Matthew 6: 19-21

Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

1 Kings 8:61-66

Solomon and the people of Israel with him dedicated the temple to Yahweh by offering twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep as sacrifices to ask God’s blessing. On that day, Solomon dedicated the courtyard in front of the temple and made it acceptable for worship. He offered the sacrifices there because the bronze altar in front of the temple was too small.

Solomon and the huge crowd celebrated the Festival of Shelters at the temple for seven days. There were people from as far away as the Egyptian Gorge in the south and Lebo-Hamath in the north. Then on the eighth day, he sent everyone home. They said good-bye and left, very happy, because of all the good things God had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

The Other Reading

“Planting Onions” Jane Flanders

It is right
that I fall to my knees
on this damp, stony cake,
that I bend my back
and bow my head.

Sun warms my shoulders,
the nape of my neck,
and the air is tangy with rot.
Bulbs rustle like sprits
in their sack.

I bury each one
a trowel’s width under.
May they take hold,
rising green in time
to help us weep and live.
 

Planting and growing a church is, in many ways, like planting and growing onions:

— It’s a lot of work – best done on your knees with your head bowed. — and it’s an act of faith.

Today is quite an auspicious day. This morning we offered our pledges to God for the support our church. Fortunately these offerings were on pieces of paper – not the 22,000 cattle & 120,000 sheep that were offered to God for the support of the Temple in Jerusalem, lo these many years ago.

A little later this morning, Karen Miller, who has served this church for 2 years as our president, will talk to us about the work God did with the church this year and DeAnn Mayberry will guide us in electing new church officers.

And I have been asked to set aside what I had planned to preach this week and spend a few minutes reflecting on this church year that’s coming to an end next Sunday – which means that 2 weeks from now is the beginning of Advent, the church season leading us up to Christmas. And Advent, well, is the advent, the beginning, of the new church year.

The last 12 months have been a period of remarkable deepening here at Bridgeport. And that deepening began with 2 losses. Mark Thomas, our friend and seminary intern, returned to the Pacific School of Religion at the end of December. And Ann Shepherd, our friend and community hero, returned to God just a few days later.

Mark had done so much for me - and for all of us - that there was quite a hole to be filled, both in community leadership and in community service. And when Ann left, there was quite a hole to be filled in our hearts.

It was a heck of a way to start the year. And then the war started and all kinds of plans got changed — or dropped — altogether.

And then my mother got sick and came to Portland for 2 months in April and May and much of my attention and energy was necessarily focused on her. And then, of course, she died in July and I was pretty much on the bench for a couple of months.

And through it all, how this congregation rose to meet each challenge. How this congregation deepened to meet each trial.

Mark’s leaving meant that all the work that he had taken on was either going to come back to me, or other folks in the congregation were going to have to take it on. Fortunately for me - and for you considering how the rest of the year played out, it was you, people throughout this congregation, who took it on. Right and left, you stepped forward to both lead and serve.

There is a ministerial rule of thumb that says for every 100 people in the congregation, a church should have a pastor, or a staff member. Well, being a new church, we don’t have the resources to do that, so it’s just me. And when Mark came along, he happily began to do all kinds of things I’d been doing – from printing your bulletins and making your coffee on Sunday mornings to running meetings. And he became a great sounding board for me. When he left, you stepped in and assumed those tasks. Naida & Cammy, and Leslie, and Lisa Millet and the whole Admin Team and the new Pastoral Relations Team are just some of the folks who have really been here.

Ann Shepherd’s leaving was the first death we had experienced in our congregation. This last Christmas the choir turned a corner in its musical evolution, and in January had mastered the Hallelujah Chorus. Just 2 weeks later, the Bridgeport choir anchored that piece at Ann’s memorial service at 1^st Presbyterian church downtown. The next week, we remembered Ann together here in worship, sharing our stories, laughing and crying together.

And when I left, there was a hole up here, and in your homes. And again, people stepped up. And again the commitment to this community deepened. The Worship team saw to the preaching and the leading of the Sunday services and the Care Circles came together and saw to the support of one another.

There are so many things that have happened this last year from the first Mindful Gifts Bazaar which raised Bridgeport’s profile in the greater community to notable events within our world like weddings and the welcoming of all sorts of newcomers, babies & youth & grownups alike.

This stewardship season we’ve been talking about our treasures, our values and our valuables and our hearts and our commitments. And of course, we’ve been talking about Bridgeport: what this community means to us and what it takes to support the church. As important as your financial support is, your spiritual support of our community is every bit as important, and probably even more so. Without that we would be just as empty as many a church is.

So it was important to me that we not only offer our pledges, but also our prayers this morning. And I’m going to share some of them now. Let us receive them in prayer and in thanksgiving.

