GraceLutheranchurch.plattecenter.ne - Grace Lutheran Church/ Platte Center, NE

On Tuesdays of each week at 9 am, Pastor Mike is leading an adult Bible class for those who would like to come. Please bring your Bible's and be prepared to stretch your brains as we discuss what God's Word has to say to us.

On every Wednesday of the month, Lois M. and Selma L. teach 3rd-5th grade Catechism. Pastor Mike teaches 6th-8th grade about the catechism. This takes place from 4:15 pm-5:30pm. Our doors are always open to newcomers as well.

On Sundays, we have adult Bible class at 9 am. We also have 11am Sunday School after our 10 am worship service. We offer Sunday School for ages 3 years old through adult. Please join us at any time for class and fellowship.

FROM THE DESK OF PASTOR MIKE:

Gifts that Build up the Church----Isaiah 6:1-13 , 1 Corinthians 14:12-20, Luke 5:1-11
When you read the subject line of this devotion, what comes to your mind? Do you picture gifts of carpentry, plumbing, electrical, etc. that build churches? Do you picture monetary gifts that build churches, but also may enable pastors, missionaries, teachers and others to BE the church?

Do you think about God's gifts to such people, gifts of preaching, teaching, evangelism and the like...gifts that enable, enlighten, empower and enlarge the quality and numbers of people who are the church? These last are probably the gifts that Paul meant when he wrote to the Corinthians: "Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church."

Do Paul's words imply that there might be gifts that do not build up, but may even tear down the church? We have all heard, "It's not the gift, but the thought that counts." Well, that is never more true than when it is applied to the spiritual gifts of the Christians in Corinth.

In Sunday's lesson, Paul says, "Stop thinking like children." The people in Corinth had taken the children's ploy, "my dad's bigger than yours" and turned it to say, "my gift is better than yours." The gifts are all good, but if I act in a way that excludes you because I have a certain gift and you don't, that does...indeed...tear down the church.

Paul specifically addresses the gift of speaking in tongues. He points out that praying to or praising God in a tongue may edify the speaker, but no one else. He wrote, "If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say 'Amen' to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?" A footnote in the NIV suggests that he may be referring to those who are "seekers," people who do not yet believe, but are looking, trying to find meaning, maybe even trying to find God.

In any culture, the concept of God's grace is a foreign thought. People have trouble comprehending not only the meaning but also the very possibility of God's undeserved favor. The word "grace" is just one of hundreds that are packed with meaning for Christians, but "speaking in a tongue" to those who do not understand. Unbelieving English-speaking people may have heard references to "saying grace" but they associate that with a mealtime prayer. Otherwise, they hear "charm and grace" normally associated with a woman's air, attitude and poise. What do they think of when we speak of God's grace?

Not long ago, I was in line at a fast food place waiting to get some breakfast. The man in front of me ordered a breakfast sandwich and coffee. The server told him the price and he reached for his pocket. Suddenly, he turned very pale and then quite red. He had forgotten his wallet. I quickly paid for his breakfast, but I thought for a while he would leave it behind. He kept wanting to work out a way to pay me back or whatever. I said: "Look, I'm a Christian. God does so many wonderful things for us when we don't deserve them. He even treats us well when we treat Him and each other badly. Surely I can buy your breakfast." He said, "Well, maybe I can do the same thing for you or somebody else some time." He thanked me and we said farewell. But then I thought about that last remark. He still couldn't accept a little touch of grace. He had to "do the same" for somebody and, in that way, pay me back. Who knows...maybe he thought I was trying to pay God back by being nice to him.

Now, it should be obvious to regular readers of these devotions that "grace" is one of my all-time favorite words to use when speaking about God. I am only saying that we need to let Paul's concern for those who do not understand influence what we do and say in worship or in conversations where unchurched people may be present. Have you ever thought that the very act of speaking the Lord's Prayer or Apostle's Creed from memory has the potential to alienate seekers in our midst? That doesn't mean we shouldn't pray or confess them, but it does mean that we could think ahead about putting a copy into a wedding bulletin or funeral folder. We can make a concentrated effort to include and enfold those who do not know or do not understand.

People with the gift of teaching build up the church when they lead Bible classes, enlightening the minds and enriching the lives of fellow believers. They also build up the church when they teach the Gospel to those who do not know it. But if they spend their time tooting their own horns or if they put down anyone who can't teach or if they teach bigotry and hatred toward anyone not like themselves, they tear down what God gave the gift to build up.

A man with the gift of an evangelist can definitely build up the church...unless he spends all his time preaching to the choir. A woman confided to me that she had such a member in her choir. She said, "He has wonderful things to say, but how can we get him to shut up so we can practice?" Paul wrote: "In the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue." To that a friend of mine once quipped, "I don't want to hear 10,000 words from ANY preacher!"

When Isaiah found himself in the very presence of almighty God he said, "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." When Peter saw more fish in a net than were ever possible to catch...more than he and his friends could get into two boats, he knew that he was in the same very presence as Isaiah. He said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" Both men lived. Both were called and equipped with God's gifts to be spokesmen for that same almighty God. The simple sentence, "Both men lived," reveals the meaning of God's grace. Common sense correctly tells us that dropping a sinful creature into the presence of the sinless Creator is akin to dropping an ice cube into a forest fire or a lighted match into the ocean. The sinner doesn't have a prayer.

But by God's grace we do have exactly that...a prayer and a loving answer. God dropped His Son into the evil world. For a moment, it appeared that the evil consumed Him by nailing Him to a cross, but in that same moment He defeated evil. In His resurrection He exchanged His crown of thorns for a crown of glory and victory. Mercy, grace and love...these are the essential ingredients of God and of His gifts to people. "Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church, but always glorify the gifts that God has given you. To Him alone be the glory! Amen.