- She put in everything. “Love is all in or it not love!”
- Harsh judgment on those who steal and exploit others hiding behind the trapping of religious piety.
- What we give, not just financially, is it for show or a true expression of our heart and soul?
- The Greek word, “Watch out for,” to be possessed by sight. The power of seeing. Look with the mind’s eye.
- I visited a widow in my former denomination who watched televangelist on TV all day. She informed me should had greatly reduced her offering to our church because she sent her offering to a TV preacher because he wanted to buy a satellite so their ministry could be broadcast to every human on the planet and they could all get saved. Then she looked at me with a sense of pride and purpose. Even the natives in the Amazon would hear the message of salvation through Christ. I looked at her and asked, “Do you think they will have TVs and how will they get electricity to turn on their TV?” She then had totally baffled look on her face and reassured me the TV preacher would find a way. She died several months after that encounter. Our church, where she had her membership, did her funeral and ministered to her family. The TV preacher was no where to be found.
- The penny alone is powerless.
- Unless you pick it up, it can’t do anything. A penny has no power without a person to put it to work.
- Make plans for your penny. Put it to work. Let your money serve you.
- You set the agenda. You come up with the vision. If you don’t, a penny is just a piece of loose change.
That widow’s penny had the power to inspire. - The power to change.
- Dr. Dil (as she likes to be called) has a motto: “Take the time to inspire and be inspired.” She thought of the lowly penny. “She encouraged everyone at her school to offer a penny to anyone who inspired them. She asked the penny giver to say to the receiver, ‘You have Penny Power. You inspired me. I hope you take this penny and pass it on to somebody else.’ It’s like paying it forward with a focus on inspiration.”
- And then the kids started bringing pennies to school!
- The Forbes article quotes her as saying, “It was so moving. They were giving them to teachers and telling their teachers how much they appreciated them. They were giving them out to their aides, to our custodians, to their parents. It was like a love fest!”
- The lowly penny that first produced inspiration had now generated change. The Penny Project began as a means of sharing respect, acknowledgement, and inspiration in the community, but grew into a movement that changed or improved the culture of civility.
- The Power to Inspire!
Call to Celebration
God of Opportunities, we enter this worship space in joy for you are fully present among us.
This is the day for stretching and believing in what you have placed inside of us.
You know our abilities and give us a future with hope.
This is the day for living into what you see in us.
We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who have lived faithfully.
People This is a day for celebrating our past, present and future.
Amen
Offertory
Infinite Wisdom, you hold our complexities and treasure our beings. We are your beloved children and nothing will ever change that truth. Thank you for the many opportunities you give us to commune, worship, love, build, work and play together. We are grateful for this place that allows us to give, receive, be and grow. Amen
Full Service Service November 7th
Scripture Lesson
Mark 12:38-44 NIV
Warning Against the Teachers of the Law
38 As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”
The Widow’s Offering
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”