Tomorrow's Offering

With beautiful Spring weather, no recent deaths from within our congregation, and no hospitalizations this past week, we are in a pretty peaceful place to celebrate Pentecost and Mother's Day tomorrow. I continue to prefer preaching out of scripture to preaching out of Hallmark Greeting Cards. I feel like a dinosaur for only tipping my hat to Mother's Day. So be it. I guess I will not qualify as a "relevant" preacher anytime soon. I'm fortunate to be in a congregation that understands why I don't preach Father's Day/Mother's Day sermons (even if some think I'm being overly theoretical and underly practical, they are gracious about their disagreement). I know these holidays are supposed to be great occasions to reach out to potential visitors ... but... Thanks, Grandview, for being nice to me even when I exasperate some of you!

Tomorrow will also be a day of mass exodus from Grandview. It is the last Sunday for a bunch of our students who will be graduating and moving on. This year that number will include the loss of some of our young married couples with babies. We will miss the joy of seeing them with their beautiful children. Blessings to all as you scatter, and thank you for blessing us with your presence while you called East Tennessee home.

Prayers of the Church for Grandview
11 May 2008

Invisible God, we see you when we stare long and hard at history. We see your work in sunrise and smiles, in the miracle of birth and in the distressing finger of death. We see you in the faith of Jesus who rose from the dead, the sure sign of the resurrection that is to come.

Silent God, we hear you in your word spoken. We hear your praises on the beaks of sparrows, in the muffled wind rushing past our ears, in the cry from the crib and in the cry from the cross; lifting the groans and the laughter of creation to your ears.

God, who is Spirit, we see, hear, taste, touch and smell the sacrifice you made in the flesh when we gather in this room, around this table, and break this bread, pour this cup, and proclaim your resurrection until you come again.

Thank you for the gift of your Spirit, poured out on Greek and Jew, male and female, slave and free—on us. Thank you for spiritual things that form and reform the church, the body of Christ, your pride and your bride.

Today we praise you especially for the gift of motherhood and the unique bonds between mother and child. We rejoice with mothers who have faithfully embraced your call to rear children. Thank you for their sacrifice and sympathy, their nourishment and nurture, discipline and direction.

Even as we praise you, O God, we mourn with those whose experience with motherhood was not what you intended. We mourn with those whose mothers were too damaged to fulfill that role faithfully. We mourn with those who would be mothers but are not.

Please bless those on our prayer list this morning. Bring them your unique gift of healing, of joy, of wholeness, freedom, protection, abundant life, bold participation in your kingdom, and the ability to use the gifts you have given them for the sake of the church and the world. Also, Lord, for those whose time to die is near, grant a peaceful and timely death.

Bless those who go out from this place today. Give them fidelity and joy in their journeys and thank you for calling us together for worship and ministry during these few, short years.

We offer to you this time of silence, Lord. In the silence we confess to you our sins, we petition you; we listen.

silence

Together we pray as your Son has taught us: