August 7, 2011 "FRIGHTENED BY THE WIND"

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
God of grace and glory, diviner of life, we are privileged today to praise your name, to sing songs of faith and hope and to open our hearts to you. We confess that it is easy for us to get mired down in the very real worries and woes of this life wondering what will become of us. We can find ourselves on that treadmill of the endless exercise stress test, running faster and faster, while trying to juggle any number of plates. There are even some of us who spend our days jockeying for control of all the other horses in the barn while our own saddle is slipping sideways on our own mount. Dearest Lord, may we seek to live by the wisdom of one day at a time. Help me believe in what I can be and all that I am; give me the strength to do everyday what I have to do. Lord help me today, show me the way, one day at a time. And so for my sake, teach me to take one day at a time, sweet Jesus. Amen. ***
(***) Thanks to Kris Kristofferson and MariJohn Wilkins

STEWARDSHIP INVITATION
Unemployment. I am stunned by the number of friends who are unemployed looking for a place to invest themselves, to share their gifts and skills, but it appears that employers just have no need for these in-betweeners who are too old to be hired and too young to retire. College educated they are willing to go anywhere to work. Too educated for simple jobs; too old for complex jobs and undesirable because someone unemployed them. I have to ask what is at work here: Ageism or just good old fashioned greed?
OFFERTORY PRAYER
Dear Lord, bless the gifts we bring, not only what we offer in coin, but what we offer in heart, body and mind. Strengthen our resolve to be your people, to do what is right, to be in service to one another and to our brothers and sisters throughout the world. In the name of the Christ we pray. Amen.