Offertory Prayer August 24, 2014

Romans 12:1-8 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ²Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. ³For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, ⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ⁷ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; ⁸the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness

 

Dear God, Speaker of Life,
Today's offering is yours
Before it is given
Because all is your creation.
Teach us how to not think too highly of ourselves
But to use so sober judgment to know our souls.
Let us understand that being able to give monetarily,
No matter the amount,
Is a gift of your grace.
With all our offerings we pay homage to you,
Creator, Word and Love.

For yours is the infinite
Time unending.

Amen.

Prayer for Survival

My Creator, beginning of all.
I revere You in all Your splendor.
Eternity looms and stretches into imagination.
You under gird existence.
Nothing stands apart from You.
Provide sustenance to our spirits
And protect us from ourselves.
Lift the judgment of nothingness
As we recognize our brethren are everywhere.
Guide our path with Your wisdom.
Protect us through the Comforter.
For You are Life for the ages.
And the infusion of spirit in all.

Photo by diongillard

The Poor and Government

The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established forever.

The words of Proverbs speak of a different age,
But are equally true today.
The government that faithfully judges the poor
Shall endure.
A reminder that God's measure is
How we treat the least among us.
Do we care for the sick,
Or do they languish in crowded emergency rooms?
Do we feed the hungry,
Or do the poorest go to bed in want
Because we fear some will abuse our goodwill?
Do we clothe those in need,
Or worry that we do not have the latest fashion?
Do we visit those in prison
Or ignore the fact that your skin color too often determines
Whether you go to jail or not?
I fear we fall so short of Christ's measure.
We are so afraid that we will not have enough
We will not share our abundance.
Just as Christ shared the loaves and fishes
We can share what we have and
Wonder as it stretches into surplus.

Photo by dogbomb