Tessera Materials

Prayer

Persistently forgiving God,
we are often a stubborn people
who try your patience;
yet, instead of giving us up for lost,
you seek us out until we return to you.
Break our willfulness
and bring us back from our wanderings;
bend our pride and create in us pure and faithful hearts,
which rejoice in your forgiveness
made known through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Scripture

1 Timothy 1:12-17

Reflection

...and the grace of our Lord overflowed for us (vs. 14)

God's grace is extended to us before we say or do anything. God never fails to act in grace. God's grace is given without consideration of our worth or merit. And God's grace can be given even if we don't respond, but also is inherently reciprocal. We were reminded of these things last Sunday in our gathering as we explored God's graciousness toward his creation.

The apostle Paul makes a connection between God's overflowing grace and his own sin. He's willing to confess it. And it's in confessing his part he knows this overflowing grace of God in a tangible, reciprocal way.

• There is a ribbon of grace that threads through our lives. Share together some ways you've encountered God's overflowing grace in your life. It's good to remember and give thanks for these encounters with the overflowing grace of God.
• By owning and confessing our own sin (which doesn't come naturally for us because it's a lot more fulfilling to focus on the sin of others), we discover God's overflowing grace already meeting us. Share together how owning and confessing one's own sin is necessary to extend overflowing grace to others in the same way it's been extended to us.

Giving Update

8/1/25-7/31/26
Budget YTD Need: $22,258.02
Budget YTD Giving: $21,698.79
Variance: -$559.23