Tomorrow's Offering

It's stewardship time and our theme is "all of life." Tomorrow's sermon is "Bricks and Mortar". The sermon is an attempt to make the case that we know spiritual and eternal truths through physical and temporary realities.

It's late. The Gators played terrible and deserved to lose by far more than a point. And I have squirrels in my attack. Whooo Hooo!

I hope to see you tomorrow. I fear we're developing a bad habit at Grandview. The habit? Over-valuing the details of how we worship while under-valuing actually showing up for worship. It matters.

Here's the prayer. Peace!

Prayers of the Church for Grandview
28 September 2008

God, whom we know through the breaking of bread, baked from flour, grown in the earth; we worship you. God, whom we know through the pouring of the wine, made from grapes, grown in the earth; we adore you. God, whom we know through the scriptures; words printed from ink, on pages of paper, milled from logs, planted before we were born; we gather before you in awe of creation.

You have chosen to make spiritual realities known to us through physical things like the hard wood of the cross, the rumble of tombs giving up their prey, and the invisible word made flesh.

Forgive us for ignoring your message, written in the plain language of the life of a man who grew up in the crusty Palestinian countryside. Forgive us for blurring our vision of the physical in favor of the spiritual; for looking past the real pain of others, hoping to focus on heaven.

Ground us in real life. Make our faith an earthy faith that weathers the storms of oppression, greed, and abuse and emerges stronger yet. Ground us in real joy; joy that lives in the moment, that appreciates the temperature of this room, the light that strikes the sides of the mountains, and the breath that fills our lungs. Ground us in real community; community that forgives, challenges, and loves.

Bless those in our community who are in need this morning. Some need money. Others need healing, or strength, or protection, or hope, or comfort. Some are in need of a peaceful and a timely death. Lord, all of us are in need of your grace.

In the silence, we speak from our hearts. Please share our joys. Please hear our concerns.

(silence)

Bless the institutions that exist because of the gospel, especially Agape Women’s Services, Appalachian Christian Camp, Christian Student Fellowship at ETSU, Emmanuel School of Religion, European Evangelistic Society, Higher Ministries, Interfaith Hospitality Network, Milligan College, Friends at John Sevier, and the Salvation Army.

Bless our enemies. Bless also this nation. Give us wisdom and insight as we prepare to vote our next president. Lord, bless the many people who volunteer their time and their money to help others. May we be pleasing to you by the way we treat the people who are in the most need.

We pray as you have taught us.