परमेश्वरलाई ग्रहनयोग्य भेटी-१, पा. अरबिन पोखरेल

Offerings Acceptable to God k/d]Zj/nfO{ u|x0fof]Uo e]l6 “In and through the practice of offering, work and worship become one.”[1]  Pastors and worship leaders have a responsibility to develop Sunday liturgies that can confront and respond to marketplace malformations. Worship trains our imagination that in turn shapes how we inhabit our workweek: [Saturday] worship is not some escape from ‘the work week.’ To the contrary, our worship rituals train our hearts and stir our desires toward God and his kingdom so that, when we are sent from worship to take up our work, we do so with a habituated orientation toward the Lover of our souls. This is why we need to think about habit-shaping practices-vocational liturgies,’- that we can sustain this love throughout the week.” (You are What You Love, 187) “Workers are people who are integral to the mission of God.” Dorothy Sayers, Creed or Chaos?   Our failed offerings: There are offerings that are not acceptable to God, such as Cain’s offerings, Eli son’s and Saul’s offerings. Why? They are only for show, shallow, technical to get something back. Our hearts are not in it. God’s desires are not considered. Love for our neighbors and world around are not measured appropriately. Are we offering (bringing to God) that he does not like or accept?  Matt and Cory say in their book Work & Worship, church needs “Reimagining of the offerings”. “Offering can return to its ancient focus whereby the community renders its whole life and whole labor to God in Worship (Work & Worship, 236). How can we reimagine offering whole lives to God as a living and working sacrifice? (Rom 12:1). They say, “In light of our investigations of Scripture, history, and the global church, there are four principles that can inform the future of the offering rituals. Offerings need to strive to be more embodied, creational, vocational and communal.” (237). By this they mean “offerings need to engage our bodies, our material world, our daily work, and they need to actively connect worshippers to one another and their city.” (237). During this Thanksgiving season, we will follow these themes, and principles from the book, particularly found in Chapter 9 “Offerings of the Early Church”.  In light of our reimagined offerings, we as Cross-Way want to be a consciously offering church, a church that loves God, gives whole life to the mission of God, and loves our city and the world (starting with Nepal). Thanksgiving is a season of harvest. Even though many of us living in the city do not farm, our lives are closely connected with the products of the soil. We must eat food that our lands produce. We work various jobs each day, and earn money, which allows us to be fed and live. We all want to live healthy lives that pleases God.   Offerings acceptable to God is a Thanksgiving series that will explore a) Why God of Creation asked for offerings? B) What do offerings in the OT and NT mean? C) What are principles that the historical church have valued as acceptable to God? D) What kinds of offerings should we bring to the Lord, that are acceptable to him (and what kinds are not acceptable to him)?[1] Work & Worship: Reconnecting Our Labor and Liturgy, Matthew Kaemingk, Cory B. Wilson. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academics, 2020) p168.