A little something I shared in church today.

This weekend is a long weekend in South Australia. One of the good things about being part of a Monarchy is we get a public holiday for the Queen's Birthday. Even though her birthday isn't in June...but I digress.

Due to it being a long weekend there were quite a few families going away and so not going to be at church. We decided to make it a congregational service for this reason. A congregational service is pretty much just sharing among the congregation.

We still have a worship leader, and we still sing worship songs, but the sermon is opened up to the floor and anyone is welcome to share something.

We had a couple of families do plays from the parables which is always entertaining.

A couple of members shared from their hearts about God's creation, and how amazing it is that God's plan is perfect and when we have our hearts right for the Lord stuff just happens.

I read a poem that I had prepared for my Niece's baptism a year ago, but that service got too long and I never ended up using it.

Here it is...

Prayer for the Children

We pray for the children
Who bring us vegemite kisses,
And fistfuls of dandelions.
Who sneak lollies before dinner
And can never find their shoes.

And we pray for those who never get dessert,
Who have no safe blanket or comfort toy,
Who watch their parents watch them die.
Who don't have rooms to clean up
Whose pictures aren't on anyone's mantel
Whose monsters are real.

We pray for the children
Who spend their pocket money on rubbish,
Who throw tantrums in shopping centres
And pick at their food,
Who shove dirty clothes under the bed
And won't be kissed in front of their friends.
Who squirm in church
And squash flies in hym books.
Whose tears we sometimes laugh at
And whose smiles can make us cry.

And we pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime
Who never get enough to eat
Who have never been to the dentist
Who aren't spoiled by anyone
Who go to bed hungryand cry themselves to sleep
Who live and move, but have no being.

We pray for the children who want to be carried
And for those who must
Who we never give up on
And for those who give up on themselves
We pray for those we smother
And for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.
Lord, we pray for all the children.
Let all the children come to you.

I started out wanting to write a prayer, as I was the worship leader for my niece's baptism and I'm not good at praying off the cuff. It wasn't meant to become a poem, but that's what happened!

Hope everyone has had a relaxing and restful Sunday.