October 2nd, 2006 - Bible Reading and Discussion
Host: Susan Nolte
Topic: Gifts and Calling

For the first Mondays in October we are meeting, like we did during the summer, for Bible passage readings and discussion.

There were similarities and differences. Instead of a meal there was dessert which made moving into the reading and discussion faster. We didn't know the verse beforehand so, unlike the summer sessions we could not prepare in advance. We read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 on Spiritual Gifts:

12 1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

Perhaps because there was a new face in our group we talked about spiritual gifts but, because a piece of this was about activities in community, the meaningful parts of the discussion were about close friendships. Paul talked about a basketball team he was on where he developed lifelong friends.

Sara talked about her Pentecostal friends and how they viewed Christians feeling uncomfortable speaking in tongues.

To illustrate a point John talked about the philosophy of PLU’s now retired football coach Frosty Westering who was an inspiration to many of my college friends. The way John talked about Frosty it was obvious he was inspired as well.

We did talk about gifts we perceived in others and ourselves. Here Sharilyn's gift for hospitality and Shirley's gift for infectious enthusiasm were singled out among others. It is hard to write about all we talked about concisely. In a discussion like this you are either skimming the surface or you are wading in detail.

Calling. Our groups equated this somewhat with work. Jane is moving from a dental assistant to a physical education coach after a long discernment process.

I think this will be delved into in greater depth during upcoming sessions and in this blog so I will end here with thoughts about what is to come.