By Sally Ponce, administrative assistant for student services
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 (NRSV)
Last year I was given an Advent calendar of sorts. For every day in December, one is to complete an act of kindness. When I began, I took joy in the thought of those I could be kind to.
I sent a card to an old classmate’s son who was serving overseas. She was so pleased a person who did not know her son personally would take the time to write him. Another day, I was to pass out candy canes wherever I went. I went through the drive thru at McDonald’s and handed out candy canes to all the employees. Their faces were all filled with bright smiles. Another day, I was to call a family member that lived out of state. I called my cousin, Ruth. Unknowingly, I called the day before her mother’s birthday. My aunt had died the spring before. My cousin said she had been feeling down thinking about her mom when I called. At the beginning, I had been thinking of how I could be kind to others. But I was the one who had been blessed. Each act of kindness had been repaid double what I had given.
Today’s passage talks about grace. What is grace? It is defined as a virtue coming from God or having favor. As followers, God has given us grace. God wants each of us to use this grace in all that we do, from the way we speak to one another to how we share our skills to help.
It was not me writing the card to the soldier overseas. It was not me passing out the candy canes. It was not me making the phone call to my cousin at just the right moment. It was Jesus, by his grace in me. His strength makes it possible to be a living testimony. How will you use the grace Jesus has given you to be a testimony of him this Advent season?
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 (NRSV)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— 7so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.