The Practice of Living with Purpose

THE PRACTICE OF LIVING WITH PURPOSE

Spiritual Gifts
1 Corinthians 12:4-11

 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit.
There are different ways to serve the same Lord, and we can each do different things.
Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do.
The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.
Some of us can speak with wisdom, while others can speak with knowledge,
but these gifts come from the same Spirit.
To others the Spirit has given great faith or the power to heal the sick or the power to work mighty miracles.
Some of us are prophets, and some of us recognize when God’s Spirit is present.
Others can speak different kinds of languages, and still others can understand these languages.
But it is the Spirit who does all this and decides which gifts to give to each of us. 

Call and Commission
Jeremiah 1:4-10

 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God!
Truly I do not know how to speak,
for I am not yet grown.”

But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am not yet grown,’
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you.”

Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth, and said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth.
See, today I appoint you over nations and over empires,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”

 Greatest Commandment
Matthew 22:34-40

 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had left the Sadducees speechless,
they met together. One of them, a legal expert, tested him.
“Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your being, and with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it:
You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.
All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”