Last year, we introduced a new resource to help you prepare for the time of giving and taking communion in your Hope Avenue. These are meaningful formational practices that we can plan with care and intentionality.
The Communion and Offering Starters are posted a month ahead, like the sermon resources. Below are the September starters. In case you missed it: August Starters are here.
How to Use This Resource
An outline is provided for you to use as a guide, followed by a sample script. Both the offering moment and communion can be presented as a short reflection before the congregation participates. Here’s how to use it effectively:
- Scripture Reflection: Include the relevant Scripture to root the offering and communion in biblical teaching.
- Key Point and Invitation: Briefly highlight the theme’s key point and offer an invitation that connects the theme to the practice.
- Prayer: Include a short prayer that aligns with the theme. Invite God to bless the gifts and the givers. Ask God to bless the bread and the wine and the partakers.
- Logistics: Explain the process; this helps everyone know how they can participate. For giving, indicate whether baskets will be passed, if there are designated offering boxes, or if digital options like text-to-give or web giving are available. Clearly explain how the communion elements will be shared and that participation is voluntary.
- Encouragement: For the giving moment, invite congregants to reflect on their role in supporting the church’s mission, reminding them that their gifts impact both local and global ministry. For communion, encourage congregants to express gratitude for Jesus’ love poured out for us and the unity present in the body of Christ.
For more information, see Church Hack: Offering and Church Hack: Communion
September Offering Theme: The Heart of Giving
Scripture Focus: Matthew 20:8–10
Key Point: We don’t give to receive more reward; we give because we want all to come to trust that God saves.
Invitation: A heart of giving is a heart of love for others. We want our family, neighbors, friends, and community members to all respond to the gift of salvation.
Sample Script
Matthew 20:8–10 says:
8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. Matthew 20:8–10 NRSVUE
Some believe if you give more, you receive more. It’s a misinterpretation of God’s heart. Jesus addresses this in his parable of laborers in the vineyard. They all received the same wage — whether they worked all day, or for just an hour or so.
Salvation is a gift, whether you’ve followed Jesus all your life, or you call out to him while on your death bed, as did the thief on the cross. There is no greater reward than eternity in communion with Father, Son, and Spirit, and with one another. We want all to have that reward, that gift. We want all to live in God’s grace, to know the truth about who he is and who we are in him.
We give because we love our family, neighbors, and co-workers. The heart of giving is a heart of love for others. Kingdom living is sharing God’s love and life with others because we believe so strongly in the good news of God’s kingdom, that we want everyone there to share in its goodness.
May our giving reflect this heart of love for others. May our missions and ministries find new and effective ways to share the good news of Jesus with as many as we can.
Prayer.
September Communion Theme: Joining Tax collectors and Prostitutes
Scripture Focus: Matthew 21:31b–32
Key Point: Communion reminds us that all who believe are welcomed by grace, regardless of their past.
Invitation: As we receive the bread, may we truly believe it represents the body of Christ. It was broken for us so that we may receive eternal life. As we receive the cup, may we believe the shed blood of our Savior forgives us from all sin.
Sample Script
Jesus said to [the Pharisees], “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and even after you saw it you did not change your minds and believe him. Matthew 21:31b–32 NRSVUE
You can only imagine what was going through the minds of the Pharisees when Jesus said that to them. Tax collectors? Those who worked with Rome, and took advantage of the average Jew? Prostitutes? Come on, Jesus, look at our faithfulness to the law. Look at how well we tithe and give offerings. Look at our dedication to the temple.
But Jesus said that they did not believe John the Baptist. What did John preach? That Jesus was the Messiah. Just like the thief on the cross, tax collectors and prostitutes believed and were saved.
We don’t enter the kingdom because of what we know, but because of who we know. We aren’t forgiven because of what we’ve done, but because of what Jesus did. It’s not our works that save us, it’s his grace — grace given to all who believe.
As we come to the table, we can rejoice that we are joining tax collectors, thieves, prostitutes, and all kinds of people with all kinds of backgrounds who believe.
As we receive the bread, may we truly believe it represents the body of Christ. It was broken for us so that we may receive eternal life. As we receive the cup, may we believe the shed blood of our Savior forgives us from all sin.
Prayer.
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