June 24, 2012 "It's Been A Hard Days Night" Preaching: Bill Dyar

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
Wondrous God, Sovereign of the Universe, we sing of your faithfulness with the pleasing notes of a familiar and much-beloved hymn sounding in our ears. We confess that, sometimes, we let our familiarity with the music prevent us from attending fully to the thoughts born in the poetry. Indeed you are faithful, merciful, loving, and compassionate, morning by morning, season to season; our strength and our hope. We are grateful for the inspired verses that soothe and assure us when we are knocked off balance by the, often, storm tossed seas of life. They guide us like the lighthouse beacon, which keeps us off the rocks and shows us the way home. When we ought, dearest Lord, cause us to hear the words that challenge us and call us to awaken from our sleepy spirituality. Then we shall put on faith, wearing Jesus Christ as our life jacket. For it is he who buoy's us up even in life’s most troubled waters. Amen.
PREPARING FOR THE OFFERING
Malapropism sounds like a creepy illness, but it is just the unintentional use of the wrong word. Ringo Starr was famous for getting his word’s mixed up and one of the best known songs of the Beatles came from just such a Ringo-ism. After the group spent all day and all night working a job, Ringo started to say they had had a hard day’s work, when he realized it was night, so it came out: It’s been a hard day’s…..night —famous now, for almost 50 years. Mondegreens are misheard lyrics like: José can you see? Our Father, who art in heaven, Harold by thy name. Gladly the cross-eyed bear. Sleep in heavenly peas. And last but not yeast: All that we have is thine along a truss, O Lord, from thee.

UNISON OFFERTORY PRAYER
Glorious God you are ever present to lift our spirits and keep us from despair. We express our gratefulness in a variety of ways. Giving to support your church is only one of the ways we express our thanks. We ask that you will bless this offering. Bestow upon these gifts power and purpose to do your work in the becalmed as well as the storm tossed corners of the world. May our giving transform us and our gifts transform the lives of those in need of a life jacket and relief. In the name of the Christ we pray. Amen.