Lutheran Helps for WEEK FIVE

Day 29: Accepting Your Assignment
As already stated above, Lutherans believe that we are saved from sin in order to be saved for service. We are created for ministry in the church, to build up the Body of Christ, and for mission in the world, to help bring in the Kingdom of God as a reality for others. Maturity, while the goal of the Christian life, is not an end in and of itself. Maturity leads to ministry. This is a good place to be thinking about hoe God ha gifted you for ministry in and outside the congregation.

Day 30: Shaped for Serving God
The beginning of this devotional is a little heavy on predestination. God created us for a purpose – to serve God as we use our gifts and passions to work for the Kingdom. We remember that each day is a gift in which God spreads a banquet table before us from which to feast. God gives each of us gifts. Whether we use them to serve God is our choice. (Free will) SHAPE can be a great model for understanding our giftedness.

Day 31: Understanding Your Shape
Each of us is unique. We are called to serve God’s Kingdom. If we don’t fulfill our calling, others go unfulfilled. If we don’t share our gifts or serve in the Body of Christ, we weaken it and it won’t function as God intends. Page 146 – God permits and uses our situations as learning experiences. We can learn from every type of experience, sometimes more from adverse situations than good ones. God does not wish painful experiences in our lives any more than we parents wish our children to suffer. But God uses painful situations to help us learn and trust that God is with us.

Day 32: Using What God Gave You
This chapter present a helpful exploration of Spiritual Gifts. We need to learn to accept ourselves, and our God-given shape.

Day 33: How Real Servants Act
Life offers us “tests.” With God, they become opportunities for growth and serving others. There are limits to being available, but no limits in the situations in which we find ourselves. It’s a matter of attitude, focus and orientation. Key for Lutherans: Servant attitude – how might I be Christ’s servant for/to you?

Page 262 – Lutherans do not believe we serve for reward. That is more of a cultural understanding and motivation. Rather, we serve as a means of showing our love for God as we love our neighbor. Page 263 – We can serve God’s purpose wherever we are. Place is not as important as faithfulness.

Day 34: Thinking Like a Servant
Underlying question: What does it mean to have a servant mind and heart? What does it mean for Jesus to be my Lord? Is Jesus the only one I listen to, take my directions from, and seek to honor or please?

Day 35: God’s Power in Your Weakness
This chapter emphasize learning to accept our limitations. How does our self-perception limit our responding to God? Henri Nouwen writes: we are wounded healers. God uses our brokenness as a way of bringing help to others who experience similar situations.