Tomorrow's Offering

Tomorrow begins a new series. We'll spend the month of August examining the formation of the Apostle Paul and (hopefully) reminding ourselves that people are in a constant state of formation. Paul is one of those great New Testament figures that we often view as having put "it' all together when he became a Christian. The biblical record, though, reveals a longer process than that.

I'm calling the series "Squeezing Paul," because of the old JB Phillips translation of Romans 12:2. There the Apostle Paul writes, "Don't let the world squeeze you into its mold." I like that. We are always being squeezed into one mold or another, becoming more like Christ or more like something else.

God used a lot of people to squeeze Paul into Christlike-ness. God used Stephen, Ananias, Barnabas, and John Mark (among others). Tomorrow's sermon focuses on Stephen's tragic role.

While studying the killing of Stephen I was reminded this week of the Korean Christians (mostly nurses) who traveled to Afghanistan on a mission of mercy, only to be captured by the Taliban. Two of them have already been killed. The rest are being held for leverage. I've included them in tomorrow's prayer. They have gone largely ignored by our media. I suppose because no Americans are involved.

But there are Christians involved and I should have started praying for them long before now. Pray for their safety. Pray for their witness. Pray for their enemies. Who knows, maybe the ones holding them are quite young? Maybe their hearts, like the Paul's heart while Stephen was being stoned, are ready to crack.

Prayers of the Church for Grandview

August 5, 2007

God, your Son taught us that:

The rocks would shout if we kept still and failed to preach your word.

Your glory shines in each life when you at last are heard.

Our ears can be so vain and dull. And we with them are weak.

Today we stop at Stephen’s grave and hear the rocks that speak.

On days like today your Scripture reminds us that the good news about your passionate love for humanity has not simply traveled from mouth to ear to mouth to ear, but that your love letter to us has traveled from wound to wound throughout the ages. Thank you for the many saints who have loved with the intensity of heaven and have suffered for that love. We know Stephen’s name, but there are so many saints whose names we don’t know, saints who have made our faith possible.

There are Stephens right now, in Afghanistan, being held prisoner by the Taliban for their kindness, for their likeness to you. Lord use your faithful followers to share your message with our enemies. Please bless them, comfort them, protect them, and free them as a testimony to your name. We honor them in the silence:

silence

Lord, when we fail to love in the same way as your Son, when we curse our enemies, when we retaliate against people offend and anger us, when place our own wants, our lusts, our pride, and our safety, above the message of your Grace, forgive us.

Thank you that the missionaries we support are not now ministering under the threat of violence. Please continue to bless the Orths, Coleys, Freelands, Headens, McDades, Nyadors, and Veals. Bless also the Jacksons and the Bruens as they prepare to go into the field.

Thank you for blessing the people on our prayer list, for loving them, tending to their deepest needs, and for being the ground of all hope. Give healing to those who are sick, a peaceful death to those who are dying, comfort to those who are grieving, protection to soldiers and civil servants, hope to the depressed, and release for the oppressed.

Bless also our enemies. The scripture we are about to hear is an example of how costly that blessing can be. Give us ears to hear as we pray according to the example of your Son: