Dear Friends and Members of the First Congregational Church of Hanson:
I was speaking this morning with one of you, and mentioned that the reason Christians can respond to attacks with forgiveness is that we are confident that we will be okay. We rest in the strong, loving hands of our Heavenly Father. We reflect on our lives and we see that God has been watching out for us all along. The Bible teaches us that our “God will supply everyone of our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) We are secure because God watches over us.
How shall we respond? In many ways:
• We praise Him in worship
• We tells others of His goodness
• We choose to serve, rather than to be served.
But in all this and more, we respond to God’s goodness with Generosity. We are generous with our praise, our witness, our efforts, and with our finances. Generosity demonstrates that we have a dependable, though invisible, means of support – Heaven!
But giving in the form of support to our church is both worship and witness. When Carol and I decide how to give 10% of our income (a tithe) to the Kingdom of God, we know that in the eyes of this world we are crazy! But though we aren’t as consistent as we’d like to be, in our best moments, we care more about how we look in the eyes of the Lord.
As we move toward the time of year when it is good stewardship for the Ministry Teams of the church to make careful plans for effective ministry for the coming year, I wanted to encourage you to consider making 2019 a year of Adventure.
We can Grow Our Faith Through Generosity! 
Have you ever wondered why you don’t see evidence of God’s activity in your life? Throughout the ages, countless believers have found that it is when they risk great things for God that God comes through in powerful ways!
This week, Stewardship Sunday will come on November 11 – this is a change of date, due to an unavoidable conflict that arose just last Friday in the schedule of Chip Darius, our guest speaker. Your trustees join me in encouraging you to prayerfully consider trusting God with your finances and increasing your support for What together we believe God is seeking to do among us in the coming year. Remember that Sunday, November 11 will be a unified, 10 a.m. Service!!!
We look forward to Growing our Faith together!
Grace & Peace
Pastor Peter Smith,
On Behalf of Your Board of Trustees.