• God – Bless us all with improved health and prosperity; Grant us a deeper relationship with you; Bring peace to my anxious heart; Help me open my heart to all that you would have me be and do
• Prayers of peace in our world; Prayers of thanksgiving for family and friends –- for life; Prayers for our children to be cherished and nurtured – so they grow to know love and peace.
• Prayers for Bridgeport for continual growth in love, care and God’s knowledge to make a difference in the world; Prayers for peace; Prayers for wisdom & grace to serve this community of God.
• Career goals pending
• Patience…patience with those who trigger my intolerance
• Gratitude for the courageous, visionary congregation that promotes thought, safety, challenge, loving acceptance
• Prayers for peace, as we move into the Christmas & Advent season
• God – please exist
• Peace
• Prayer of hope for a new job; Thanks for the support from this church
• God – Out of my loneliness you have given me a banquet table, guests of all sorts who love me and whom I love – a feast of joy. Thank you. Help me to be joyful and to make room at the table for anybody.
• Thanksgiving for our church, the direction and guidance – may you continue to guide us, and may we continue to listen.
• Prayers for easy passage of new souls both leaving and arriving
• Prayers that Sherry will not have to go overseas again to the Middle East; Peace
• Please, please, PLEASE! PEACE in the world
• Gratitude for the courageous visionary congregation which promotes thought, safety, challenge, loving acceptance
• My rest is in the lavender & gold light of love and family united in peace of community found here at Bridgeport
• I am grateful and pledge to give what I have. I pledge generosity of my resources; I pledge service; I pledge goodwill; I pledge loving kindness
• My prayer is for a deeper relationship with the divine – an opening, and for growth in community
• Prayer for wisdom, integrity & patience for parents as they learn their role, and strength as they fulfill it
• Prayers of Joy and Thanks for Susan & Diane, and a wonderful Bridgeport Family. We are truly blessed to have each other!
• Prayers for patience and understanding in the coming year
• My prayer – that we continue to build the systems that let us work in ways that are fair, open, accountable, friendly and empowering to our purpose as a community of faith
• Prayer of thanks for being led to Bridgeport. I’m finally in a faith community where I go grow & serve and be valued
• Joyful loud time and joy filled quiet times
• We want to pray for peace & healing. Grant us well-being and love
• For peace in my life, the Bridgeport family, the country, the world; God bless humankind…
• A prayer of thanksgiving for the hills and valleys of this past year and the deeper faith it has given me; A prayer of hope for a better new year for all of us.
• May we all, all over the world, release and cease all willful ignorance
• We pray for the good health of our daughter and the twins who will soon be part of this church
• I pray our community will grow in spirit and in faith this year
• I ask prayers of vision, for our future together, prayers of courage that we may accomplish this, and prayers for faith, that we may know that God is with us on this Road
• Prayers of thanks for Susan’s leadership, For Sue’s life among us, for new babies and new friends
• Clarity – Strength – Unity – Courage – Compassion – Faith – Love – Peace – Vision – Healing – Focus – Stability – Transformation
• Give us the will to do God’s with the strength to go against the tide of our own culture
• Discernment of our leaders – get out of Iraq – peaceful resolutions; Prayers for our family – in transition during these holidays in particular, and finalizing our divorce
• I want to participate more in the life of this Church
• A prayer for peace, for good health, for love & sharing, for being together in spirit
• My prayer is for happiness and joy, and a more meaningful existence
• For healing; For joy
• I would like to pray for Peace between Israelis and Palestinians
• Gratefulness for new growth and courage; Prayers for continually evolving and growing sense of community and support
• My prayer goes to more resources for teens who lose sight of their voice, joy; who they are on a soul level
• Pray for the good will of John Oliver. Please watch over him
• Prayers that my company stays in business & continues to employ me so I can afford my pledge
• I pray that Bridgeport continues to grow in spirit, thoughtfulness and stewardship; that we continue our work as home to a diverse group of caring souls
• I am in deep gratitude for my spiritual journey and pray I may have the courage to not only continue, but to follow the path you want me to go
• My prayer: Father, Mother God, I ask you to surround me, this congregation, and all those a part of this world with the white light of the Holy Spirit; This or something better for the highest good of all concerned
• My intention is to stay in the loving, and bring my spirit into everyday
• Operating budget – financial solvency
• Prayer Requests: For electing a President with compassion in his/her [wow] heart; For God and us to be seated at the same table; For strength, love and helping hands for Susan & Diane; For puppies everywhere
• Prayer for all the peoples of this world to awaken & peacefully replace those leaders who do not work for peace
• Prayers for continued World Peace
• I pray for all my Family and Friends to have good health throughout the year
• Last Year: be brave – not scared. This Year: have my community help me with my despair.
• Prayer for new movement of faith both great and dynamic – for a balance of reflection & action, prayer & service, gratitude & courage – that the Bridgeport community may be salt, light and love in the larger community of the world

For all these prayers we have heard today, and all those that still rest within our hearts... Amen.