Using Your Gifts
Yesterday during the worship service, we looked at the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). Jesus told this story about a master who went away on a long journey and left three of his servants in charge of parts of his wealth. The message of the parable is that as followers of Christ we are called to use the resources God has given us for the multiplication of his Kingdom.
God has blessed each of us in so many ways. One of the ways he has blessed each of us is by giving us gifts that we are to use for the “common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). God has specifically and uniquely gifted you with abilities that he wants you to use to help build up others! That’s an exciting thought. Are you using the abilities God has given you, or like the servant with one talent, are you burying them in the ground?
The 60th Annual Illinois Mennonite Relief Sale took place this past weekend. What a blessing it was to my soul! Not because of pie-baking day here at NDMC last Thursday, but because of the great number of the members of NDMC who participated in various ways. This is a fantastic example of our members using their abilities on behalf of others! We offer a HUGE thank you to all who baked, stitched, and donated. Thanks to all who were flipping pancakes, or cleaning up, or who were selling from the various booths. Thanks to all who coordinated and participated. It was a joy to me to see the way so many were willingly and joyfully using their gifts. The Relief Sale is a perfect example of something that could not happen without everyone’s effort being directed toward a common goal and God providing the strength to accomplish the goal.
My encouragement today is that we continue to look for opportunities to serve God at NDMC. What are ways that we can all pitch in, using our God-given gifts, in order to accomplish God’s purpose. I really believe God has a vision for our congregation. I believe he is bringing together a uniquely gifted group of people to accomplish his purpose for us. We have so many people who are gifted in service. Yesterday’s worship service is also a great example of how gifted musically so many in our congregation are! It is remarkable how many people play such a variety of instruments (your pastor’s feeble attempt at guitar notwithstanding!). God is blessing us, but not simply for our own purposes. He is blessing us so that we can continue to reach out in love with his strength.
God bless, Brian