It's your call!

In 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 we learn that a spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire churhc.  To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another, the gift of special knowledge.  The Spirit gives special faith to another, and to someone else, the power to heal the sick.  One person is given the power to perform miracles, and another, the ability to prophesy.  To someone else is given the ability to know wheterh it is really the Spirit of God or another spirit that is speaking.  Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, and another is given the ability to interpreet what is being said.  It is the one and only Holy Sirit who distributes these gifts and decides which gift each person should have.

Have you ever wondered what your Spiritual Gift(s) might be? Or perhaps you have filled out a Spiritual Gifts Discovery inventory to identify those gifts but never acted upon it.  Or maybe you did this several years ago and your gifts and interests have changed.  Consider completing Unity's Spiritual Gifts Discovery Exercise to help you find your call.   

Not sure how to share those gifts?  The Opportunities Brochure can help you find ministries at Unity and in the community to share your spiritual gifts.

As you wonder about YOUR call, find out what some of your friends at Unity feel about THEIR call.

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“Commitment is a bond between what we ‘love,’ what we plan, and what we actually do.”

There are many types of Commitment. You can be committed to God, your country, your spouse, your family, or to one of a thousand different animate or inanimate things. When we take our spouse’s hand in marriage, we commit ourselves to their physical and emotional welfare. They in return, put their trust in us to provide not only for them, but also for our children, forsaking all to the betterment of one relationship under God.

Many of us say that we are committed to God. However, do the plans we make and the actions we take in our daily lives demonstrate a true love of God? Truly making a commitment to a Christian ideology means that you accept that God comes first and then everything else afterwards; believing in one God, one Savior, one Bible and one way of Salvation.

We make decisions each and every day on how we spend our time. How we budget our time gives us an idea of what we truly value in our lives. Are you one who dedicates time each day for an on ongoing spiritual journey? For many, keeping a log of how they spend their time during a given week can be very enlightening. Their analysis of this log will help them determine whether their plans and actions support their perceived commitments. 

Our spiritual journeys at Unity can follow many different routes. Make your Commitment to God today, and then develop plans and execute actions that support that Commitment.

Nancy and Tim Deacon

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    One of the opportunities in our Church is to serve on a Care Team. The Care Teams were formed to minister to the needs of a specific church member who may be elderly, ill, or home bound.   We have been assigned to families with infants and to those who need our help in their later years.   We meet for less than an hour once a month for devotion, to reflect on the joys, concerns and experiences we have had, and to plan our assignments for the next month. 

When we joined this group, we thought we would be assisting those who need our help.   While that is true, those whom we are serving have also been an inspiration to us. We have received more than we give. The Care Team has allowed us to meet good friends who serve with us on this Team.

In II Corinthians 9:6-7 the Bible says: “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.   Each man should give what he has decided in his year to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”     Serving on the Care Team has made it easy to give cheerfully.

Kevin & Mary Sue McGrath

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One of the things I enjoy most about our church is the many varied opportunities it presents to do God’s work. One of our newer ministries is participating in the Second Harvest Partners mission. We pay a small fee and a truck full of food arrives at the scheduled (or fairly close) time. Then a small army of volunteers from our church, and our partner church Jerusalem Baptist, unload the food from the truck, bag it, box it, and carry it to the cars of the people being served. The first time we participated we really didn’t know what to expect. Just a few people arrived at first but slowly they started rolling in as the morning went on. It was pretty amazing that at 11:00 am, we were making plans with what to do with the leftover food and, by noon, every piece of food we had was gone. A lot of families had multiple meals from this day’s work.

A lot of things about this ministry were inspiring: seeing the young ladies from our youth group warmly greet each person and make them feel welcome; seeing all ages from our church work together in ministry; getting a chance to meet, work with, and make a connection with people from our partner church Jerusalem Baptist.

The most moving part for me though was something I didn’t expect, seeing people I knew in line for food. I saw the friend of the family who made our wedding cake when Denese and I were married 23 years ago. I saw the mother of a boy I coached in ten year old basketball who was fighting cancer and struggling to make ends meet. The ministries of our church touch people and I am grateful that we have so many opportunities to serve.

Don Reichenbach

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One my favorite people in all the scriptures is Enoch—7th generation from Adam. He lived a long time ago. Very little information about him is given in the Bible, but what is given is powerful. Genesis 5:21 tells us that Enoch “walked with God”. Enoch is mentioned a few more times throughout the Bible and each time he is mentioned, it is recorded that he “walked with God”. Could this be the summation of all Christian commitment—to walk with God?

In Micah it is written that God has revealed to man all that God requires of man: to show justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him. So simple, yet so profound. Again, could this be the summation of all Christian commitment—to walk humbly with God?

What could be more of a commitment for each of us than if we began each day with a conscious prayer for God to let us walk with Him? “Dear God, this day, let me walk with you.”

Doing this every day (not once in a while) at the beginning of the day with focus on God and praise for Him should give us a balanced perspective of the day, which is God’s day, even though you must spend it in man’s world.

Simple—YES!

Easy to do—NO!

A practice that develops a daily commitment to God? I truly believe so!

Sue Jones

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