December 22-28, 2003
December 22-28, 2003
SOLI/Update
New this week: Dec. 22-28
Random
Thoughts on Stewardship
"If we give out of surplus, or in a leftover manner,
we have ignored the gifts God has given us. We have not planned our response to
God for all we have been blessed with. We are more concerned with what we want
for ourselves than what God wants for all people." By
Robert Scmitt. From the
Lutheran Laity Movement Archives.
Mary's Glimpse into God's Kingdom
"Filled
with the Holy Spirit and carrying the hope of the world, Mary gets a glimpse of
God's intention for creation. And it looks startlingly different from human
vision. And we who have been sealed by this same Holy Spirit and marked by the
cross of that same Hope for the world are offered that same glimpse of God's
intention for creation." In Dana Reardon's weekly reflection.
'I
just don't have the time'
"Martin Luther said that whatever
we set our heart on or put our trust in becomes our religion and our god. The
trouble is that most of us are trying to serve too many gods."
A timely reflection from
H. George Anderson, former presiding bishop of the ELCA.
We
Are God's Tools
"God is like the
cabinet maker. He uses us as his tools, selecting certain people to do
certain tasks according to their abilities. Some of us are like new tools.
Others have been ground and honed and renovated by the Master's skill over
and over again. We are tools in the hands of The Craftsman, and whatever job
we do, it is not because we are some incredible tool on our own, but because
we are in His hands."
StewardLife
from the
Lutheran Church -
Missouri Synod