Reflections by Rev. Dan Bogre
Dear Friends and Family of RRUMC,
Consecration is definitely a church word. It is a word that we use many times throughout the church year but, very seldom, if at all, do we use it as a part of our everyday vocabulary.
Consecration is defined by Dictionary.com this way, “the action of making or declaring something, typically at a church, sacred.” We consecrate the communion elements each time we celebrate communion.
On November 16, we celebrated Consecration Sunday as we look into God’s plans for the year 2026. On that day, we took the time as a church to prayerfully consider what God is calling us to give, what God is calling us to consecrate to Him, and his plans for 2026.
I used the Scripture from 1 Samuel 1. In that text, Hannah told God that if He would bless her with a son, she would consecrate and dedicate him to God for his entire life. Hannah prayed so hard for this to happen that Eli, the priest at the temple, thought she was drunk. She was praying that hard, that passionately, that intentionally—that he actually thought she was drunk.
The Lord heard her prayer and honored her faith and commitment with the birth of her son, Samuel. Hannah kept her promise. In 1 Samuel 1:22, she says this to her husband Elkanah: “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always.”
Hannah did exactly that. She took Samuel to the temple and consecrated him to the Lord. It meant that he had been dedicated to the Lord and would serve Him for the rest of his life. Samuel was given over to the Lord.
Consecration Sunday is what we do in our church year to consecrate our financial gifts to the Lord. We give our financial gifts, offerings, and tithes to be consecrated to serve the Lord always. Consecration is that important in the life of the church. Those gifts become the budget for 2026 and fuel the mission and ministries of the church.
If you have already turned in your “Estimate of Giving Card,” THANK YOU!
If you have not yet had the chance to be part of what God is going to do in 2026, please do not miss out on this opportunity to change the world for Jesus Christ.
It might be through our Upward Sports ministries, our Car Cruises, our worship services, our Story Church Campus in Cleveland, our Twice Blessed Free Store, our youth and children’s ministries, and so much more.
Please make a prayerful choice to be part of how God is helping people meet Jesus Christ in the midst of their stories in 2026.
Please mail in your “Estimate of Giving Card” as soon as possible. We literally cannot be the church God has called us to be without your faithfulness and generosity.
THANK YOU. THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Peace and Blessings,
Rev. Dan