AMBER STERLING
When Ryan and I talked about the service this coming Sunday, he said he had a few main talking points around how we contribute and sent me this quote, “Every one of us was made to contribute to what God is doing for the good of this world here and now.” So, I thought about songs that we can use to help understand what it looks like to live a life of calling and destiny and thought I’d share a little snippet about each song and what I think they will bring to our worship on Sunday.
•Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 12:7 says, “The Spirit’s presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.” Understanding the Holy Spirit, even for scholars , is difficult and a lot of times controversial, which is why I love the simplicity of the Spirit in this verse. To me it basically says that the Spirit is the expression of our spiritual gifts and that it is shown in each person—not some people or a select few, the Holy Spirit is shown in some way in each person. No one is left out, no one is “not good enough” or “not holy enough”. We all have spiritual gifts and they will be shown because of the Holy Spirits presence in us. I chose this song for us to start our worship with because the lyrics welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit, so we can see our spiritual gifts and what God is calling us to do for the good of all.
•Faithful to the End
What motivates us to want to know and use our spiritual gifts? God loves us and promises us that we are part of His story—that our spiritual gifts and how we use them matters because we have a calling and destiny that impacts the good of all. None of us are insignificant, none of us have lesser or greater gifts, they are all part of the puzzle that creates God’s kingdom here on Earth. If even just one piece is missing, the puzzle cannot be complete. The lyrics of this song really speak to God’s promise of a calling/destiny in our lives and being so moved by God’s love that we give everything we have to serve Him, “We’re heaven-spun creations, His pride and adoration…His careful hands they hold us safe within His promise of calling and of Destiny..All of my life Your love has been true and with all of my life, I will worship You.”
•Reason to Sing
I feel like in my life, I find my motivation and enthusiasm are much less in times of stress than when life is calm. When my kids are doing well at home and school, finances are running smoothly, job is going ok, I have the emotional bandwidth to be motivated and enthusiastic about things and trusting God’s plan seems like a natural part of life. But when stress starts to push down on me, I tend to look inward and not up. Basically, faith is easier for me when it’s not being tested. Reason to Sing speaks to me because it reminds me to ask for help, not to get stuck on trying to be perfect. Like when the song says “and all that seems to matter is I don’t feel You anymore…I need a reason to sing.” Or in other words, I’ve lost my way and I need You, God, to remind me why I’m here.
We all have spiritual gifts and we are called to use them because of what they mean for us and for the good of all. I hope that our worship brings you closer to understanding your gifts, as well as learning to show yourself grace and asking for help when your path is not clear.
Love to you all 🙂
The songs from our worship gatherings are curated on our Spotify channel. We encourage you to read the reflection and listen to the songs as we all prepare to gather together to worship as a community.
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