Shape
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
We are into our second week into the book of Romans. I’m excited to walk through this book with you these next few weeks as we discover Paul’s words to the believers in Rome.
I enjoy the fact that many of you are engaging in this text as I had several people talk with me this week as they wrestled with the text from last Sunday.
If you missed it, may I encourage you to go to the website and take a listen as it sets the tone for the entire book.
But last week I left you on a bit of a cliff hanger.
Paul was speaking to the believers, those who have accepted the faith of the Gospel, and he desired to come to them to impart spiritual gifts.
He also wanted to preach the Gospel to them as well, because today’s verses describe what the Gospel is
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
One person wrote,
“gospel of Christ” (Romans 1:16). The first term speaks of the source of the Gospel; the second term speaks of the Savior in the Gospel. God planned the Gospel. It is not man’s plan.
John G. Butler
We come to faith by believing in the Gospel, or Good news of Jesus Christ.
Paul ends this section with the words, the righteous shall live by faith.
So today, I want to spend a few minutes describing an aspect of how we can live out of our faith.
I am going to spend the next few minutes with you talking about
S.H.A.P.E.
You see the Gospel is lived through us as disciples of Christ when we use the shape God has given us.
The idea of shape is not my own thoughts, in fact if you want to do more reading on this topic, you can borrow a book I have in my office,
But for this morning we are going to walk through these five different aspects of living out our faith.
I talked last week about each one of us have been called, we talked about Paul’s calling and that he challenged us to be called as well.
SHAPE helps us identify the calling on our lives.
Maybe you are sitting here this morning and you struggle with what is your calling. I often have people in my office or over coffee share with me, this very struggle and I walk them through what I am about to share with you.
Here at this church we have a process that I walk people through as we learn to be disciples of Christ.
The extended definition is a disciple is one who is
seeking to know God, while being transformed into the image of Christ, empowered by the Spirit, in the context of community.
We have simplified it as Knowing, Growing, Giving.
SHAPE is a part of the Giving.
It’s the living out of the Gospel in our lives.
It’s the giving of us for the Kingdom of God.
I am often marvelled the fact that God uses anyone of us to further His kingdom, but he does.
And the most amazing part of this is that each one of you does it in your own way, the way God has SHAPED you.
We are not all the same, remember this verse?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?
So what is Shape
Let’s begin with the S
Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual Gifts
Paul told the believers that his desire is that each believer receive their gift.
Folks often when I talk to believers about spiritual gifts there are many questions and in some cases confusion.
Some have made it out to be more complicated than it needs to be.
Some have seen this as a mystery, complex and somewhat hard to understand.
Folks if you are in this camp, you are not alone.
Paul encountered this as well,
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.
Folks this understanding of spiritual gifts should be clear for every believer.
As I am speaking right now, you even may have a few questions, but hold onto those questions, write them down, and if they are not answered in the next few minutes, talk with me over coffee time or later this week and I will be happy to walk you through your questions.
When we begin to look at spiritual gifts there is one burning question I want to answer.
This is why we begin with S
As a disciple of Christ, in your serving and living out your faith in community, it is for the building up of the body of Christ.
It’s purpose is for growth of the body.
Quite simple, it’s not about you.
It’s about what YOU do for the Body, but for God
Some times we take the spiritual Gift theme and distort in in one of two ways.
The first is.....
I have this gift, look at me..... or I wish I had that Gift, if I did look at what I could do.....
I guess those who think this way look at the word gift and treat it the same way of a gift we give each other.
It’s for me.
The second distortion on the theme of spiritual gift is this, a cope out or excuse.
“I can’t possibly help in that way as I don’t have that gift”
as you will find out in the other letters, your gifting from God comes not only in the spiritual gifts, but other things as well.
So why are we given spiritual gifts?
Why does Christ through the spirit give gifts?
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
The spirit, in working through you, is God’s spirit giving you something to be used to building up the body.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
So we know that the gifts are given, Why they are given,
we must ask ourselves who they are given to and how?
I often speak with believers and they say to me, I don’t know my spiritual gift?
Am I suppose to have one, did I miss a meeting when they were handed out.
Am I behind everyone else because I don’t know my gift.
Well, if you feel this today, let me reassure you that finding out your spiritual gift is not the goal or ultimate goal, using them is the key, the focus.
Secondly, does everyone get one, yes
You see when you receive Christ to be your saviour and he comes to dwell in you, the very fact that you have the Spirit dwelling in you, the manifestation of the Spirit is the marker of the gift.
