We have done, and will be doing, a lot of blessing at Christ Congregational Church.

Dear Congregation,

“There Shall Be Showers of Blessing” by Daniel W. Whittle is an old, beloved hymn, familiar to many of us. It begins, “There shall be showers of blessing: This is the promise of love; There shall be seasons refreshing, Sent from the Savior above.” The refrain is, “Showers of blessing, Showers of blessing we need: Mercy-drops round us are falling, But for the showers we plead.”

One of the sources of scripture inspiring the words of the hymn comes from Ezekiel 34:26, “I will make them and the region around the hill a blessing; and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing.”

We have done, and will be doing, a lot of blessing at Christ Congregational Church. We blessed backpacks in August. This Sunday, October 7th we’ll bless bicycles and their riders during the 9 a.m. service in the Garden Chapel, and then we’ll bless the Operation Comfort Child boxes which will be donated to the Domestic Abuse shelter.

So what is a blessing? I like this definition given by Joyce Rupp in her book The Cup of Our Life. “Anyone and anything that brings good or God-ness into our lives is a blessing. To bless is to bring the touch of God, the touch of love and goodness, to another by our presence as well as by our actions. Blessings are a greeting from God, saying, “I care about you. I desire what will be for your good. You are dear to my heart. I want your life to be filled with love.”

In our church’s outreach of blessing, whether with words of prayer, the symbolic drops of water which will be sprinkled on bikes and riders, or in the items donated for the comfort boxes which will be tangible gifts of care to children in traumatic situations, we are given the opportunity to be conduits of God’s blessings.

The last verse of the hymn is, “There shall be showers of blessing, If we but trust and obey; There shall be seasons refreshing, If we let God have His way.”

When we do our part in loving and serving, trusting God and raining blessings as we are able, we are all refreshed. Thank you for your part in showering blessings in creative and meaningful ways!

In Christ Love!  

Pastor Candy Thomas
Interim Pastor
Christ Congregational United Church of Christ