloa Union Church are already generous and joyful, already giving more than I knew we were capable of giving and already experience and sharing so much joy. My stewardship message this year: “Keep being who you are being and keep doing what you are doing. It’s working!”
During Aloha Hour, we had a fantastic meal and a beautiful and delicious chocolate cake with the words: “Generosity and Joy.” We then had a fun and meaningful kanikapila reception at the parsonage, filled with music, singing, dancing, refreshments, a slideshow and plenty of sales in the gallery.
Mahalo nui loa to a congregation that is filled with generous and joyful people!
Aloha nui!
Kahu
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“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by Koloa Union Church, an Open & Affirming (ONA) congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.
To see a video of one of Kahu Akana’s recent messages, click HERE. 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.
You are welcome to join us on Sunday mornings! To see our Sunday morning schedule, click HERE.
Kahu Akana is also an accomplished artist! He specializes in creating vibrant watercolors of the flowers of Hawaii and hosts a Sunday afternoon reception in a gallery at his home, the Smith Memorial Parsonage. He also meets visitors by appointment. Most of the profit from the sales go for the maintenance and upkeep of the parsonage. To see a video about his art and gallery, click HERE. To see the gallery website, click HERE.
To learn more about Kahu Akana (and the rest of the staff at Koloa Union Church), click HERE.
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