Glorious God, we are grateful for so much that sometimes we just have to share the list. We are grateful for your phenomenal grace, for it sets our hearts at liberty and our minds at rest. We are grateful for the love of Jesus that urges us onward and knows no bounds. We are grateful for, if not sometimes surprised, by the prodding companionship of the Holy Spirit. We often forget to be grateful for family and friends who remain constant and true, who willingly stand by us even when we are recalcitrant, contrary, brooding and slow. We are grateful for reliable cars, johnny-on-the-spot-locksmiths and 24-hour plumbers, resilient children, physicians who don’t scold, and dentists who abhor pain. We are most grateful loving God for the moments when we are suddenly aware that our prayers have been answered, because you are ever attentive to your children’s needs. Thank you, again, we say in the name of the Christ. Amen.
THE OFFERING INVITATION
Loyalty is a word my mother taught me was the virtue above all others that the Burr family was expected to live up to. Through thick and thin, no matter what a Burr sticks to family members and friends, political party, church, grocery store, dry cleaners, pharmacy, package store and the gas station where the guy still pumps gas for you. Of course understood in that loyalty was a choice. You don’t necessarily choose your family, but sometimes you do; you certainly do choose everything else. But what of your loyalty when your political party or your church no longer validates what you have always believed or held to be true? If your friends’ and family’s life experience and opinions differ from yours, what then to do you do with your loyalty? Do you decide that your loyalty was misplaced, or do you break out of the husk of your assumptions and expectations to learn something new about yourself? Always remember, the church is here to help you accomplish that.
UNISON OFFERTORY PRAYER
Gracious God, we have come to understand that offering our gifts is an act of worship just as important as praying, singing and attending to your word in scripture. We believe that what Christ’s Church is able to accomplish through the gifts we offer, glorifies your name. Ever seeking to discern your will and way for us, our hearts are full as we labor side by side with our brother and sister Christians. As you have entrusted us with much we respond in kind lending our hearts and hands to heal a broken and hurting world. Empower us to serve wholeheartedly in Christ’s name. Amen.
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