Tomorrow's Offering

I've been a baaaad blogger. I haven't told you that Cindy's grandfather returned to New Jersey not long after he moved in with us. I also didn't tell you that he re-returned to Johnson City on Christmas Eve and is now living in an assisted living facility here in town. So, welcome back to Pop. We're glad to have you here.

I'd be lying, though, if I said the transition has been or continues to be smooth. It's hard to leave your home of over 50 years. Prayers are welcome.

Also, Meg has returned from the Rose Bowl Parade. We got to see her, if only briefly, on the HGTV coverage. She had a fun trip and we're glad she's back, safe and sound.

Tomorrow's sermon ends the Christian season for us. I'll be preaching on Ephesians 1:3-14 and the fact that God has planned our adoption from before time. It will be an attempt at driving home the broad picture of faith that Paul espouses in this passage.

Tomorrow's prayer people are Kevin Harkey (9:30), Craig Hardy (Table), and Bob Hall (11am). His prayer is dutifully and wonderfully ready. It follows:

Prayers of the Church for Grandview
4 January 2009

We come before You, most honored Lord, in deep appreciation for what You have done for us, what You have done for the entire world. You are our Creator, You are our provider. You have given us life. You have given us each other. All we have is from You, our possessions, our friends and family, our very lives. Blessed be Your name.

Father, You loved us so much that You offered us salvation through Your glorious grace, the glorious grace and truth found in our savior, Jesus Christ. In him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us.

And as we have accepted You, You have adopted us into Your family, the family of God…now we are not just one of Your creation, but one of Your children. We are not alone. We are not left to our own devices. Instead, we are part of something bigger than ourselves. Through the blood of the Lamb, You give us the opportunity to matter. Through Your unconditional love, we can share the joy of being a part of Your family

Being one of Your children is a privilege, not a right and we know can’t earn it. We also know that with privilege comes responsibility, the responsibility to live right lives, the responsibility to take care of Your resources, the responsibility of caring for our brothers and sisters Here and around the world, the responsibility of spreading the Good News to all the reaches of the earth so that all might live for the praise of His glory.

Forgive us of our sins. Forgive us when we fail You and thank You for Your grace upon grace.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the silence, hear our prayers of penitence, our prayers of hope, our prayers for those in need:



We pray for 2009 with all the possibilities it holds. We pray for peace. We pray for reconciliation. We pray for tolerance. We pray that Godly goodness prevails, Give our leaders -- our president and other world leaders, as well as our local leaders -- the wisdom of restraint, the wisdom of discernment.

And now we pray together as Jesus taught us to pray: