Tomorrow's Offering

Weekends roll around so quickly! The sermon for tomorrow is written, but there is more to be done on it (I have to brush up on the cockney accent).

Tomorrow we begin a series I'm calling "Feed Me." The series is an attempt to explore the reasons we sometimes don't feel "fed" in church. We begin by looking at the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden. November is the month of the American feast known as Thanksgiving, so I thought a food theme would be appropriate.

Here's tomorrow's prayer.

Prayers of the Church for Grandview
November 4, 2007

God of fruit, free and forbidden, of quail and manna, of the bread broken and the chalice poured out, accept this offering of ourselves that we place before you. By your grace may we feed upon your holy mysteries, upon the beauty of God in a manger, upon the joy of Jesus walking and laughing with friends, upon the power of disease dispatched, demons dismissed, and the dead raised. Grant that we will gain insight into what it means to follow Christ, to pick up our crosses every single day, to offer ourselves to you when the whole world thinks that sacrifice is just plain stupid.

Feed us on scripture. Feed us on fellowship with one another. Feed us on prayer, song, word, and service to one another and to the world.

Forgive us, then, when we refuse to sing, when we refuse to open our mouths. Forgive us when we refuse to pick up our forks and spoons, when we pout at your table, unwilling to eat from the great banquet you have provided. Forgive us when we stand or sit in front of your cross of sacrifice, that place where your Son bled and died for our sake, and come away empty.

Forgive us when we prefer to feast on celebrity news, pornography, affairs of the heart and the flesh, self-indulgent pride, anger, revenge, and on our own, undisciplined agendas.

Lord, please hear our sins that we confess to you in the silence:

silence

Thank you, O God, for the missionaries we are honored to support. Give strength, encouragement, and joy to our friends who have left their homes for your sake as they serve the cause of the kingdom around the world. We remember the Coleys, Cauleys, Freelands, Headens, McDades, Nyadors, Veals, Orths and for the Jacksons and Colemans as they prepare to go.

Thank you for the people on our prayer list and the opportunity to serve them. Bless us as we minister to them. Bless the sick with healing, the weak with strength, those in harm’s way with protection, the grief-stricken with comfort and joy and a new vision of tomorrow, and give a peaceful death to those who are dying.

Lord, we pray together as you have taught us: