Ideas You Can Use

Asking for Money and Thanking God for Money

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Recently, I was part of a conversation where pastors asked for a new call to offering and prayer of dedication. I felt inspired to write something a little bit different.

Call to the Offering

The church isn’t good at asking for money in ways that inspire people. Often we give because we are supposed to or its the right thing to do or we’ve always given. Some of us don’t give much because we give elsewhere at places that are better at making us feel like our hard earned money will be used well. Today I encourage you to look around this sacred space. Notice where your money is going-to provide a worship opportunity in a comfortably cooled/heated space, to provide educational times so we can all grow in our faith, to provide equitable salaries for all who work here, to share God’s love with those outside this space through food pantries, after school programs, AA groups, and so many other ways. Think about the good your money does when you give it to your church as we share a moment of eyes open and looking around in silent reflection. And now, we will receive this morning’s offering.

Prayer of Dedication-

Holy One, Receive this offering we give to you and your church because we want to help spread your good news within these wall and in our community and throughout the world. Bless the work that will be done with this money as we seek to open our eyes, ears, and hearts and become the body of Christ at work in the world. Amen.

An Advent Prayer (for the days when you aren’t feeling it)

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I am not putting my Christmas tree up this year. I hung up lights outside that were shining brightly each night. Recently, they stopped working and while I could climb on a ladder and attempt to fix the problem…I am not. I am not protesting Advent or Christmas. I love both seasons. Instead, I am not doing what other people say I must do simply because other people think I should.

 I am celebrating this season in a way that feels meaningful to me this year. I am lighting my Advent candles and singing along to carols. I am taking time to breathe deeply and slowly down amidst all the hurrying I encounter. I am praying and holding times of silence. I am sitting with others who don’t feel like celebrating in expected ways this year. 

My hope for you is that you mark this season in way that feels authentic for you. I pray that you find peace, joy, and love this season too.

Loving God, You know us and you love us. Be with us this Advent. Draw us near to you as we smile and laugh or as we cry and scream. Wherever we find ourselves this Advent season, you are there. Whether our celebrations are the same as every year or if there is someone or something missing this year, please accept the best of ourselves that we offer to your service. Be gentle with us, Gracious God, and remind us to be gentle with ourselves. In the holy name of the one about to be born to us anew, we pray. Amen. 

A Tea-Filled Advent

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Advent is one of my favorite seasons of the church year. Over the years I have observed the season in many different ways. I have written Advent Hopeful, Peaceful, Joyful, Loving, and Christmas Eve Benedictions and Words of hope, peace, joy, and love. I have shared Advent Prayer Stations and Advent Candle Lighting Rituals featuring hope, peace, joy , love, and Christmas.

This year I am enjoying a tea of the day calendar.

I found my tea calendar at Uncommon Goods.

And so far, I have enjoyed the first tea. A fun, fruity green tea was a great start to the season.

So however you are observing the season of Advent, my prayer for you is that you will find the hope, peace, joy, and love of this season in your life. Blessings to each of you this Advent!

 

Be Thankful!

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As Thanksgiving approaches, I hope we all stop and take time to reflect on all for which we are thankful. Make a list. Say it out loud. Draw a picture. Sing your thanks. Write it in the sand if you find yourself at the beach this week. No matter how you record your list, take the time to be thankful. And after your time of reflection, tell the people who made your list that you are thankful for them. Reflect and then share. This is how we live lives of gratitude.

Loving God, Be with us in this time of thanksgiving. Create in us a thankful heart, so that we may say thank you and mean it. We thank you, God, for creating us, for loving us, for forgiving us, for challenging us to do more, and for listening to us. Teach us to be thankful daily for all the goodness in our lives. Inspire us to be the good in other’s lives too. God, we are thankful. Amen.

Middle of the Night Prayer

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Recently, I found myself awake and unable to go back to sleep at 3:30 in the morning. I tried all my usual ways to encourage myself to go back to sleep and none of them worked. Instead of fretting over how I was going to make it through the work day with so little sleep, I decided to pray for people I know and those I do not know who are awake at this time of day.
Loving God,
Be with the caregivers of babies and young children who find themselves awakened in the middle of the night. Send your peace to mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and all other people who are awake because the schedules of babies and small children do not fit into a neat box. Grant them your compassion when they are exhausted. Grant them good rest for the times they get to sleep. And surround them with kind people who will help them through the difficult nights and days.
Be with those who work the overnight hours to keep us safe, healthy, warm or cool, and fed. Be with the night owls who enjoy the overnight shifts and be with the people who take those shifts for the extra money to try to make ends meet. Keep them safe on the roads and in their places of work. Help them to know that their hard work is appreciated.
Be with the caregivers to the ill and dying who are awake in the night. Send your peace to the caregivers and the ones receiving care. Send people into their lives to support them in this challenging time. And help them to hold onto hope for healing in this life or the next life.
Be with all who are awake because of worry or anxiety or stress or racing thoughts. Calm the mind and spirit. Send your spirit of peace upon all who are seeking peace this night. Remind each one that they are loved more than they know and you are always here.
Be with all who are awake and don’t even know why. Give them strength for the coming day.
God, for all who find themselves awake before the sun, we ask your blessing. Hear their prayers and answer them. Send your spirit of peace upon them and grant them a good rest soon. Amen.

