21-Jan-24 (Mark 1:14-20)

When Jesus said, "The Realm of God is near," he meant that people would see God's ways in the things that he did and in what he taught. People would be able to know God by what Jesus did and learn how to truly serve God by what Jesus taught. That work is carried forward from the time of Jesus' earthly ministry to the present by the Church. There are a lot of things that go together to make that work happen: We can learn about God in the teachings of the Church, but we need our ministers to preach, and we need people who have skills in teaching children and adults to volunteer to teach the classes. So, the Church needs all of you to add your talents and experiences to help the work of the Church happen. We also, of course, need financial resources to pay our staff, to pay our utility bills, and to maintain the physical structures we need to house that work.
When we all work and contribute together, people can see the Realm of God in what we do and in the way we all work together to do it.
Let's consider that as we take up our offering for today.

Prayer:

Please join me now in prayer.
God, who sent us Jesus to help us to know you and serve you, Help us to continue your work in the world. Bless these offerings that they can be put to use in bring your Realm into being. Bless us as well that we can truly represent you in our world by what we do and what we say and how we do it.
We pray in the name of Jesus, our Christ, AMEN