OCTOBER THEME: Responsibility and Abundance

 When was the last time you felt excited about being responsible? Not many of us would name “duty” at the top of life’s most thrilling endeavors! Instead, that’s one of those values we often hold because of what we fear might happen if we don’t step up and take care of what requires attention. But our theme this month is about something very different than this kind of responsibility. It’s about a sense of delight in being able to be generous because of what we’ve already received from God in terms of insight and understanding, self-acceptance and forgiveness. When was the last time you stopped to think how your life would be different today if it hadn’t been shaped by the values embraced by people you consider the saints in your life. What are the values they lived which have made an impression on you?

1. If a mentor or saint in your life carried the torch of kindness or loyalty, perseverance or hospitality—how are you carrying that torch brightly in your own life today? How does doing so help you feel close to them or give your life meaning?

2. In each season of our life we have opportunity to explore how we might express and live out our faith with a deeper sense of abundance. Make a list of what fruit of the Spirit used to be really tough for you to experience (patience, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control, love). Which of these are easier now that you’ve been in the saddle with God for a while?

Each month at Parables we ponder a new parable. This month’s parable is one many of us have heard—but only the first part!  Each week we sing “This Little Light of Mine” at the end of our worship service because of our love of the first part of the passage! However, this month we’ll have time to wonder about what the second part of the parable may be inviting us to consider anew. Here is the full text from Mark 4: 21-25 (The Living Bible):

Then he asked them, “When someone lights a lamp, does he put a box over it to shut out the light? Of course not! The light couldn’t be seen or used. A lamp is placed on a stand to shine and be useful.

 “All that is now hidden will someday come to light.  If you have ears, listen!  And be sure to put into practice what you hear. The more you do this, the more you will understand what I tell you.  To him who has shall be given; from him who has not shall be taken away even what he has.

3. What in this parable makes sense to you today? What still seems like a mystery in its meaning? Are there other passages in scripture that once held little meaning but now resonate as true? How do you account for this? “All that is now hidden will someday come to light.” And what a sense of abundance there is when spiritual truths begin to make sense! Faithfully shining our light as we are led to each day becomes the fuel by which new mysteries of faith are uncovered. Come join us at Parables this month and see what new illumination for your life you may discover!

LeAnn Seto