PASTOR
HENNIGConcordia Lutheran School
2300 Wilshire Road
Springfield, Illinois 62703
June 2010 Concordia Cares
PASTOR
HENNIG
Grace, peace, and mercy be to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The weather forecast was as good as can be expected for early May, "upper 60’s mostly sunny", just tough to beat – a great day for a track meet. Unfortunately the clouds didn’t break up as anticipated and the sun did not shine as we had hoped. We needed to keep in mind Psalm 118:24 "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it". The meet began with prayer and the athletes competed to the best of their abilities, preliminary heats were run and the finals were set for Sunday.
Sunday morning began with a church service and there an awesome moment occurred. During the gathering of the offerings I noticed a father reaching for his wallet and handing money to his children, both smiled with thanks and pride as they received the gift and placed it into the offering plate. That’s what its all about. What an excellent example of what God Himself does for us. As this earthly father gave a "gift" to his children that they could give it away we see a reflection of the purpose for God giving us His gifts; that we might give them away. These young athletes competing were using their abilities in Christian competition congratulating winners and cheering one who fell yet still got up and finished the race even though she was considerably behind the rest.
As we look at those examples of using God’s gifts let us learn from simple witness of a father and his children – the father who gave a gift that the gift might be given away. God has greatly gifted us in many ways that we might share with others His gifts of time, talent and treasures; and let us not forget either the look of thanksgiving and pride on the face of those children as they placed their gift in the offering plate for God.
In His Name
Pastor Hennig