Offertory Prayers and Invitation for September 2014

Each month's Offertory Prayers includes an "Invitation to the Offering" (see below) along with a digital image for those who might want to use it. We hope you will find this a helpful way to remind the people in your pews that their offering travels to many places to make a powerful difference in the lives of people they may never meet. You can find great stories of the difference our giving makes at http://umcgiving.org.

Invitation to the Offering
The offering you made last week empowered ministry within our congregation and in response to the needs of our community. It also helped support the work of ministries beyond the local church that reach people who are in desperate need to feel the touch of love and reconciliation. Through the World Service Fund, your church supports a great tradition of United Methodist support for Higher Education. Providing scholarships and loans, a network of college chaplains, and an ongoing relationship with 113 colleges, universities and seminaries that are part of our connection – together we open doors to education for many deserving students. This ministry happens thanks to the generous support of United Methodists like you. I invite you once again to give generously as we worship God through the sharing of our gifts, tithes and offerings.

Learn more about the work of our General Board of Higher Education & Ministry at www.gbhem.org

September 7, 2014 -- Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost/in Kingdomtide
God of abundance, we bring these gifts to you, acknowledging you as the source of all blessing in our lives. We have spent and overspent our resources on things that attracted our attention but didn’t begin to satisfy the needs within us. Help us to live wisely and to give generously from deep gratitude for your love. May our lives reflect the words of your apostle, “Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another…” We ask this in the holy name of Jesus, the Christ. Amen. (Romans 13:8-14)

September 14, 2014 -- Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost/in Kingdomtide
Merciful God, you have filled our lives with a deluge of love and grace. Yet we are too often stingy with forgiveness for others. While Christ’s sacrifice on the cross removed the weight of our sin, we continue to blend in with a world that is intent on keeping score and settling debts. May the gifts we give this morning, small in comparison with all we’ve received, help strengthen the church’s ministry of love and compassion. In our giving, may we make a witness as those who have been forgiven much and who seek to have Christlike grace shine through our lives. We pray this in his name. Amen. (Matthew 18:21-35)

September 21, 2014 – Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost/in Kingdomtide
Generous God, you provide for all our needs, if we but put our trust in you. When the Israelites were hungry in the wilderness and began to complain, you gave them bread in the form of manna to eat in the morning, and quail to satisfy their hunger in the evening. You gave just enough, to be consumed with gratitude and trust. Generous God, help us to give with generosity this morning, with gratitude for all we have received from your goodness, and with trust in your faithfulness. We pray in the name of Christ our Savior. Amen. (Exodus 16:2-15)

September 28, 2014 – Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost/in Kingdomtide
God of glory and majesty, help us to see our place in your creation with humility and grace. Help us to receive your grace and love with gratitude, and let it flow through our being to everyone we meet. Holy God, may the tithes and offerings we bring to your altar this day not be a testimony to our worthiness, but to our readiness – readiness to be emptied of pride, that we might be instruments of your peace, love, and compassion in our hurting world. We pray in the blessed name of Jesus, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. (Philippians 2:1-13)