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.

confession: a closet of unused tools

Submitted by the Rev. Teri Peterson, Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, Crystal Lake IL.

A confession about our talents…parable and otherwise.

One: Generous God, giver of every good gift,
you have offered us abundance
and yet we do not know how to use it.
All: Sometimes we keep it to calm our fear,
saving up for our own security,
insurance against days of scarcity.
One: Sometimes we hoard,
wanting to have the most and the best.
All: Sometimes we insist we don’t have anything to offer,
closing our eyes to the talents you bestow.
One: But mostly we are inertia-bound.
All: We know what to do, but we don’t do it.
You give us the tools to do your work,
but we just look at them in wonder,
then put them away in the closet.
One: Forgive us, O God.
All: Open our eyes, our hands, our hearts,
to know your abundance is enough for all,
to know your gifts are for using, not looking at,
to know we are blessed in order to be a blessing to others,
and to act on that knowledge.
We pray in the name of Christ,
who gave of everything he had.
Amen.