dedication: you know…

Submitted by Rev. Martha Spong, North Yarmouth Congregational Church, North Yarmouth Maine.

 

O God, you know the condition of our bank accounts as well as you know the condition of our minds and hearts. We can’t hide anything from you. Receive our gifts and use them for your good purposes in the world. Guide us to be your servants; may we listen when you speak! Amen.

The rest of the service

It’s Thursday. Which means for me (@revlkb), the copier will be working away, and the bulletins will be folded and placed in the narthex with care. Inserts will be safely tucked inside, with visions of the Magnificat dancing in their heads.

But there is still much to do for Sunday’s service. There are prayers to write. There are children’s sermons to plan. There are more services next week too!

So, what are you working on today? Do you have prayers to share? How are you talking about Mary’s beautiful song with the children? Or are you going in a different direction on this fourth Sunday of Advent?

Prayers for each of you as you approach the home stretch of this busy and sacred time!

The rest of the service

Still working on your liturgy for Sunday?
Need ideas for you or your liturgist for those parts that are equally important, but aren’t in the bulletin?

Any prayer ideas for this Sunday? Do you do something special for communion during Advent?

To get things rolling, here is a Call to Confession based on the Mark text from Matthew Thompson, First Presbyterian Church, Lamesa, TX:

—

John the Baptist tells us to, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” So we clean our homes and put out the decorations.

He says, “make his paths straight.” So we buy put up a Christmas tree and hang stockings.

He proclaims, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me.” So we buy gifts and attend parties.

But these things don’t prepare us for the coming Christ, the Son of God. Let us prepare our hearts for the coming of the one who changes everything. Let us pray . . .

—

Share your thoughts and ideas with us here!

But Wait! There’s More

Well, if your weeks are anything like mine, the bulletin is done, but the liturgy is not. I wait until later in the week to write the parts that don’t have to be typed on a page. (Maybe some of you lucky worship planners work with words on a screen and can wait until Saturday to settle on any liturgy.)

So what liturgy are you needing/working on today? Anyone have a special Invitation to Offering and Prayer of Dedication for stewardship Sunday? What about a Prayer for Illumination? How do you do the Prayers of the People in your church?

Prayers for you all as you prepare for Sunday!

dedication: for a stewardship sunday

Submitted by the Rev. Teri Peterson, Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, Crystal Lake IL. A prayer of dedication, used for Stewardship Sunday / parable of the talents.

One: Creator of all, the earth is yours,
the world and all who live in it.
All: You have entrusted us with gifts—
time, talent, energy, money—
and asked us to use them to build your kingdom.
With thanks and praise we respond to your call.
One: We bring these gifts you have given,
returning your generosity, paying it forward.
All: We offer ourselves, our lives, our hopes and fears,
our dollars and our hours.
We commit ourselves to work for your world,
to love and serve wherever you call.
One: We ask your blessing on this, your church,
as we seek to follow you with heart, mind, and soul.
All: Bless also these gifts, our investment in your future,
that they may multiply in faith, hope, and love.
Amen.

offering gratitude

An invitation to give and a prayer of dedication, submitted by Rev. Laura Becker, Northminster Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga TN.

Invitation to Offering
And now, not because we have to, but because we are grateful, let us return to God what is ours to share. Let us joyfully offer our time, our treasure, our commitment, our prayers.

 

Prayer of Dedication
God, thank you, thank you, thank you – for your grace, for this community of faith, for the gifts of our lives. Bless these offerings today that they might be used to further your reign of righteousness here and now. Work through each of us and through the ministries of this congregation that we might glorify you in all we do. Amen.