We all clearly have different gifts of talent and ability. Some of us are more suited to working outside with our hands, and some of us are better working with conceptual tasks. Some of us are more musical, athletic, or strategic in our daily activities depending on our unique, personal natures. But there are also differences in our spiritual gifts that we may not think of as often. Some of us are more gifted in wisdom, while others may be better in the realms of knowledge, for example.

This Sunday we will reflect on our spiritual gifts. Sometimes a discussion on spiritual gifts touches on task preferences. There are spiritual gift inventories that help people choose the kinds of work they would like to participate in based on the kinds of tasks they like to perform. But the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians talks about spiritual gifts differently. The traits he refers to in his letter are attributes like wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, and healing. These are things I don’t think we can necessarily learn to be good at by following a certain training curriculum; they come to us as gifts from the Holy Spirit. What would you say are your spiritual gifts, and do you feel like you are making good use of them?

Prayers of the People for the week by Gail Roberts.

Special music by the Chancel Choir.

In last week’s message, we talked about the joy of discovery. It’s so exciting to discover something new that we feel compelled to share our new finding with other people. However, some discoveries are hidden from competitors or adversaries so that we can have an advantage over them. Technical discoveries are often classified so that international rivals will not use them against us, and businesses keep their intellectual property out of the public domain so they can profit from them before their competitors learn the new revelation.

In our passage this week from the Apostle Paul, we read about his revelation that although the Jews have been considered the chosen people, it was time to make the Kingdom of God known to the Gentiles as well. Through Christ, the mysteries of God are made available to everyone. The secret is out, and the truths of God’s Kingdom are not to be considered the property of any single group. Paul feels compelled to spread the message he has received from God to everyone and to teach the churches to continue spreading God’s word. As the body of Christ, we are also called to reach out to the rest of the world and share the gospel message that has been made available to us.

Weekly prayers of the people by Allison Essinger.

Special music by the Chancel Choir.

For many of us the passing of Christmas Day brings a sense of relief. The stress of shopping in crowded stores, tracking the shipment of gifts that were hopefully sent early enough to reach their destinations before Christmas Day, and planning for dinners and parties can now be released. Whether we were as “successful” in all our preparation endeavors or not, the day has passed, and there is no need to worry about it anymore. We are ready for a nice rest from our “holiday.”

This is a good time to reflect on the new year ahead and assess the changes we think would be helpful in our lives – probably better than next week’s New Year celebration which has its own stresses for travel, parties, and other celebrations. Our passage this week comes from Colossians which gives very good advice to consider while thinking about the new year. We are encouraged to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, and to forgive those seemingly inappropriate interactions we may have encountered in the past few frantic weeks. Join us on Sunday as we continue the Christmas season celebration by remembering the peace of Christ that has come into this world to dwell with us.

Chancel choir anthem for Christmas Eve, December 24, 2021.

Chancel choir anthem for Sunday, December 26, 2021.

Prayers of the People for Sunday, December 26, 2021 by Debbie Pallack.