Offering Buckets

The children’s message that Sunday was about the psalmist’s confidence that ‘God’s steadfast love endures for ever’. The person giving the message took bright yellow plastic beach buckets and pantomimed pouring out God’s love on to the children.

When she ‘emptied’ one bucket, she would bring out another one. Just as the psalmist repeats the phrase, ‘his steadfast love endures for ever’ several times, she used several buckets to make sure the children understood that God’s love never runs out. There’s always another ‘bucketful’.

Later in the service, when it was time to take up the offering, the minister got those buckets out again and said, ‘Since God’s love is unending, our offerings to God should be, too. We are going to take up the offering in these buckets today and return to God our thanks in response to his steadfast love for us.’

No matter how big our offering plates or buckets are, we can never repay God for pouring out enduring love for us. But when we give back to God with thankful hearts, we are responding to that love in ways that further his reign on earth. Remembering how blessed and loved we are, we, in turn, can show God’s love by giving ‘bucketsful’ of love to his people every day.

Prayer: Lord of love, help us to become more loving toward others in the world you have created for us all. Amen