God, We Give to You Our Offerings

Hymn Information

First Line: God, we give to you our offerings
Author: Ken Medema
Tune Name: GRANDVILLE
Composer: Ken Medema
Arranger: Linda A. Missad
Topic: Discipleship · Responses: To Confession · Stewardship of Life · Stewardship of Possessions

Copyright Information

Text Copyright

Tune Copyright

Reprint/Projection Information

Words and Music: Permitted with a license from CCLI.com. If you do not own this license, please contact the copyright holder for permission.

Scripture References

Psalm 116:8-19
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Romans 12:1-2
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2 Corinthians 8:1-9
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Ephesians 4:20-5:23
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Philippians 4:4-7

Confessions and Statements of Faith References

Further Reflections on Confessions and Statements of Faith References

God’s grace grants our baptism, and gives us our identity and our calling; however, it is up to us, with a renewed spirit, to respond to his call. We understand that just as “God reminds and assures us of our union with Christ in covenant love,” he also is “expecting our love and trust in return” (Our World Belong to God, paragraph 37).

“We hear the Spirit’s call to love one another…to accept one another and to share at every level…and so fulfill the love of Christ” (Song of Hope, stanza 12). As washed and sanctified people, God’s children are called to “more and more [we] become dead to sin and live holy and blameless lives,” (Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 26, Question and Answer 70) and this means “the dying away of the old-self, and the rising-to-life of the new” (Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 33, Question and Answer 88). And so, as part of our baptism, God’s children are called to offer their lives to Christ.

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God, We Give to You Our Offerings

Additional Prayers

A Prayer of Dedication

Gracious God, whatever is true within us, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
We give you gratefully all we are and hope to be.

Whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable,
We give you gratefully all we are and hope to be.

If anything is excellent or praiseworthy within us,
Gracious God, we give you gratefully all we are and hope to be, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

— Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.

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God, We Give to You Our Offerings

Tune Information

Name: GRANDVILLE
Key: e minor
Meter: 8.7.8.7 refrain 7.7.7.7

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God, We Give to You Our Offerings

Hymn Story/Background

“God, We Give to You Our Offerings” is one of fourteen songs by Ken Medema included in his collection The Offering as Worship (2007, also available on CD). He worked with Mark Vincent of “Design for Ministry” who prepared additional resources revolving around the radical assumption: "Christ as made us Friends." Ken said: “All the songs in the series tried to focus on that notion that when one gives to a friend, it is a different matter than giving to a cause or an institution…. That mind-blowing scriptural idea has everything to do with how giving is perceived and practiced in our churches.” The complete resource for congregations for stewardship emphasis includes worship ideas, liturgies, sermon suggestions, activities, prayers and Ken’s original songs as well as suggestions for traditional music.

— Emily Brink

Composer Information

Linda Missad is a musician who seeks to help others with their own musical abilities. Linda is an accomplished pianist, composer, and performer. She is also a professional score typesetter, engraver, and transcriber. She has worked with individuals, schools, churches, and other community groups to compose music for existing texts, alter musical formats for specific situations, and create recordings.

— Laura de Jong

Author and Composer Information

Ken Medema (b. Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1943) is a song writer, composer, recording artist, and story-teller through music. Blind from birth, Ken began playing the piano at age five and studied classical music by reading Braille. He graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High School and studied music therapy at Michigan State University in Lansing, Michigan. As a music therapist in both Indiana and New Jersey, he began writing songs for hurting teenagers, an experience that helped to launch a career of writing songs on Christian life that has taken him to venues large and small all over North America and beyond. He responds to what he hears and sees in his heart at particular events, often improvising songs on the spot, offering compassion, honesty and desire for integrity in both worship and life. In 1985 he began Brier Patch Music, which continues to publish his music and recordings, including 26 CDs.

— Emily Brink