the body of Christ

oh my goodness gracious...it's been a long time since my last post! i'm sorry- these first couple months of the "program" year are very busy for us at Grace! i hereby renew my commitment to blogging!

yesterday we talked again about being the body of Christ-and how we all have different gifts and abilities. we are all different but we all belong- in fact we all belong because we are different. as challenging as it is sometimes to live together with all our differences, it is good to read (sometimes OVER and OVER again) 1 Corinthinans 12.

as the church we aim to be Christ's body in the world. we can't say to anyone that we don't need them. we can't think that we are better than anyone else. in fact, we should treat those we may think that we are better than with more honor and respect than anyone. we always should be looking to care for and lift up those among us who are hurting.

during the adult education hour, we talked about what parts of the body we don't lift up enough- people who do work that goes not unnoticed, but unthanked. we talked about rod wilterdink who sharpens all the pencils and takes care of the font (when it's not busted!), AIM ruth and larry scheibach who set up furniture for sunday school and confirmation, jan harpt who waters the plants, and the dartball team when they set up tables for the quilters. there is so much to be done, and when we all work together, it all gets done.

i had the first part of chapter 12 read at my ordination to remind me that everyone has different gifts and talents- that it's not all the job of the pastor to do everything. i have been reminded lately that i really can't do everything (darn it). i am surprised how hard this is for me to accept. but i have to learn to lean back on the rest of the body to do the things i can't do.

so today, take a moment to think about what you are good at, and appreciate yourself! then, think about something you can't do so well on your own, and appreciate whoever helps you with that. and remember- no part of Christ's body can exist on it's own, but together, we come alive.