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Spiritual GiftsA committed Christian once said: What you are doing I may not be able to do...
These are the words of the late Mother Teresa, who for years ministered amongst the poor in the slums of Calcutta. What Mother Teresa meant was that each one of us has our own distinct gifts that we can use to carry out God's work. The Stewardship Ministry team and the Rev. Willem van der westhuizen would like to invite everyone to discover and utilize the spiritual gifts that God through the Holy Spirit has given to each of us at St. John's. Although this stewardship initiative started in October our spiritual journey of discovery will continue well into 2006 as each one of us is encouraged, through The Word and prayer, to discover our true gifts and, more importantly, how we can use these gifts for God's greater glory. Fruits from the RootsWe have chosen a tree as our logo to symbolize this time of spiritual commitment at St. John's. Why a tree? Like a tree whose roots draw nourishment from the ground, we as God's church resemble a tree. We draw sustenance from our roots in the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit each of us inherits certain gifts and talents. Like the tree that produces leaves, we Christians use the gifts given to us through the Holy Spirit to carry out God's work, our "leaves" if you like. For that reason we chose the phrase "Fruits from the Roots" to capture the spirit of this stewardship undertaking. Discover our giftsWe have our own symbolic St. John's spiritual gifts tree in our sanctuary. For the moment it has no leaves. The purpose of this tree is to prompt each and every one of us to think and pray about our gifts and how we can use them. Over the next few months each of us will help our tree sprout leaves by identifying our gifts on a symbolic leaf and attaching it to the tree. As mother Teresa points out, we all have talents that are unique to us, none of which is unimportant. It is the prayer of your stewardship team that we at St. John's will see an awakening as we discover our gifts and watch our tree flourish. Read more about Stewardship here. For further information, please contact the Church Office (see "Contact St. John's" for details and addresses). |