Tomorrow's Offering

Putting the weekly pastoral prayer on my blog has become a good discipline for me, a time when I stop and consider what unfolded during the week. This week was full. I preached in Emmanuel's chapel service on Wednesday morning. I'm not at all happy with the sermon because I completely whiffed in the middled of the sermon, leaving the scripture text out. Sigh.

I continue to be pressed with getting together details for the beginning of Two 4 Two. The addition of a time of worship means the need for a band, a sound board operator, a video operator, clean-up, drama (thanks, Carrol!), and brief message that I need to write. Also, I will be teaching an adult class on Wednesday nights with the help of David Roberts (thanks, David!). That requires prep time, of course.

I'm needing to create promotional materials for the "Reaching out in relationships" focus of the church over the next year. My girls will help with that this afternoon (I hope!). Thanks, girls! I had to wait until this week to get the pictures I needed because there was turnover at the top of Science Hill's Adult Education department. The new guy met with me on short notice this week. That was very helpful.

I continue to teach Christ and Culture at Milligan College on Thursday nights (from 6pm-10pm). That takes a chunk of my week as well, especially because I've started making Powerpoint presentations for the class.

That's what is keeping me busy. I know better than to complain. I'm the one who agreed to all of these things. Silly of me.

Busy I can take--including our many hospital patients right now. What's hard to take is when friends come to me with devastating news that will rip their families apart. This appears to be the summer for that sort of thing. Those demons have teeth. It has been a summer of grieving.

Tomorrow's sermon is mostly ready. Like last weekit is a part of my dissertation. The nature of God serves as the basis and model for our reaching out to others (last week's sermon). The kingdom of God serves as the goal of our reaching out. That's what I'll try to proclaim tomorrow.

I covet your prayers.

Prayers of the Church for Grandview
September 9, 2007

Glory to you, O God! In every place, from every tongue, bursting forth from every heart, may the greatness of God be proclaimed. Let each life, created by you, dedicated to you, and transformed by you proclaim the greatness of our God. Let our declaration be undimmed by human failure; undiminished by disease and death. Let our affirmations of your love for humanity be made plain to all by the stopping of war, by the redeeming of failed human systems that enslave, by the restoration of all things under the reign and rule of the one true God.

Before you, O God, we are in awe. Our awe is enfolded by our realization that you are awesome and awful all at once. Before you we tremble in our tiny shoes, only to discover that you have walked in these shoes. How blessed is the earth by your presence, not just in Spirit but in the flesh.

Take this worship service and bless it. Bless words awkwardly spoken, notes poorly sung, prayers clumsily crafted. We offer you best thoughts and broken hearts, highest praise and hurting families, tender emotions and terrifying failures.

Forgive us for not wanting to be like your Son, preferring to become people who are content in our fallen frailty. Forgive us for embracing sinful nature as human nature, when we can clearly see in your Word made flesh that bitterness, hatred, lying lips, and sloth are not really human nature.

You promised the power to heal, God. Give us the confidence that you are true to your word, by the power of your Spirit help us to heal those on our prayer list, by the power of your Spirit move us to give comfort to the grieving, encouragement to the weak, freedom to the oppressed, protection for soldiers and civil servants, and a peaceful death to those who are dying.

God we are about to pray with one voice that you would let your kingdom come to earth; that we would experience here and now what it’s like to live in a place where your will is just what people do. Add us to that list of people, God, who have determined that you are king; that your will is more important than our own agendas. Make us aware of the personal and corporate cost of praying the prayer we are about pray. Let us not take lightly these words that your Son taught us:

The Lord’s Prayer