sustain:if:able kiwi

prayer for possessions

I quite like writing prayers for our Sunday morning worship. The writer in me enjoys the crafting, the theologian in me enjoys the thinking. So I’m going to add a new category to the blog; called Praying the church year. The prayers are uniquely contextual to what is happening at Opawa, but if you are interested here is a prayer for a church, with some theological reflection on money and possessions, the week after Pentecost …

Living God,
Creator of the world,
Redeemer, sharing love with people and planet,
Spirit of Life.

We celebrate Pentecost,
Spirit not for special people,
But your Spirit for all,
Tongues heard not in 1 language
But in many languages, your words fresh for all cultures,

Living God,
We are challenged by Pentecost
Spirit not inside the walls of the church,
But outside, visible to the watching community,

Living God,
We are challenged by Pentecost,
Spirit not just spiritual,
Spirit causing possessions to be shared in Acts 2,
Causing fields to be sold for the common Kingdom in Acts 4,
Demanding honesty from Annias and Sapphira in Acts 5,
Where the Spirit of the Lord is,
There is money shared between rich and poor,

And so we stand, Offering in hand,
Help us to be generous with your gifts,
Honest to you with our buying and selling,
Free with the loan of your financial resources.

We pray this in the name of the Life-giving God, Amen