Spiritual Gifts

Embracing Our Spiritual Gifts

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A Call to Active Membership in the Body of Christ

Spiritual Gifts

[A sermon reflection from Mother’s Day, May 12, 2025. Full sermon audio available here.]

Beyond Greeting Cards and Flowers

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, grandmas, and great-grandmas reading this! While our culture sets aside this special Sunday to honor mothers, Scripture reminds us this should be our daily practice. And for those finding today difficult—perhaps you’ve lost your mom or are mourning a relationship that wasn’t what it should have been—please know you’re seen and held in prayer.

But today, I want to talk about different kinds of gifts—not the Mother’s Day kind, but the spiritual kind that each of us has received as members of Christ’s body. Continue reading →

Integrating The Body

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Human body systems

The human body is fascinating. It is incredibly complex. In all of its complexity it is still unified. The complexity is integrated. The body and its members aren’t independent. They are all dependent upon each other.

The church is called the body of Christ. Christians are all members of one body. We are individually members of the body. We are called to be integrated with one another.

To succeed in our mission God gifts the members of the body. We are supposed to employ our individual gifts through serving one another and the world in love.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. (Ephesians 4:4-7)

A body is sensitive to changes. It grows, reacts, hurts, and succeeds together. Each member is different, important, and unique. A hand isn’t a foot. Neither is more important. Together they can do more than either could ever do alone. They are bound together whether they like it or not.

Continue reading →