CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
Ever-living, Ever-loving, Ever-present God, our desire is to fully realize your presence with and within us. Help us comprehend that you are part of each one of us in our every breath and every heart beat. The gifts we have cultivated, you have bestowed upon us. We confess that in our efforts to be practical and wise, we have a tendency to think that having faith in all things possible is a distant and even fanciful notion. Cause us today, by whatever means necessary Almighty God, to invest our energy, our whole selves in believing that we can and do serve your purposes. Indeed, some of us made our confession of faith so long ago, that we may have lost touch with how that moment of Spirit connection felt— that moment of fresh forgiveness, absolute assurance, manifest mercy, complete encouragement, and now presence. Renew us in the “nowness” of your presence, O Lord, in the name of the Christ we pray. Amen.
OFFERTORY THOUGHT
The practice of anointing with oils, perfumed or not can be traced back to Egypt where they were used to celebrate, elevate, deputize, consecrate, rehabilitate and embalm. Moses compounded oil to anoint his brother Aaron and his sons as Priests over Israel. In 1983 Rex Humbard sent miracle oil out to his followers: “Open this anointing oil. Don’t waste a drop. The spirit of Jesus is represented by this faith oil. Make a cross on your forehead with it, then by faith, go into a room by yourself and take out any money you have and make a cross on each bill. Do this in faith for God to heal your money problems. Anoint your check book if you have one.” I wonder if he has any of that oil left over.
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