September 30, 2012 GOOD SHOULDS"

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
Compassionate and merciful God, we lift our voices in prayer this morning knowing that you hear the timbre of each voice, ever alert to the sounds of suffering. Our beloved savior urged us not be anxious about our life, what we will eat or drink, about our bodies, or what we will wear; even still we confess our anxiety. Remind us that from your heart pours forth a Spirit of calm to reassure us, to quench our thirst, satisfy our hunger and bathe us in the light of your goodness and promises kept. May our prayers for each other, for brothers and sisters in need, for children in want, even for ourselves be the prayers that fuel our mission, energize our calling and fortify our spirits. It is in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the man of sorrows, that we are reminded how much you know of suffering. Your heart has indeed bled for us and we can do naught, but be grateful and humbled. Thank you, dearest Lord, we say, in the name of the Christ. Amen.
PREPARING FOR THE OFFERING
Horace Mann was known as the “Father of the Common School Movement.” The epitaph on the monument over his grave reads: “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” He boldly conceived of universal education through the establishment of free schools, which he called a grand experiment whose effect would not be recognized in a single generation. In 1891 when encouraging the State of Massachusetts to continue it’s financial support of the universal education experiment he said: “The sincerity of our gratitude must be tested by our efforts to perpetuate and improve what these schools have established. The gratitude of the lips only is an unholy offering.”  Make a holy offering today.
UNISON OFFERTORY PRAYER
Glorious God our gratitude for your love, mercy and blessings, is not only expressed by our grateful prayers, but by these, our gifts of gratitude. Bless this holy offering as it seeks to carry on and improve the work that we do in the name of Jesus Christ. Let faith and trust abide in our hearts as we seek the path to holiness by living out the commandment to love one another as Christ loved us. It is in his marvelous name that we pray. Amen.