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Most of us don’t give a whole lot of thought to our spiritual gifts. Maybe we take a spiritual gifts test at some point and we can say what our top three are, but are we really taking the time to learn how to use those gifts empowered by the Spirit? What’s more, the Apostle Paul says to “eagerly desire the greater gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31). Are we doing that? Do we even know how to do that? 

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What does it mean to be a stumbling block, an impediment to someone else’s
forward progress? For Christians it means that we could do something that might stand in the way of someone coming to Christ or moving deeper in relationship with Christ. This would be bad. Paul explains to the Corinthian Christians that while we are free in Christ, we don’t want to do anything that might cause someone else to sin.

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Sex is everywhere in our world today. It’s used in entertainment, it’s used in marketing, it’s used in literature, sex is everywhere. We have to ask ourselves how does the church relate to the way sex is used in our culture today? How can we be part of a positive vision for sex and God’s purposes within it?

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Divisions seem to have always been a part of human history. From the very earliest recordings of history, we can see people dividing up themselves for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, these divisions were a result of social, economic, or racial tensions. We tend to divide themes like age, gender, social structures, education, ethnicity, etc, into categories; and we also divide countries through borders. To be sure, some of these are necessary, but some have been harmful and damaging for so many.

When we think of the harmful side of divisions, I don’t think that very many people think first about the church. I mean, the church? Divisions in the church? Especially not in the “United” Methodist Church? That’s sounds as strange as saying that there are no divisions in the “United” States of America...

And yet, the Apostle Paul exposed and addressed several problems in the church at Corinth, and the first one he dealt with was the problem of division. This was very intentional because how can you ever work together for a common good if you don’t have at least agreement and
unity of purpose? We can have the best plan in the world, but if we are divided by selfish interest, then that plan has little chance of success.

The Apostle Paul saw how these divisions were harming and hindering the work of Christ in the church at Corinth so he addressed them in 1 Corinthians, and, again, it’s no surprise that the first one he tackled was division. The division that existed in the church at Corinth was impacting every other area of the church in a not good way.

The Apostle Paul summed up his exhortation to the division issue with a rhetorical question: Is Christ divided? The obvious answer is no; so then, why so much division? Again, he answered with another question: “I mean, because of all this division, doesn’t that show me that you all are still a little worldly?” (1 Cor. 3:3, my paraphrase)

Divisions, like many other issues, are a very human thing. However, the Gospel of Jesus makes possible to have Christian unity to honor God and for the common good of the church and world.

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The experience of the transfiguration of Jesus is one of those spectacular events, experienced by very few people, just three apostles, that was a once in a lifetime event. But the action of Jesus to go away for a while to pray, either by himself or with a few others, is not rare at all. In fact, Jesus made a regular habit of it. Seeking solitary time to pray was something Jesus did and exemplified for others to follow. Scripture is replete with examples of the faithful whom took time to put everything else in life aside in order to sit in the presence of God. In fact, doing so is part of the way in which we were designed by God from the creation.

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Christians are by nature a “sent” people. We do not simply stand around in a “holy huddle” keeping to ourselves. We are empowered by the Spirit and sent by Jesus to be witnesses in the world. The question for the church is, are we sending people?

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The question comes up about what it means to be “welcoming” as Paul demonstrates at the end of the book of Acts. He welcomed everyone who came to see him and did so with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But what does that look like both as a church and as individuals to be welcoming? Churches have reputations as being welcoming but many actually fall short. People likewise may think they are welcoming, but it may only be to people already in their circle of friends, not outsiders.

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We all have an understanding of the things that our church does – the ministry, the programs, the groups, etc. But do we ever think about the purpose of THE Church, the universal Church of Jesus Christ? What is it that we do, and why do we do it? There are many answers to do this, but at the heart of our purpose is to share the news of Jesus that desperately needs to hear it. 

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We all have a story or two to tell of how we have been impacted by something or by someone. Sometimes that can be a positive impact, but other times it may be not so positive. But, when-ever something positive impacts us in a powerful way, even in the midst of the not so positive, it is something that can change our lives.

Such is the case when God makes an indelible impact on our lives. When this happens, we be-come a light in the world, especially in the midst of darkness. Jesus knew that as we lived out God’s impact on us, that we would produce good works; these good works, in turn, would be to glorify God as they edify those around us.

God’s presence in us does that, and so much more. When our lives are impacted by God, we are never again the same, when our lives are impacted by God’s grace, there is always a living hope within us.

When we think about people who have impacted the world as they were impacted by God, there are probably a lot of “big league” names that come to mind — Abraham, Moses, David, Paul, or Martin Luther, John Calvin, or Billy Graham.

But, these were not the only people who were impacted by God and impacted the world, there were many others who had an impact, but are lesser known, and mentioned less. Such is the case of two of the three women we’ll look at today.

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