It’s not a question of what Gift do I have, although I believe over time, you begin to see His Spirit working through you time and time again.
And in those times, you can say with certainty, that God has given you a gift and it is.......
What you should be asking yourself, am I stewarding the gift or gifts he has given me.
I talked with someone this week, and the person said, “I’m amazed of what comes out of my mouth as I speak to people”
They went on to describe how their words were of encouragement or discernment for the person they were speaking to.
I smiled, That person was exercising the gift of encouragement and exhortation. It wasn’t a boastful or proud statement but a statement,
and then said, “That’s not me, it must be the Spirit talking.”
Here are some of the questions I am always asked.
Do I get a gift for life or do they come and go? I always answer yes
Have I seen God working in my life the same way over and over, yes,
Has God given me something for a moment when He needed me, yes, has it happened again, no.
Folks it’s not about the specific nameable gift, it’s not about you, but what the gift is for.
To build up the kingdom of God.
It needs to be used.. if given it needs to be stewarded.
I am reminded of the old wood cutter who worked for years cutting down trees with his faithful axe. He began to notice that the new young guys were cutting down more trees that he ever had and he began to watch them. They had a different looking type of axe.
He went to the local store and later walked out with a chainsaw.
Later that day, he returned to the store and wanted his money back claiming that the saw was not working and he could cut more trees with his faithful axe.
The store owner, wanted to please the customer, and upon hearing that the machine wasn’t working, took the machine, pulled the starter cord, started the machine to see what was the problem.
The old woodcutter, turned around in amazement at the loud noise and exclaimed, What is the noise.....?
Having a spiritual gift and NOT using it is having a chain saw and not pulling the starter. Pointless.
So where do we begin?
SHAPE
Defining what your shape is starts with Spiritual Gift.
What has God given to you?
Look at these words of scripture.
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Using your gift is an act of worship
Romans 12:6 (ESV)
6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, ....let us use them: ......
10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:
Before we leave spiritual Gifts, and move onto H in shape,
Let me leave you with a few things to think about when you begin to use spiritual gifts to build up the body of Christ.
Eric Rees in his book describes them as trappings or pitfalls
Comparison
Comparison
We compare the gifts God has given us to others. We sometimes compare the number or even the importance. One way to stop comparison of other gifts is to think about your smallest toe.
It may not seem smaller than the others, if fact your hand, eyes, mouth, brain may seem more important, but it is just important than anything else.
Do you know how. Walk into a chair and hit only our small toe. At that point, that small toe will have the same attention as the rest of the body.
All Gifts are needed and often at different times to build up the body in different ways.
Projection
Projection
Projection goes something like this, why can’t you do this or that, it’s easy.
Rees describes this as projecting your gift on others and having the same expectations.
Rejection
Rejection
I can’t possible do that which you ask of me because I don't’ have that gift like you do. I’m not that special.
Or worse, you know your gift and refuse to use it.
Or sometimes a gift is known and the body doesn’t allow the person to use that gift.
Deception
Deception
The last one can be a bit tricky. Thinking you have a gift, and in fact, it’s your own desire to have it, use it, and it only raises yourself.
A manufactured gift
How do you know your using your gift, ask someone.
I remember many years ago, a small group I was involved in, went through a study on the various gifts defined in scripture, one list compiled is 20 listed, but their may be more.
We studied the scripture and finished the study. The leader then asked the group what do we want for our next study.
I thought for a moment then asked, so what are the gifts God has given each of us.
It amazed me that so many of the group could not say.
So we went around the group one by one and focused on one person. They listened as and each person told how they saw the gifts of that person.
Affirmation.
One lady who had a gift of hospitality, not because she could cook or like to have people over, but when she did, you walked away so welcomed, you Saw God’s grace in her life.
Everyone else saw it, she just thought it was the natural thing to do...
The spiritual gift in your life is used to build up the body as you serve Christ.
Heart
Heart
The H in shape of your serving is your heartbeat.
What drive you.....
Or should I say, the God that created you to be you,
who knows your inner most being,
wants you to use that which drives you to serve him.
God has given you a heartbeat a passion to serve Him from how He has created you
God’s passion for his own glory and his passion for my joy in him are not at odds.
John Piper; Jonathan Edwards
When God grabs a hold of your heart, one of the things that drives us is our heart or our passion.
So many ministries have started because God’s passion within them have driven them to start.
Serving from what winds you up, a wind up that comes from God will flourish.
