Leading Prayers / Sunday School / New Books

Today I was back in worship at Benson Baptist.  Besides teaching  Sunday School this week I also helped a bit with the worship service by doing the 'Prayer for the People' and the 'Offertory Prayer' for both the first and second services.

It was great to be back working with the Sunday School class, this week was my turn to be the lead teacher for the class.  Our group is made up of 2nd to 4th graders and today we had a smaller group with only six of the children in attendance.

One of the things I shared with them today was my favorite mantra of 'Be A Blessing to Someone Today'.  I gave them each a sheet of paper with the days of the week from Monday to Sunday listed, and I asked them to try and come up with something for each day that they could do to help or bless someone else.  I tried to impress upon them that we can bless each other in small ways.  Just giving someone a smile when they are having a bad day can be the blessing that turns around their day.  And a day that turns from bad to good might even be the event that turns around a life.  We just never know how profound a small event can be in one's life, it's just our calling to do them and let God take it from there.

After we dismissed and we were waiting for the parents, one of the girls came up to me and said "I know how I can be a blessing to someone today".  I said "Okay, how are you going to be a blessing".  With that she came up to me and gave me a hug.  Then she looked at me with a huge smile and said "There I was a blessing to you."  I said "You certainly are, Thank You" and I smiled back at her.

All too often in life we forget that the greatest blessings of all are the smallest ones.  There is nothing more precious in God's creation than a genuine hug and a joy filled smile.  Ironically, these are gifts and blessings that cost us nothing but ones we so infrequently give to others.

Just as I challenged my little students, I challenge each of you that are here reading this blog, to try and be a blessing to someone else each and everyday this week.  Remember, these blessings can be small or large, or any size at all... just give them away and let God do the rest.

After the second service was over Gail picked me up and we went over to Half Priced Books.  They recently remodeled their store and I hadn't been in their store since then.  The remodel certainly wasn't too impressive, but they did add on some space in the back of the store which is now a clearance area.  Gail found a couple of books that she wanted, and of course I found several books that I wanted.  I confess that I have a serious addiction to books and it is very difficult (impossible) for me to walk out of a bookstore empty handed.

The books that I purchased today are; 'Comeback Churches' by Ed Stetzer & Mike Dodson, 'Transforming Church in Rural America' by Shannon O'Dell, 'Q The Lost Gospel, The Book of Q & Christian Origins' by Burton Mack and 'Now, Discover Your Strengths' by Marcus Buckingham & Donald Clifton.

Other than the book on 'Q', these books are all a bit outside of my normal reading material.  I'm not sure which one I'll tackle first but it will be either the book by Stetzer & Dodson or the book by O'Dell.  Both of these are books that are of practical application and again are not my normal fare of theology or church history.  I am however looking forward to reading them both.

I'll close this blog post with this prayer from the 58th Chapter of 1st Clement:

May God, who sees all things, and who is the Ruler of all spirits and the Lord of all flesh -- who chose our Lord Jesus Christ and us through Him to be a peculiar people -- grant to every soul that calls upon His glorious and holy Name, faith, fear, peace, patience, long-suffering, self-control, purity, and sobriety, to the well-pleasing of His Name, through our High Priest and Protector, Jesus Christ, by whom be to Him glory, and majesty, and power, and honour, both now and for evermore. Amen.

May God Bless you each and everyone.

In His Absolute & Abundant Grace,
Roy