This Sunday, October 18, we gather for worship and begin our fall stewardship season — a time to reflect on gratitude, generosity, and the many ways each of us contributes to the life we share at Cedar Park United.

Our Gospel reading comes from Matthew 22, where Jesus is confronted with a question about money, taxes and loyalty. Looking at a coin bearing the image of the emperor, Jesus says, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And that leaves us with a much bigger question: What belongs to God?

The coin bears the emperor’s image. But Scripture tells us that we bear the image of God. And that changes the conversation. Stewardship is about much more than money. It is about our whole lives — our time, abilities, relationships, resources, compassion, and our willingness to care for one another. It is about recognizing what we have received with gratitude and asking how we might use those gifts to make God’s love visible in the world.

This Sunday we will also begin thinking about Cedar Park United as a community that is woven together. Think of a tapestry. Each strand has its own colour, strength and place, but no single strand creates the whole picture. Someone sings. Someone welcomes. Someone reads. Someone teaches. Someone makes coffee, visits a person who is lonely, serves on a committee, fixes something that is broken, offers a ride, says a prayer, or provides the financial support that makes our ministry possible. Some gifts are very visible; others happen quietly. Every strand matters.

Over the coming Sundays, members of our congregation will speak briefly about gratitude and what Cedar Park United means to them. Together, we will consider what we value about our church, the ministry we want to sustain, and the kind of community we hope to strengthen for the future. And it all begins with a wonderfully simple question: What are you grateful for? Perhaps that is a question to carry with you as you come to worship this Sunday.

Our music this week will include Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You; We Are One; Take My Life and Let It Be; I Feel the Winds of God; and When We Are Living. Daniel Benedetti will also offer music by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann and Handel.

Come as you are — with your gratitude and your questions, your abundance and your need, your hopes and your gifts. There is a strand in the tapestry that belongs to you.

We look forward to seeing you this Sunday at Cedar Park United!