God our Saviour desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. And so, he gives grace to those like Paul, who acted ignorantly in unbelief, but were then appointed to his service as his heralds of the truth. He gives grace to those like Timothy, who encounter a serious Christian like Paul, and feel the call to leadership in the church. He gives grace to those like the churches in Ephesus, who receive correction in love, and protection from shipwreck in the faith. He gives grace to all in his household, providing for his church, and for good or for ill, trusting his church with the gospel message.
We are now the ones that proclaim this message in our community with our words and our deeds. We bring to the church OUR witness to what God has done in OUR lives. We bring to the church, not a sombre, joyless seriousness, but an ongoing reminder of the importance of faith to US.
And we leave from the church with the energy of shared values and community! We leave from the church with our connection to God renewed. We leave from the church with encouragement to keep fighting the good fight, in faith, and with a good conscience.
Gracious God, help us to be the kind of serious Christians that inspire others to faith. Protect us from meaningless talk, and keep us effective in delivering the knowledge of the truth, in Jesus' name....