We Are Many Parts - One Body

What are you good at? Let the children tell you (at our church this morning, one girl stated that she could play the piano well, a boy stated that he was a good reader and another girl stated that she could draw well.) Ask the children about who do they think gave them this special gift or talent. The children stated that they believed that they received their special talent or gift from God. Ask the children, what do you suppose God wants you to do with your gift? Do you think that you should just enjoy the gift God gave you all by yourself? In church, the children all agreed that the gift(s) they have were meant to be shared with others. Why, I asked? They responded, “So that other people could also get closer to God.”

What do you think needs to happen so that the church was ready for services on Sunday? We want to come to a clean church, don't we? Someone has to make sure that the heater or the airconditioner is turned on and working. The doors must be unlocked and the lights have to be turned on. The water in the kitchen and bathroom must be working. Do you think the choir had to practice the music for today's service? Yes, all of these things are important.

God has given each of us special gifts and we need to develop our gifts. Even though we might have a special gift, it doesn't mean that we don’t need to practice to get even better at using our gift or talent. We are adding onto our church right now, so just think about all the people who are involved in that project (the plumber, the electrician, the dry wall workers, the masons, the carpenters, et cetera). Think about all the people who serve our church on committees and how everyone is important to the success of our church in helping bring others closer to Christ Jesus, and how serving on these committees also changes us and help to bring us all closer to God. There is a song, by Marty Haugen that speaks about how we are all have different gifts, but we are one body in Christ Jesus. The title of the song is "We Are Many Parts" and it says:

We are many parts, we are all one body, and the gifts we have we are given to share. May the Spirit of love make us one in deed; one, the love that we share, one, our hope in despair, one, the cross that we bear.

Closing: Our Heavenly Father loves us very much and loves to see us use the gifts He has blessed us with, especially when we choose to use our gift to bring us closer to Him or to help others get nearer to Him.

Prayer: Father, help us to know what special gift you’ve given us. Help us to develop our gifts fully so we can bring ourselves and others closer to you. Amen.

"We Are Many Parts" by Marty Haugen. Copyright © 1986 by GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.