I'm a theme person. Always have been. Always will be. I just love it when things tie together perfectly. I think I got the bug from my mother who has planned over 100 banquets, retreats, conferences, etc. for her church women-all themed, never a one repeated! (The other bug I got from my mother-doing something no one's ever done!) We have shared many a phone conversation where I have added to her banquet ideas or she has added to my theme unit lessons in teaching. It doesn't seem to matter whose event is being planned, give us a theme and we could go on for hours!
So it thrills my soul that the Lover of My Soul teaches me in themes. This week, the Body.
I'm taking a course for my Masters' Degree, and my required reading this week took me to Church - history of, purpose of, responsibilities of-you get the idea. In the midst of all the reading, an idea I've heard countless times in my churched background seemed to be highlighted-"as parts of the Body, we belong to each other, we need each other and we affect each other."
Then, on Monday morning as I sipped my coffee, I read Sherry's illustration of how that plays out in our own church!
Little did I realize that less than 12 hours later I would be getting stitches and a tetanus shot leaving my left arm and hand immobile. Have you ever tried to wash your hair with one hand? Have you ever tried to type a blog with one hand? I hadn't either until it was necessary this week! I never realized how much I needed my left hand! I'm just thankful it wasn't my right hand!!
Then it hit me...A THEME! Woohoo! Of course, this sent me into a torrential brainstorm of all the possible analogies one could imagine, much like my mother and I have done over banquet themes. And then, of course, it hit me that this lesson had been handcrafted for me (no pun intended). As a great teacher does, my Teacher taught and retaught the lesson using a variety of learning styles. I read about the Body from a theology book, then read Sherry's illustration of how it works in our church body, and then experienced it first hand (or should I say, left hand?)
Are you experiencing a theme in your life? Please share...
~Rebecca Phillips~
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Members of One Body
On a recent Sunday morning at Grace, we experienced one of those delightfully unplanned but memorable moments. It was just a little accident that was quickly cleaned up, but it provided an object lesson that I keep thinking about.
Dan Dilts had gotten up to make an announcement about a Wednesday evening class. In his excitement, he knocked over the cup of water that sits on the podium for the pastor to sip when he gets a dry throat or a tickle during the sermon. Everyone laughed, Dan sat down, and to a casual observer, that might have been the end of the story. However, during the prayer that followed Dan's announcement, I opened my eyes and raised my head just enough to see Matt Houts with a handful of paper towels swabbing the carpet and wiping down the side of the podium. After prayer, while the offering plates were passed, Leigh Smith delivered a fresh cup of water to the pastor, who set it back in its now dry place.
Don't you love it?! This is the way the body of Christ is supposed to work. Each person does his or her part, and the service continues. No one asks for special recognition or praise, but just does what needs to be done. It's the same thing that happens when a family works around and beside one another to cook a meal or when a group of athletes operates as if they share a brain in their several bodies. The experience is sweet harmony and the results are delicious or victorious, as the case may be.
On that Sunday morning, Pastor Euler mentioned the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He remarked on how the problem in "one little place" had disrupted the whole ecosystem of the gulf. It was a passing remark in a discussion about a different topic, but it fit right in with the water spill in my mind and illustrated for me how badly things go astray when some part of the system isn't working correctly.
The apostle Paul has a lot to say about the body of Christ. In First Corinthians 12, he reminds Christians that we each have a role to fulfill. "For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ." I so enjoy being part of the body of Christ on earth, and especially love the body at Grace. I want to remember to do my part so that everything works as it should. Let us pray for one another and look for ways to "care one for another" in the body.
Dan Dilts had gotten up to make an announcement about a Wednesday evening class. In his excitement, he knocked over the cup of water that sits on the podium for the pastor to sip when he gets a dry throat or a tickle during the sermon. Everyone laughed, Dan sat down, and to a casual observer, that might have been the end of the story. However, during the prayer that followed Dan's announcement, I opened my eyes and raised my head just enough to see Matt Houts with a handful of paper towels swabbing the carpet and wiping down the side of the podium. After prayer, while the offering plates were passed, Leigh Smith delivered a fresh cup of water to the pastor, who set it back in its now dry place.
Don't you love it?! This is the way the body of Christ is supposed to work. Each person does his or her part, and the service continues. No one asks for special recognition or praise, but just does what needs to be done. It's the same thing that happens when a family works around and beside one another to cook a meal or when a group of athletes operates as if they share a brain in their several bodies. The experience is sweet harmony and the results are delicious or victorious, as the case may be.
On that Sunday morning, Pastor Euler mentioned the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He remarked on how the problem in "one little place" had disrupted the whole ecosystem of the gulf. It was a passing remark in a discussion about a different topic, but it fit right in with the water spill in my mind and illustrated for me how badly things go astray when some part of the system isn't working correctly.
The apostle Paul has a lot to say about the body of Christ. In First Corinthians 12, he reminds Christians that we each have a role to fulfill. "For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ." I so enjoy being part of the body of Christ on earth, and especially love the body at Grace. I want to remember to do my part so that everything works as it should. Let us pray for one another and look for ways to "care one for another" in the body.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Welcome to Cup of Grace!
If you're like me, a cup of coffee in the morning just doesn't always do the trick. And the additional to-go tumbler guzzled on the way out my door usually just makes my nerves slightly more jumpy and my trips to the Ladies' Room more frequent! Maybe you're not a coffee drinker. Your "legal addictive stimulant" may be tea, hot cocoa or a Diet Dr. Pepper (with lime, of course). Whatever liquid you may choose to help get your day going, may I suggest a cup of Grace to go with it? Or for those braves souls...as a replacement?
Job, our hero of faith in suffering, says in Job 23:12b, "...I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." I don't know about you, but I look forward to breakfast and coffee! Not only do I enjoy it, but I need something to eat in the morning, and I crave the comfort of my coffee. Until I read this verse, I don't know that I would have used the word "treasured," but I can admittedly say now that I treasure my morning food and I find my coffee necessary! I could be running ten minutes late, but that's never too late to grab my to-go tumbler and a piece of toast to eat in the car! Why, then, is it too late to open the Word of my precious Savior to see what He has to satisfy me that morning?
Cup of Grace is designed to bring you weekly encouragement in the Word, not as a substitute for your own meditation in the Word, but as a supplement to your personal pursuit of your relationship with God. We also desire to add accountability within our church body. So go grab your favorite mug, fill it with your favorite drink, then read, be encouraged, laugh, cry (and please post comments) alongside the ladies of Grace Baptist Church.
And the best part is, you don't even have to get out of your pj's first!
~Rebecca Phillips~
~Rebecca Phillips~
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