Give Thanks

GIVE THANKS ...In Love, week 3
August 19, 2018

Planning for this Series

Today is the continuation of the new four-week series. We are following the Ephesians passages in the lectionary. You can do this series in the month of August, as originally planned, or you can place this anywhere in the year that you may need a four week worship series.

Paul’s writing asserts that Christians are created to live in community with one another. This requires a certain level of spiritual maturity that we can reach only when we act toward one another in the spirit of Christian love. Hence the names for our series: ...in Love. Each week, we will focus on the text and how Paul instructs us to act. The first week, we must “Build Up One Another in Love.” The second week, we are called to “Live in Love.” The third week, we must “Give Thanks in Love.” The fourth week is a sending text: it is not about life in the Christian community, but about putting on the armor of God so that we may go out into the world with a gospel message of love. You may consider a commissioning of some kind on this last week. If school is starting in your area, commission the teachers in your congregation. If confirmation classes are getting underway, commission the teachers and the students. Perhaps organize an all-church service project at the end of the month.

Some churches do their fall kick-off in the month of August. Consider using the small-group and children’s resources in tandem with the worship pieces to focus your church on their life as a Christian community.