Practice Random Acts of Kindness
Worship
Bright Intervals
40 Brief Worship Services and Meditations for Any Occasion
Object:
Greeting and Call To Worship
O come, let us sing to God; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into God's presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise with songs of praise!
Opening Prayer
Creator God, the whole earth proclaims your glory and shows forth the majesty of your handiwork. Even more than the world around us, we praise you today for Jesus the Christ, and your incredible gift of love and mercy to us through him. Grant us, O God, the strength and the courage we need to love one another as you have loved us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Lord's Prayer
Special Hymn
"For The Beauty Of The Earth"
Folliott Sandford Pierpont lived from 1835 to 1917. He was born in Bath, England, and for a brief period he was headmaster and taught literature at Somersetshire College. Then, having received a small inheritance, Pierpont spent the rest of his life traveling and writing. Actually he wrote seven volumes of poems and hymns for the church! This hymn was written one day in late spring near Bath when, as Pierpont writes, "the violets and primroses were in full bloom and all the earth seemed to rejoice." The author climbed up a hill and sat down to rest and meditate. The panorama before him filled his heart with love, and inspired him to write these beautiful lines.
Scripture Reading
Ephesians 4:25-32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Meditation
It all started in Sausalito, California. A woman named Anne Herbert was sitting in a restaurant when some beautiful words just popped into her head. She jotted them down on her placemat: "Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Love." A man sitting at the next table liked those words and made a copy for himself. That's how a whole movement got started that has now swept across our whole country.
A seventh grade teacher saw these words as graffiti on a wall as she drove to work. Inspired by them, she wrote them on her classroom blackboard for her students to copy. One student took the words home. His mother, a newspaper columnist, liked them and used them in her article the next day. Before long, these few simple words, "Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Love," began appearing on billboards, bumper stickers, business cards, and refrigerators all over America. Today there is a Practice Random Acts of Kindness Week held in February each year.
What do those words mean? Simply this: help others around you with no expectations; make the world a better place by being a loving person; startle people with your acts of kindness and generosity. Here is how some people have responded: A woman in San Francisco gave the toll taker at the Golden Gate Bridge seven commuter tickets, each worth $2, and said, "This is for me and the next six drivers behind me. Have a nice day!" A teenage boy in Chicago heard these words, and got up early to shovel snow from his father's driveway. It was so much fun, he did the driveways of every other house in the neighborhood!
Now perhaps you are saying to yourself, "There's nothing so new and unique about all this. After all, two thousand years ago Jesus came to this earth to show us how to be kind and gracious, thoughtful and loving to those around us." But here is a movement that is touching human hearts and changing human lives in a way that challenges those of us who call ourselves "Christians" to really practice what we have always preached!
Every follower of Jesus is called to be an ambassador for Christ. Every one of us, by practicing acts of kindness and love each day, continues the same ministry of love Jesus began in this earthly life. We are Christ's representatives. We bear Christ's name. The Spirit of Jesus lives in our hearts when we act in a loving and gracious way to the people around us. This is the ministry given to every single person who follows Christ, and never doubt for one moment that it makes a difference.
Listen to the words of the late newsman Charles Kuralt, who traveled all over America: "To read the front pages of our papers, you might conclude that most Americans are out for themselves. The front pages have room only for cheating defense contractors and politicians with their hands in the till. But you cannot travel the back roads very long without discovering a multitude of gentle people, doing good for others with no expectation of gain or public recognition. The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines. There are a lot of Christians out there quietly doing what Christians have always done -- loving their neighbors as Christ as loved them." Practice Random Acts of Kindness -- this is a ministry for Christ in which you can share, and with God's help, you will make a difference!
Closing Prayer
O God, make us kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven us. Amen.
Benediction
May God's grace, mercy, and peace be with you always. Amen.
O come, let us sing to God; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into God's presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise with songs of praise!
Opening Prayer
Creator God, the whole earth proclaims your glory and shows forth the majesty of your handiwork. Even more than the world around us, we praise you today for Jesus the Christ, and your incredible gift of love and mercy to us through him. Grant us, O God, the strength and the courage we need to love one another as you have loved us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Lord's Prayer
Special Hymn
"For The Beauty Of The Earth"
Folliott Sandford Pierpont lived from 1835 to 1917. He was born in Bath, England, and for a brief period he was headmaster and taught literature at Somersetshire College. Then, having received a small inheritance, Pierpont spent the rest of his life traveling and writing. Actually he wrote seven volumes of poems and hymns for the church! This hymn was written one day in late spring near Bath when, as Pierpont writes, "the violets and primroses were in full bloom and all the earth seemed to rejoice." The author climbed up a hill and sat down to rest and meditate. The panorama before him filled his heart with love, and inspired him to write these beautiful lines.
Scripture Reading
Ephesians 4:25-32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Meditation
It all started in Sausalito, California. A woman named Anne Herbert was sitting in a restaurant when some beautiful words just popped into her head. She jotted them down on her placemat: "Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Love." A man sitting at the next table liked those words and made a copy for himself. That's how a whole movement got started that has now swept across our whole country.
A seventh grade teacher saw these words as graffiti on a wall as she drove to work. Inspired by them, she wrote them on her classroom blackboard for her students to copy. One student took the words home. His mother, a newspaper columnist, liked them and used them in her article the next day. Before long, these few simple words, "Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Love," began appearing on billboards, bumper stickers, business cards, and refrigerators all over America. Today there is a Practice Random Acts of Kindness Week held in February each year.
What do those words mean? Simply this: help others around you with no expectations; make the world a better place by being a loving person; startle people with your acts of kindness and generosity. Here is how some people have responded: A woman in San Francisco gave the toll taker at the Golden Gate Bridge seven commuter tickets, each worth $2, and said, "This is for me and the next six drivers behind me. Have a nice day!" A teenage boy in Chicago heard these words, and got up early to shovel snow from his father's driveway. It was so much fun, he did the driveways of every other house in the neighborhood!
Now perhaps you are saying to yourself, "There's nothing so new and unique about all this. After all, two thousand years ago Jesus came to this earth to show us how to be kind and gracious, thoughtful and loving to those around us." But here is a movement that is touching human hearts and changing human lives in a way that challenges those of us who call ourselves "Christians" to really practice what we have always preached!
Every follower of Jesus is called to be an ambassador for Christ. Every one of us, by practicing acts of kindness and love each day, continues the same ministry of love Jesus began in this earthly life. We are Christ's representatives. We bear Christ's name. The Spirit of Jesus lives in our hearts when we act in a loving and gracious way to the people around us. This is the ministry given to every single person who follows Christ, and never doubt for one moment that it makes a difference.
Listen to the words of the late newsman Charles Kuralt, who traveled all over America: "To read the front pages of our papers, you might conclude that most Americans are out for themselves. The front pages have room only for cheating defense contractors and politicians with their hands in the till. But you cannot travel the back roads very long without discovering a multitude of gentle people, doing good for others with no expectation of gain or public recognition. The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines. There are a lot of Christians out there quietly doing what Christians have always done -- loving their neighbors as Christ as loved them." Practice Random Acts of Kindness -- this is a ministry for Christ in which you can share, and with God's help, you will make a difference!
Closing Prayer
O God, make us kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven us. Amen.
Benediction
May God's grace, mercy, and peace be with you always. Amen.
