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18 May 2008
Christian AidA Special Week of Reflections for Christian Aid Week 2008
Christian Aid Week (11th-17th May 2008) is seven amazing days of fundraising, campaigning and worship. It unites 300,000 people in the UK's biggest house-to-house collection. It inspires hundreds of events, brings together thousands of churches and reaches millions of people with messages about poverty. And most importantly, it helps people in poor communities around the world change their lives. To find out more about Christian Aid visit Christian Aid
Corinthians 12 v 4-11
There are different kinds of gifts, but they are all from the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve but the same Lord to serve. And there are different ways that God works through people but the same God. God works in all of us in everything we do. Something from the Spirit can be seen in each person, for the common good. The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom, and the same Spirit gives another the ability to speak with knowledge. The same Spirit gives faith to one person. And, to another, that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. The Spirit gives to another person the power to do miracles, to another the ability to prophesy. And he gives to another the ability to know the difference between good and evil spirits. The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak in different kinds of languages and to another the ability to interpret those languages. One Spirit, the same Spirit, does all these things, and the Spirit decides what to give each person.
I still have the same group of girlfriends from my school days and a bit like the spice girls we all have our roles. "Organiser-spice" holds the whole thing together and it's probably down to her that we are still in touch and such good friends. I received an email from her in April with details of our Christmas get-together - she's that good! And while I would never have the ability to organise a social event 8 months in advance, at least I know that as "arty-spice" I could hand-make some pretty invite cards!
We all have different strengths and as the passage shows, the Holy Spirit also gives us different gifts. It's quite common to not know what we want to do with our lives, or even to not know what God wants us to do with our lives. Preaching is not for everyone, missions work is not for everyone, singing is certainly not for everyone (especially not me) but every single one of us has gifts from God. Discovering them and using them is exciting and fulfilling. Not only do these gifts bless us but they bless others. It's not up to us to chase a certain gift, or to want what others have. Instead, let's ask God to work in us to develop the wonderful gifts that he has set aside, just for us.
Dear God, thank you for all you have given me, help me to develop your gifts and to use them for your glory. Amen
Written by Bianca Parry, Churches Youth Manager at Christian Aid
Christian AidA Special Week of Reflections for Christian Aid Week 2008
Christian Aid Week (11th-17th May 2008) is seven amazing days of fundraising, campaigning and worship. It unites 300,000 people in the UK's biggest house-to-house collection. It inspires hundreds of events, brings together thousands of churches and reaches millions of people with messages about poverty. And most importantly, it helps people in poor communities around the world change their lives. To find out more about Christian Aid visit Christian Aid
Corinthians 12 v 4-11
There are different kinds of gifts, but they are all from the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve but the same Lord to serve. And there are different ways that God works through people but the same God. God works in all of us in everything we do. Something from the Spirit can be seen in each person, for the common good. The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom, and the same Spirit gives another the ability to speak with knowledge. The same Spirit gives faith to one person. And, to another, that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. The Spirit gives to another person the power to do miracles, to another the ability to prophesy. And he gives to another the ability to know the difference between good and evil spirits. The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak in different kinds of languages and to another the ability to interpret those languages. One Spirit, the same Spirit, does all these things, and the Spirit decides what to give each person.
I still have the same group of girlfriends from my school days and a bit like the spice girls we all have our roles. "Organiser-spice" holds the whole thing together and it's probably down to her that we are still in touch and such good friends. I received an email from her in April with details of our Christmas get-together - she's that good! And while I would never have the ability to organise a social event 8 months in advance, at least I know that as "arty-spice" I could hand-make some pretty invite cards!
We all have different strengths and as the passage shows, the Holy Spirit also gives us different gifts. It's quite common to not know what we want to do with our lives, or even to not know what God wants us to do with our lives. Preaching is not for everyone, missions work is not for everyone, singing is certainly not for everyone (especially not me) but every single one of us has gifts from God. Discovering them and using them is exciting and fulfilling. Not only do these gifts bless us but they bless others. It's not up to us to chase a certain gift, or to want what others have. Instead, let's ask God to work in us to develop the wonderful gifts that he has set aside, just for us.
Dear God, thank you for all you have given me, help me to develop your gifts and to use them for your glory. Amen
Written by Bianca Parry, Churches Youth Manager at Christian Aid
