Compiled by: Georgeanne Falstrom, Intern
PARISH LAY MINISTRY ACADEMY
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Friday, March 10, 2006
(Daily readings: Ps 40,51,54;Gen. 40:1-23; I Cor. 3:16-23; Mark 2:13-22)

STRETCH OUT
By: Carol Court

Scripture: So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. ~1 Cor. 3:21-23

"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."~Mark 2: 21-22

I’m one of those fitness nuts. Ask my husband, and he’ll tell you my cure for everything from a hangnail to a headache is stretch more and drink more water. It’s good for your body to stretch the joints and muscles, as well as keeping it well hydrated. But you can’t make those changes overnight. It takes time and effort to develop these healthy habits.

Paul struggled with teaching the Corinthians to stretch their spirits and their minds. We still struggle with the concept that we are “…of Christ…” which makes us “…of God.” How can that be? How can we be living in the present and the future, as Pastor Phil is so fond of reminding us? These are hard concepts to understand. Most of us aren’t capable of stretching our minds that far. So how do we, as Christians, make sense of all this?

We learn through Christ’s teachings, his suffering and sacrifice. He knew that if we remained in our sinful state, we could never stretch our minds or hearts to accept God’s love. We had to be made like new. Before we could contain the new wine of Salvation, we had to be given a new spirit, supple and expandable, like a new wineskin.

Prayer: Dear God, through your grace, the sacrifice of Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are new creations. You have made us capable of stretching to contain much more than we will ever imagine. Guide us to use that knowledge to reach out to others who thirst for the new wine of salvation.