November 17, 2013 "THE MISSING SEVEN"

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
Gracious God of all, Lord of the Universe and Sovereign of our hearts, use us, we pray. Show us how best to invest ourselves in faith. We confess that when life seems most difficult we get caught up focusing on our own woes, difficulties, trials and tribulations. Then there are those days when we seem most anxious to place everyone else’s burdens on our own shoulders. We ask you to pour out a spirit of grace and possibility, a spirit of transformation and patience on us gathered here so that we may become faithful ministers of possibility and effective ministers of transformation in Jesus name. Lord, hear our prayer! We pray in the name of the Christ. Amen.
PREPARING FOR THE OFFERING
How many of you watch those shows, America’s Got Talent, or American Idol, or Dancing With the Stars. They have joined the ranks of football, baseball, soccer, basketball and hockey where uproarious fans root for their champions wishing and dreaming that they had the talent in their little finger that the worst player on the team has. We think to ourselves, if we had that kind of talent we could accomplish great things. If we had Michael Jordan’s money we could feed the hungry, cure the sick. The key to being talented is taking the risks necessary to discover yours. Even the most glamorous movie star risked failure before achieving fame. And too, there is always a risk in investing our talents, even those blessed by God, but if we don’t risk them there is a certainty that nothing will be gained.