Giving Opportunities; One Great Hour of Sharing

Suggested Offering Date: March 9, 2008

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Dear Pastor and worship planners:

The call to give comes to us often: annual commitments, capital campaigns, denominational ministries, youth mission trips and local projects. Each call challenges us to understand the importance of sharing - to see beyond the dollars and respond to God’s call to share as an act of worship and praise.

One Great Hour of Sharing is one way of responding to God’s call to give. The resources in this packet and on the web offer many ways to encourage your congregation’s participation in this offering that shares resources and changes lives. Printed here, you’ll find information about “our new look,” theme interpretation and sermon ideas, and worship materials. We’ve also included an interpretive DVD which illustrates the new logo and theme. It is an excellent worship resource. Our website includes additional worship ideas, church school activities, cross-generational suggestions, a dramatic reading, and a giving calendar.

“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have,” says the writer of Hebrews. (Hebrews 13:16, ESV) The call is personal, a reminder that our actions as Christians speak more loudly than our words. God desires our participation in the lives of others, an expectation made even more pointedly by Jesus when he said, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matt 25:40, NRSV)

As our world grows smaller, our lives intersect with many more lives than previously. Through General Board ministries and partnership with Church World Service, One Great Hour of Sharing gifts provide support to help families and villages around the world build lives and communities that are healthy, safe and sustainable. By opening our hearts and hands to address some of the world’s deepest needs, we will experience the deep joy and blessing of sharing God’s love.

Carol Joy Bowman
Coordinator of Stewardship Formation and Education