Bible Readings and Devotion for December 8, 2020
Here are the references for the readings. Please look these up in your print Bible, your smartphone app Bible, or your online Bible.
Devotion for December 8, 2020
By Pastor David Tinker
Due to the COVID19 Pandemic we have had to make various changes. We do these actions for the sake of the community, both the congregation and the neighborhood. All of us look forward to a day when these changes are no longer necessary.
One of the changes we have made is in regard to how we present our offerings. Instead of passing the offering plates down each row to receive the offering, we have simply placed the plates on tables. This greatly reduces the number of people who touch the plates on any given day. Fewer hands touching the plates means reduced chances of passing contagion to one another.
In our reading from Psalm 96:7-8, we read the following; “Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts.”
These verses are informative to how and why we give offerings at worship. In worship we announce the greatness of our Lord. We do it together as the family of the Lord. And finally, we give offerings at our worship gatherings.
These patterns of worship are why we have a time at worship when we give our offerings to honor the Lord and to support the mission of the congregation. As we come together we make the choice to give offerings. The passage reminds us, “…bring an offering, and come into his courts.” One of the options for doing things God’s way is to pass the plates to receive the offerings which people have intended to make. We can also do as we have been doing most of this year. We can put offering plates near entrances where people may place their offerings as we, “come into his courts.” The original verse is about gathering at the Temple of Jerusalem. We can easily apply this to when we enter the worship space of our congregation.
A friendly reminder: As we come to the end of 2020, please consider an extra gift to your church. Or, if you have gotten behind in giving, take the coming weeks to make us for some of what has been forgotten. We give from what God provides, and our offerings are a thanksgiving to the Lord for all he has done for us.
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Prayer
Merciful Father, we offer with joy and thanksgiving what you have first given us—our selves, our time, and our possessions, signs of your gracious love. Receive them for the sake of him who offered himself for us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Martin Luther Lutheran Church 