This was so evident in one of my friends life as I pastored in another church. He has so many abilities, strengths, a willingness to serve and he came to me offering to help.
I asked him, what is your heartbeat. What winds you up?
He said, well I love to teach a boys sunday morning class in the children’s program. Grade 3 or 4
He could have done so many things, if fact my clipboard was long with a list of empty spots that he could have filled. But I sent him to teach.
The boys that went through his class came out with a joy for Christ like know other.
Serving from the spiritual gifts, and your heart’s passion given from God is the beginning of your shape for God’s kingdom.
Abilities
Abilities
The A in shape is abilities.
What God given abilities do you have?
This sometimes can be viewed as the opposite of gifts.
These are what comes natural.
Easy.
I am always amazed at my wife’s writings.
I wrestle each week with putting down words that would be worth listening to and it’s by God’s grace that these words are accepted, but my wife’s natural abilities and in some cases spiritual gifts are impressive.
She is able to write comes naturally, she says it takes work, but it is wonderful to read.
What about you.
What comes easy, are you using it to bring glory to God in your service?
Do you love to cook, SNL has a spot for you
Do you love to fix things, talk with John, head of the building, I’m sure there is lots to fix.
Do you love to organize and stack chairs, well these chairs are consistently being moved.
Do you love to teach, kids, Talk with Josh
Do you love to clean, great, my garage needs a good cleaning....just kidding.
Folks if God has given you that ability, don’t you think an infinite God has a special task for you to do today?
He has chosen you today knowing what he has given you today.
What is stopping you from using that ability today to serve in your worship to Him.
Personality
Personality
Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, the P is personality.
It takes all types.
For those who are still trying to get to know me, I love to work on teams.
I love to have various personalities on my team to strengthen one another.
But some personalities are better for some ministries than others.
The main part about personalities is how you relate to each other.
This serving from your SHAPE is to strengthen the body of Christ. It is done in the context of community.
Do you have a good grasp of your personality and finding the right spot for this.
If you are an outgoing person, we love to have you as a greeter. If your not, you can still serve there, but it might be harder for you, or you love to do things in the background.
The quiet ones I see often are doing those tasks that seem to go unnoticed until that person isn’t around.
Who you are is just as important as what you can do, and have been given.
Here is a question you should ask yourself?
If you could, in a blink of an eye, describe for you, the ideal situation that would make the greatest impact on the Kingdom of God, what would that look like for you.
I know what mine is, I’ve been in it several times.
I know what it doesn’t look like, I’ve been in that several times as well.
Knowing who you are, the way God has wired you makes serving God so much easier.
If you have never thought about this before, and are interested in discovering this for your life,
please give me a call, I love to work with people on this for their calling from God.
Experience
Experience
If you haven’t figured out what the last letter of the SHAPE is, it stands for experience.
Have you ever said to yourself,
“Hey, I know what that is like, I’ve went through that myself!”
God puts experiences in our life to help build up the body.
David knew how to challenge Goliath as he experience conflict with the guarding of the sheep
Peter knew how to catch men from Catching fish
Matthew understood Christ’s call for forgiveness as his old Job was a tax collector
Wisdom comes from experience as we take the time to listen to God as we walked through those experiences both good and bad.
And then use them to build up the body, to serve God in our worship
Living a SHAPED filled Life
Living a SHAPED filled Life
In Romans, Paul is telling the people, and will be pointing out to each of us as we journey through Romans, that God has a calling on each of our lives and we will be learning what that calling is, what the Gospel is and how that affects our lives.
SHAPE is one way that we use as a tool to help up serve, to give back to God the grace He has given us to build up the body of Christ.
As I said last week, the Christian life is not a spectator sport.
We all contribute to the mission of the Church.
We, as a church, have been called to not only spread the Gospel but to live the Gospel.
Martin Luther once said
Faith is a living, restless thing. It cannot be inoperative.
Martin Luther
Jesus calls each on each one of us to come. Come to Him
Be filled by His Spirit
What is saving faith? He described saving faith as fides viva, a living faith, a vital faith, a faith that was beating with a heart pulsating after God.
R. C. Sproul
As the worship team comes forward and the elders come forward, let me ask you this.
Are described as a person with a living Faith. Are you using your SHAPE to honor and worship God.
One of the greatest things we can do together as believers is the celebration and remembrance of communion together.
And as we close this discussion and lesson on serving, This is one example Christ commanded us to do with each other in remembrance of Him.
Communion
Communion
Benediction
Benediction