Moment for Mission
“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” —Romans 5:1, NRSV
Today is Peace with Justice Sunday. This special day calls the church to advocate publicly in communities and nations throughout the world. The special offering, administered by the General Board of Church and Society, benefits peace with justice ministries at home and globally.
An example is Helping Our Neighbors, a community-engagement ministry of First United Methodist Church, Kalamazoo, Michigan. As the church team helped neighbors struggling with utility expenses and eviction notices, they began to understand the greater problems posed by homelessness in Kalamazoo, where several hundred people seek refuge in area shelters, in their cars, on the streets, with friends and relatives or in homeless tent encampments.
The HON volunteers have learned by asking, “What do you need?” A frequent response is “We need a reliable way to communicate with people and places that are essential for our safety and welfare.”
In autumn 2021, HON launched a new ministry to provide a free Cricket or T-Mobile cellphone and a year of unlimited free voice, text and data service for people who qualify under the federal government’s “getemergencybroadband.org” and Affordable Connectivity Benefit programs.
With funds from the Peace with Justice Sunday offering, the Michigan Annual Conference Board of Justice awarded HON $3,000 in 2021 to launch this ministry.
On this Special Sunday, we partner with other United Methodist congregations, empowering people and communities through systemic changes that bring true and lasting peace with justice. Please give generously.
Children’s Message
Note to leader: On Peace with Justice Sunday, this children’s message/object lesson explores how to be a peacemaker instead of a peace breaker.
Using an object lesson with a water balloon, a regular balloon and an orange, teach children about peace as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5). When we practice being peacemakers, we often also practice other fruits of the Spirit like being loving or patient. We act with kindness and try to be good. This brings a sense of peace for ourselves and for others. It doesn’t mean that we don’t stand up for what is true or what is fair. But it does mean that we try to be peacemakers, not peace breakers, to achieve true peace with justice.
Offertory Prayer
Loving God, transform this offering into peace-building initiatives that celebrate justice and mercy. May this offering protect the integrity of your creation with Christlike love. Amen.
From Discipleship Ministries: Trinity Sunday — Mighty God, who is both one and three, we praise you as God above us, God beside us, and God within us. We bring our gifts to you in worship and gratitude as our Creator and Provider of all good things. We acknowledge that our relationship with you in all three persons begins and ends on your side of the equation: beginning with your devotion and not our own, beginning with your wisdom and not our own. We come into relationship resting on your grace-filled love and not our intermittent efforts to be faithful in our love for you. Bless these gifts we give and bless the transformational impact they might have. In your holy name, we pray. Amen. (John 16:12-15)
Newsletter Nugget
Now, perhaps more than ever, we are called to extend healing and hope that move us to becoming a new creation in Christ. Through our Peace with Justice Sunday gifts, we partner with God and God’s people to nurture Christ’s loving presence in a hurting world.
Peace with Justice Sunday is a faithful expression of shalom in the Bible. It calls the church to enhance its capacity to advocate publicly in communities and nations throughout the world. The offering, administered by the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society, benefits peace with justice ministries at home and globally.
United Methodist Special Sunday celebrations invest in transforming communities, empowering leaders and strengthening ministries of peace with justice. Concentrating our resources to support shared ministries equips us to step, with faithful determination, into a grace-filled new beginning.
Half of our gifts stay with local ministries in this conference and half support the work of Church and Society worldwide. Please give generously.