Today, we look at a Day 3 text from this year’s summer curriculum, “Boundless: God Beyond Measure.”
Reading The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16) Reflection I’ve been a part of some discussions lately about how in our culture today, it isn’t always okay to be friendly with people whose viewpoint is different from your own. I heard a story in a podcast about how the host, when he visits his wife’s family in Texas, enjoys hanging out with a friend of their family. However, he and that friend are very different. The friend is religious, he is not. The friend is conversative politically, he is more centrist to left leaning. The host says some outsiders might discourage him from visiting the friend when they travel. But he says that individual is his favorite person to visit. This summer, we are going to talk to our campers about how God’s welcome is abundant. God would pick to hang out with anyone! In fact, Jesus was a model of that when he was on earth. He hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes! Our scripture for today reminds us that we each have different gifts and as we share those gifts with people who are not like us, we are enriched by giving and also by receiving the gifts the other person has to share. We need all the parts to make this world go around. Thanks be to God! --Chad Hershberger Prayer Lord, you can show us the way to welcome others with big, open arms. Help us to be kind to the stranger and those who differ from us. Amen. Our devotions are based on this Sunday’s Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). The RCL is a three-year cycle of readings telling the story of our Christian faith and corresponding to the season church calendar. On any given Sunday, we are hearing and praying and examining the same Scripture with millions of Christians around the world. In our current Year C, the Old Testament readings progress through the Prophets and have the theme of the day that it is connected to the Gospel reading. The Psalm, a song the congregation sings in response to the Old Testament reading, most often corresponds to the theme of the Hebrew Lessons and/or that of the Gospel Lesson. The lesson from the Epistles or from Acts typifies the church’s focus on the meaning of Christ for today. The Gospel lesson is connected to the season of the Church Year. This year, our gospel readings are from Luke, who writes that Jesus is the universal Savior and the perfect Son of Man. In the current season of Lent, we focus on baptismal identity and the consequent amendment of life.
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