Prayers 10 7 2012
*Welcome!
*Welcome Rev. Susan Chorley, one of our seminarians who served our church when she was at ABSW
*WMO today and for the next 3 Sundays to support ABC missions in other countries
*Church Membership Meeting today at 1:30 to receive the Proposed 2013 church budget and to hear from the Canvass Committee on how we can achieve our mission goal
*For the past 4 weeks, we have held Q&A Forums to discuss the proposed Sunday morning hours schedule; now the CE and Deacons will meet at their normal October meetings to consider your ideas and suggestions; on Sunday, Nov. 4th, there’ll be a special church membership meeting to hopefully approve the new Sunday morning hours
*ABC Oregon annual convention, Oct. 19-21 at FBC, Alameda, register to attend to meet other ABC sisters and brothers; see the materials available in the vestibule
Prayers Concerns
*Kenley Mew and Steven Ng are being commissioned today at a SF church along with others who will be going on the Cambodian medical missions trip with Cornerstone of Seattle; they leave this week
*Lea Wong’s father was hospitalized with appendicitis and had successful surgery and is home now
*Marian Hom’s mother, Mrs. Chin was also hospitalized with a bladder infection, a possible mild heart attack and for stitches when she fell at home
Prayer of God’s People
This day, as we share the blessedness of each other’s presence, we pray to you, Creator of heaven and earth, will dwell richly here as well. Fill us with your Spirit, guard us in the midst of life’s calamities, persevere with us through our low moments that we may persevere with each other at all times. In our worship today may we come to recognize that there is no place we can go where you are not, nothing we can endure that you have not already, in the person of Jesus, endured, no despair so deep that you are not able to bear us up, until at last all things are healed and all losses are restored.
On this first Sunday in October, we give you thanks for the changing of the seasons and the invitation to participate in the glorious work of your church at FCBC. We pray for today’s membership meeting as we envision your life-saving work in Christ Jesus in 2013 while at the same time prayerfully give to foreign missions that will bring Good News to people around the world. We pray for strength and safety for Steven Ng and Kenley Mew as they travel to Cambodia to bring much needed medical help and encouragement to people there.
For those loved ones who are in need of your mercy, Lord, we pray for comfort and the gift of life. We especially lift up Lea Wong’s father and Marian Hom’s mother, Mrs.Chin who are recovering from recent illnesses. Grant them rest and the renewal in health as they continue to serve as blessings to their families. We pray for…
Teach us, Lord to follow your heavenly way of wisdom that is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. Forgive us when we fall in temptation to the way of the world where are envious with selfish ambition that eventually will lead to disorder and wickedness of every kind. Draw near to us, Lord and we will draw near to you who taught us to pray together, “Our Father…”
The Lord’s Supper
A long time ago there lived a man named Aesop. He was a very wise man and he loved to tell stories. One of his favorite stories was called “The Grasshopper and the Ant.” It was something like this.
On a warm summer day a worker ant was busy carrying food to the nest. It was hard work for a hot day. But it was a green world with plenty of life—and plenty of food for all that was living.
There was a grasshopper by the side of the path, making music on a blade of grass like a fiddle. The grasshopper hopped around nimble and happy. The worker ant listened to the music for a moment, but then got back to work.
The summer wore on, and then worn out. The wind turned chill. It got cold. The world turned gray. The grasshopper’s joints creaked when he tried to move. He could barely fly. And there was no food for the grasshopper.
The grasshopper came to the anthill and asked for something to eat. The worker ant was standing near the doorway, and was angry. “I worked hard all summer and now you want something to eat? Why don’t you play the fiddle all winter and see if that fills your stomach!” The End.
Aesop’s story is pretty good, but Aesop had a friend whose name was Sophia. And once when Aesop told this story Sophia smiled and said, “But that’s not the end of the story. Listen.”
While the grasshopper shivered and the ant scolded, a bee buzzed by, bzzzzzz, and motioned for the grasshopper to follow. He did, with the ant following behind out of curiosity. They came to the hive, where the bees, who had worked all summer, had stored their honey for the cold winter to come. But the ant was shocked to see that at the base of the hive there lived a little mouse, and a beetle, and a grasshopper, and that all were nibbling on the honeycomb. Up high was the cluster of bees, already keeping themselves warm and eating the honey and dreaming of next spring.
“What are you doing?” demanded the worker ant. “You and I, ant and bee, are very different, but we have both worked hard all summer and grasshoppers have not worked at all. Why should we share with a lazy grasshopper?”
But the bee said the grasshopper might have met with misfortune, or might have been helping his sick relative so he could not work for himself during the summer. “Besides,” the bee said, “A grasshopper cannot act like an ant. We are what we are. And it’s the right thing to do. God loves all insects. So do not be angry with us. We have saved so much there’s enough for all.”
“But what if you give food to an undeserving insect?” demanded the worker ant.
To which the bee replied (and this, Sophia winked, is the moral of the story…). “It is better to give away food to a hundred undeserving insects than turn away one deserving soul.”
This story reveals the Godly kind of smartness that James wrote about. God’s grace and love for all of us and for all creatures on this earth is that he would feed all of us even to those who are not deserving because he would not want to turn away one deserving soul. That is what Jesus did on the cross. He came to give his life for all of us even when we are undeserving like the grasshopper because God loves the world.
Benediction
We all have two kinds of smartness.
Choose God’s wisdom and submit yourselves to God.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Amen.