It’s Okay to Cry

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It’s Okay to Cry
In my work as a hospice chaplain, I have the privilege to spend time with a variety of people. I learn from them. As I was sitting with a man who is reflecting on his life as his death nears, I asked him about his life. He shared-
God is good.
Time goes by so fast.
And I wonder if I always remembered to tell my people I love them.
Those are three good lessons to ponder and live.
And here is a fourth. I was sitting with a woman who has dementia and whose husband is dying. She has difficulty finding the words she wants to say. She is aware of the changes she is seeing in her spouse of many, many years. And as I was talking with her she began to cry. I said, “It’s okay to cry”, and she repeated the phrase over and over.
So today I hope you find strength, peace, and hope in the words of our elders who are nearing the end of their journey. I hope you’ll read these words and share them with others who need to hear them.
God is good.
Time goes by so fast.
And I wonder if I always remembered to tell my people I love them.
It’s okay to cry.

Bread for All!

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Today’s Gospel lesson begins this way, “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” -John 6:35. When I hear these words or gather around the communion table with a community of believers, I remember a story. One Sunday morning I was serving communion by intinction (each person gets a piece of bread or cracker and dips it into a cup of juice or wine). I love serving communion this way in my own community because I can call each person by name and remind them that this meal is for each and every one of them. A father and son came up to me and did not take bread and had nothing to dip in my cup. Thinking they were a little confused by the process I started to encourage them to get some bread for dipping. The Dad said to me in a very quiet voice, “We cannot take communion, so we come up and pretend. We cannot have gluten.” These words broke my heart. I continued to serve communion to the rest of the people in line, and yet I couldn’t get his words out of my mind. This table (Jesus’ table) is a place where no one should need to pretend. Each person is invited to come as they are and know they are loved. And we were not able to welcome these two.

Immediately after worship, I began an important conversation with people able to make the necessary changes. Conversations about the best way to move forward occurred. And it was decided that we should not single out those who need gluten-free bread, we would only offer gluten-free bread. It was not a smooth and easy process, and yet it was the right thing to do. I am thankful that after this change when I stood at the table and invited all to come forward I knew I meant it. No one would need to pretend.

This story reminds me that I need to look for roadblocks that I am causing others. I need to mean what I say. I need to accept people as they are and where they are. I need to remember when Jesus says, “I am the bread of life”, it means bread that all can eat and enjoy.

Hosea 10:12 Calling Us to Worship and Sending Us out to Serve

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Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap steadfast love;
Break up your fallow ground;
For it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. -Hosea 10:12

Hosea appears four times in the lectionary. The verse I am referencing today does not appear in the lectionary. That means you could attend church every Sunday for three years and never hear this verse. This verse is just one example of why some pastors decide to go off lectionary and explore stories and verses that are seldom heard.

Hosea (like all the prophets) is not an easy book to read. Hosea speaks to the people who have been unfaithful to God. When I read this book, the verse I kept coming back to was Hosea 10:12. Maybe it is because I grew up in farming communities and have relatives who farmed. Maybe it was the action verbs calling me into service. I read this verse over and over and over. And I pondered how to use it and how to share it.

This verse would make a perfect call to worship or benediction as it challenges us to examine how we are living and return to God. It would be a great discussion verse for a Sunday School class of any age or youth group night. It would be a great verse to read while breaking ground at a community garden. For self or group reflection, you might turn the verses into questions-Where can I sow righteousness? How can I reap steadfast love? What fallow ground do I need to break up? How, when, where, and why is it time for me to seek the Lord?

I encourage you to spend some time with these words and see how they can influence you.

 

Seeing Psalm 23 with New Eyes

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Seeing Psalm 23 with New Eyes
When we hear something familiar, sometimes we stop listening. We think I’ve heard this before and I know it. In church we might think, I don’t need to listen because I grew up with this text. I understand. Our sacred texts were not meant to be read once or twice and ignored forevermore. Instead we were meant to immerse ourselves in these words and see what new meaning comes to us. We need to listen with our ears, our minds, and our hearts to hear and learn how God is revealing God’s own self to us in this place and time.
When I first thought about this way of looking at the Scripture, I thought it would be good for a kid’s time (children’s sermon) during worship. As I reflected on it more, I thought youth and adults need to have fun with Scriptures too. This could be applied to youth group, any age Sunday School class, a Bible Study group, in your own personal devotion time or even in place of the sermon one Sunday. So many options exist.
My idea is simple with so many ways to change it up to fit your circumstances. The simplest application is giving everyone a sheet of white paper and some crayons. Encourage them to listen while you read the Scripture (in this case, Psalm 23) and then use the paper to capture their illustration. You might read it a few times. You could read it a verse at a time and encourage everyone to keep adding to the illustration.
Of course, you could do this with play dough or pipe cleaners or fabric scraps or magazines and scissors or out in nature with leaves and sticks or with trash you collect while walking outside. The whole point of this idea is to take something that seems so familiar and help ourselves to see it with new eyes.
Make yourself new to us in old, familiar words. Open us to seeing you in new ways. Give us the courage to be creative and listen to our hearts. Lead us where you want us to go and at the end of the day bring us to a place of rest beside green pastures and still waters. Amen.

Getting Back on Track This Lenten Season

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Today is Ash Wednesday. This is the first of our 40 day journey toward Easter. There are many ways to observe this season, and I invite you to consider waiting, using post-its, or whatever method works for you to use this time intentionally to grow in your faith. I will be removing 40 things from my home as I do each Lent. And, I will be getting back on track with a few spiritual practices that I have been neglecting. So on this Ash Wednesday, I ask for forgiveness for the ways I have fallen behind in what I intend to do. This Lenten Season will be a time to reset, begin again, and extend the same grace to myself as I extend to others.

However you plan to observe this season I hope this time will help you grow in your faith and strength your relationship with the Creator. Peace be to you, this Lenten Season.