Dear Fellow Children of God,

To follow up on my doctor visit – my foot still hurts. It’s some kind of “itis” that’ll resolve itself with “RICE” – rest, ice, compression, and exercise. The exercise involves massaging, stretching, and light resistance with bands. Still, my foot is sore, which makes getting the rest of me around more trouble than usual. Fortunately, it is getting better. The work of the doctors, my own hands doing the exercises, and some prayer is working together heal my foot.

Following Paul’s analogy in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, this is another good picture of God’s church. In our baptism, God has called each of us into His Body, the Church. And just like a human body is made of many parts, the parts all come together as one body. Each part of the body affects the other parts – when my foot hurts, the rest of my body feels the pain. And no part is unnecessary – if I were to eliminate the pain by removing my foot, getting around would be a lot more difficult. Just like God has put all the parts together to create each of us as a human being, He has also put us, individual members, together into His church. He has gifted each of us in different ways to serve Him and His church.

We’re not all feet, or hands, or eyes, or noses … some of us are teachers, some healers, some helpers, some administrators and leaders – all of us are something. God has gifted all of us in some way to serve Him and His church. And He calls us to use those gifts in service. “(We) are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). None of us is indispensable – we’re all necessary. When one of us of decides not to share our gifts with the rest, we all suffer. When we all use our gifts as God calls us to, we all benefit, and God’s kingdom thrives and grows. Listen to God’s call and use your gift in service to Him.

                                  In Christ’s Love,

                                                                                                        Pastor Jim