CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
Gracious God on this Labor Day Sunday we are reminded that glorifying your name is not only done with the words spoken from our hearts, but through the work of our hands. Today we re-commit ourselves, our prayers, our creative thoughts, our hearts and our hands to laboring in this vast vineyard, cultivating the ground, nourishing the soil so that the vines may flourish and bear fruit worthy of your kingdom. Remind us always that laboring for the well-being of your creation is honorable work. You have given us the gift of life so that we might eat and drink and take pleasure in our toil. We humbly acknowledge, O Lord, that whatever You do, endures forever. Nothing can be added to it nor anything taken away. You have done this so all should stand in awe before You and yet there is nothing you want more for us than to be happy and to have joy in this life. When we understand this truth we shall be tireless in our endeavors. In the name of the Christ we offer you thanks and praise. Amen.
OFFERTORY THOUGHT
Remember when you needed a written excuse from your mother if you were absent from school because you were sick or had to go to the dentist? There were before and after excuses. Mom always wrote my excuses on her best stationery. If such a document was forged in a fit of delinquency by a felonious child, the school authorities always seemed to know. The formal excuse has been replaced by something called the “No show.” Perhaps the “No Shows” think they won’t be missed. NOT!
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