Gift of Time

Gift of Time 

It is through missionary giving of time that we can follow the Great Commission and make Christ known. Are you ready to explore the works of mission in your congregations, city and the world?

Prayer - of Self-Dedication

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated to you; and then use us, we pray, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen

(paraphrased from The Book of Common Prayer, p 832)

Gift of Time -

The Great Commission is the normative mission statement for the church.  "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20a RSV).

It is through our missionary giving of time that we can make the Christ known to those who know Him not.  Explore the work of mission in our congregations, our diocese and the world.

Missionary Giving ...

• is the activity that enables those who do not know Jesus as Savior and Lord to find and be found by him.  Jesus said, "...lay up treasure in heaven..."   The treasure of heaven is not money, but souls.  Mission is the activity that enables those who do not know Jesus as Savior and Lord to find and be found by him.  Mission creates eternal friendships.
• is also a portion of income or assets that we give to do new mission work or to help ongoing mission work thrive.  It may be support for a missionary. It may be for buildings for a missionary endeavor.  It may be to purchase a site for a new mission congregation.
• comes in three forms.

Missionary Giving Resources

On the subject of "TIME"

"I bought a brand new date book yesterday, the kind I use every year - spiral bound black imitation leather covers wrapping around pages and pages of blank squares. Each square has a number to tell me which day of the month I am in at the moment. Each square is a frame for one episode of my life.

Before I am through with the book, I will fill the squares with classes I will teach, people with whom I will eat lunch, everlasting committees I will sit through, and these are only the things I can not afford to forget. I fill the squares, too, with things I don't write down for me to remember - thousands of cups of coffee, some praying, gestures of help to my neighbors. Whatever I do, it has to fit inside one of those squares on my date book.

I live one square at a time.

The four lines that make the square are the walls of time that organize my life. Everything I do has to fit into one square. I can not straddle the lines. Each square has an invisible door that leads to the next square. At a silent stroke, the door opens and I am pulled through, as if by a magnet, sucked into the next square in the line. There I will again fill the time frame that seals me, fill it with my busyness, just as I did the square before.

As I get older the squares seem to get smaller. One day I will walk into a square that has no door. There will be no mysterious opening and no walking into an adjoining square. One of the squares will be terminal. I do not know which square it will be. So I must fill the squares as wisely as I can."

(Taken from How Can It Be Alright When Everything Is All Wrong? by Lewis Smedes)