Tomorrow's Offering

Phew . . . it's been quite a week. Tomorrow's sermon is coming together but is a difficult topic: the nature of God. We're getting there. If you're a Grandview-ian then you may know that Charles and Sam are two people on our family who need prayer. I invite you to hold them faithfully before God.

I'm thankful to report that Jim and Liz were baptized yesterday in a small service at Grandview. It was a wonderful sight to behold. God is good.

Prayers of the Church for Grandview
September 2, 2007

God, you have revealed yourself to us through the relationship of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We have seen the way the Father blesses the Son, the way the Son does the will of the one who sent him, the way your Spirit brings your will to full flower and completion. Blessed are you, the One true God, who gave us the bonds between friends, bonds that run deeper than our most selfish desires. Blessed are you for the union of husband and wife, the nurturing love of parent toward child, and the reflective love of a child toward a parent.

Forgive us when we have abused our relationships; when we have thought more of ourselves than we should have; when we have elevated our own wants over the needs of others. Heal us when we have been the injured party in a relationship. Teach us to be united with others, to be people of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Each name on the prayer list represents bonds of love that we share. Please heal the sick, bind the wounds of the brokenhearted, free the prisoner, protect civil servants and soldiers, encourage the weak, and help those who are dying to die well, cutting short their time of trial.

The bulletin, Lord, isn’t big enough to hold all of the names of people needing prayer. In the silence we hold our unspoken requests up to your eyes and ears:

silence

Thank you for the ties of friendship we have with missionaries of your Word. 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.

Lord, we worship you, the maker of all; you who made our enemies; you who made the people we just can seem to force ourselves love; you who made the people we ignore. Be with your church around the world that we might overcome our hate of enemies, our revulsion toward the unlovely, and our ambivalence toward people who labor under systems of slavery and oppression.

The Lord’s Prayer