Tomorrow's Offering

It's that time of the week again. The sermon is written, but waiting to become little pictures that will serve as my notes for Sunday morning (I should probably do a post on that sometime). Tomorrow we will be examining the Lukan account of Jesus' sending of the Twelve Disciples on their first missionary journey.

Working on the sermon this week was like trying to make a path through fallen leaves. I moved around a lot, made a lot of noise, but accomplished almost nothing. Yesterday I chucked the computer and the office and went running on the Appalachian Trail. Let me tell you ... that's the way to do sermon prep. I needed that. The sermon needed that. I like what we've got for tomorrow. We'll see how it comes out in the pulpit.

A portion of tomorrow's prayer is stolen from my friend Nathan's blog. He wrote a prayer that he heard at a Methodist church in Oregon. It was so good I incorporated it. It's the part in italics.

Prayers of the Church for Grandview
September 23, 2007

O God, whether it be the cry of a baby in a manger or the cry of a man on a cross, you have proven to us that you are willing to walk alongside us. Who are we that we would merit such favor?

Though we listen attentively for your voice in prayer and scripture,
we confess we sometimes hear only half of what you tell us,
unable or unwilling to hear the rest.

We readily hear that we are sinners,
that our life is a journey from dust to dust;

But we too often fail to hear your affirmations:
that we are made in your image, crowned with glory;
that each day we are changed a little more in the likeness of Christ;
that we are your fellow workers and a temple of your Holy Spirit.

Forgive us, we pray, for failing to hear that you are for us,
sustaining us with an everlasting love abiding with us.

Forgive us, we pray, for failing to hear that you are willing to make us co-laborers for the sake of the Gospel, for failing to hear that you would like to get something done through us.

We invite you to make bold statements to the world through us.

We also invite you to make tiny, barely noticeable, statements to the world through us.

Bless those on our prayer list. Their needs are many. Our needs are many—as are the needs of our enemies. Hear our unspoken requests in the silence:

Remember your missionaries. Remember the Coleys, Freelands, Headens, McDades, Nyadors, Veals as they serve you around the world. Be with the Bruens and the Jacksons as they prepare to go. May the sum of our work for you be greater than the individual pieces—that you might be glorified.

The Lords’ Prayer