{"id":452,"date":"2018-02-20T21:06:29","date_gmt":"2018-02-20T21:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.presbyterianmission.org\/weekly-offerings\/?p=452"},"modified":"2018-02-20T21:06:29","modified_gmt":"2018-02-20T21:06:29","slug":"church-one-great-hour-sharing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2018\/02\/20\/church-one-great-hour-sharing\/","title":{"rendered":"This is Church: One Great Hour of Sharing"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is Church<\/h2>\n

Have you ever taught a child to fold their fingers inside their hands and say the rhyme,<\/p>\n

\u201chere is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors and see all the people?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The wiggling fingers teach children, and adults, too, that the church is not the building \u2014 the steeples, windows, or structure, but people gathering to worship God.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something else in the children\u2019s rhyme. As the child breaks open their hands to reveal the people,\u201d they move their fingers back and forth, often as fast as they can. This simple move reminds us that the church is the energy and actions that share the love of Christ.<\/p>\n

Help, Hope, Recovery, and Relief: This is Church<\/h4>\n

\u271a When a disaster strikes, people give, volunteer, and pray so that those impacted receive help and hope,
\nthis is church.
\n\u271a When poverty and violence cause hunger and people join together to respond to the need and address its root causes,
\nthis is church.
\n\u271a When injustice falls on those who are vulnerable and people join hands with one another and lift their voices against the interests of power,
\nthis is church.<\/p>\n

The church is the Holy Spirit\u2019s transforming power emanating into the world sharing the compassion, justice, love, and peace of Christ. Presbyterians join the movement of the Spirit into every corner of the Earth \u2014 and in this season, through our church-wide One Great Hour of Sharing.<\/p>\n

Presbyterians, By Nature, Share!<\/h4>\n

\u271a We share \u2014 and church happens with women who were once trafficked for domestic labor and now own their own cooperative business.
\n\u271a We share \u2014 and church happens with people through land rights training and improvements to farming methods.
\n\u271a We share \u2014 and church happens with those whose homes have been washed away by flood, as the arms of comfort wrap around them, and hands pick up shovels to assist.<\/p>\n

The church is happening right now, all around us
\n\u2014because we share Christ\u2019s love.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Please give generously.<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let Us Pray<\/h4>\n

God of Compassion, move your church into the world with imagination and love.
\nMay the gifts we give and the kindness we offer be shared with the most vulnerable of your children.
\nAmen.<\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

Join Us<\/h4>\n

For more information and resources related to the One Great Hour of Sharing offering, visit presbyterianmission.org\/oghs<\/a> .
\nThis post is based on the minute for mission script which can be found on our website<\/a> as a script<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Please give generously to the Offering:<\/p>\n