WPC worship notes 11-11-07

November 11, 2007		32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

	Preparation for Worship		Get to work! I am with you and my Spirit is present among you. Do not be afraid! Haggai 2:4
	Living is giving. This is the first principle for giving. We live life best as we give our strengths, gifts, and competencies in the service of God’s mission. We are called to serve, not survive. Our giving makes a difference in our families, our work, our community, our world, and our church. We want our lives to count. We want to make a difference. We do not want to spend and waste our lives in flimsy, foolish ways. We want the confidence that we are living for a cause that counts. Our lives count best when we direct them to the mission of God. Kennon Callahan
On this Stewardship Sunday, we reflect on the giving of our resources in service to the mission of God. The central text for today is taken from the little known book of Haggai which recounts the start of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem following the exile. This act of faith was rooted in the belief that God would take their meager resources to build something beyond their imagining. It is appropriate we reflect on God’s promises to use our time and money to create something new and wonderful. The opening hymn is an affirmation of how God guides us “with hopeful heart through all the ways.” The hymn following the sermon reminds us we simply give to God what is God’s already. In our litany of stewardship we speak of God’s grace and the commitment of our lives to this grace. During the offering hymn we sing of our response to God’s call – Here I Am, Lord! And in the spirit of this season of stewardship we ordain and install new officers for Westminster Presbyterian Church. The ordination and installation service recognizes the many gifts necessary for our life together as disciples. Ministers are called to preach the Word and administer the sacraments; elders are called to govern the church; and deacons are called to provide ministries of caring and compassion. These people are being ordained and installed because we recognize in them the gifts for our common good. While they may serve a term of a number of years, their ordination is for a lifetime.

Living is giving. This is the first principle for giving. We live life best as we give our strengths, gifts, and competencies in the service of God’s mission. We are called to serve, not survive. Our giving makes a difference in our families, our work, our community, our world, and our church.

We want our lives to count. We want to make a difference. We do not want to spend and waste our lives in flimsy, foolish ways. We want the confidence that we are living for a cause that counts. Our lives count best when we direct them to the mission of God.