How Do We Build the Self-Esteem of the Church?

I Corinthians 14:1-5; 26-33

Intro: Good morning church before we get into our sermon, I wanted to take this time to pause and remember those who have fallen from our most devastating attacks on US soil. 9-11-2001. This along with other man made viscous attacks have occured throughout history. Let’s do a moment of silence and then of you don’t mind reach out and touch the person next to you.

Holy God, Creator of all people and all nations,It is with sorrow and apprehension we remember the tragic events That occurred on 9-11-2001. We lift to You in prayer all those who died In the Twin Towers, at the Pentagon, and on United Airlines Flight 93 In Shankesville, Pennsylvania. We entrust them to Your loving care. Console their families, friends, and all who continue to mourn this loss, In the hope that all who trust in You find peace and rest in Your Kingdom. We pray for those who courageously responded to provide aid and comfort to the afflicted. May their painful memories of that day Be healed and transformed into strength and positive resolution. We also pray for ourselves as we seek Your strength and guidance. We live in the aftermath of this tragedy and under the shadow of future acts of aggression; We stand in need of Your assistance. Enable us, Dear God, to put an end to fear: By resolving to live lives that are based on respect for one another; By resolving to abide in a peaceful manner and never settle disagreements in our lives in a violent way; By resolving not to fall into the trap of blaming entire ethnic groups, races, or religions in response to acts of hostility; By resolving that justice, not revenge, prevail in our world. Let us resolve that in the face of hatred, we will show love; That in times of despair, we will be voices of hope And creators of new dreams; That in times of darkness, we will be sources of light. Let us resolve that we never regard forgiveness as weakness, But rather as a source of strength in our lives and in our world. And, let us honor the memory of nearly 3,000 individuals who died on September 11, 2001 By resolving, with Your help Almighty God, To truly live this way so You may be glorified and Your love made known to others through us. In your darling Sons name we do pray Amen.

Thank you church for indulging me this morning. knowing that tomorrow is the memorial of this tragedy and many others that we are aware of. I want you to turn your bibles to the book of I corinthians chapter 14. Today we want to bring to a conclusion a section in the book of corinthians. Chapter 12 -14 are all one thought that speaks to spiritual gifts. Chapter 12, is the main chapter that open our minds and hearts to the spiritual gifts that the Almighty God blessed us to receive durning our new birth. Gifts that each member of this church needs to know so that we call can build this church. Last Wednesday night we concluded this study by making sure all of us know what God has given us to do. All members of this church must take this assessment so that we all can help build this church. Chapter 13 is our love chapter which we have shared a few months back. We learned that all of us have Love. Either its good or bad, but we all have the gift to love and pray that we will use it for good. Chapter 14 sums it all up that Gifts along with the love from Christ we should use our gifts to encourage, exhort and comfort all mankind.

This chapter deals with helping to encourage us to go out and perform those gifts that the Lord has given us. We prayed about a tragedy that still plagues many survivors today. We have one just like that here in Oklahoma that killed 168 souls. Many people are in need of having peace in their lives, hope, love that only comes from once source Jesus Christ. Who has empowered us with his gifts to do good works. There are people in the church and this society who need encouragement. it’s called Self-esteem, and for churches it is an important subject we hear little about. Along with being vital to a congregation's spiritual well-being, corporate self-esteem is a barometer of its standing both in the community and among other churches. When a church feels good about itself in the Lord, that church grows. Understanding ourselves is key to improving our situation in life, homes and surely the church.

Look at Self-esteem Chart

So as we learn new business skills and gain an education, we also need to learn about the inner workings of our own souls. The first thing we all need to know is that we are here on earth to learn and grow. There is no such thing as being stuck with who we are. We can’t be static. when we are made to seek, serve and surely save.

People don't function well when their self-esteem is low; likewise with churches. Many are labeled "problem churches" when they just need some love and respect.

Remember the first day back to school after Christmas? The first question everyone had was what did you get for Christmas? we wanted to compare our presents and make sure people knew that we thought we had the most incredible gift even if we knew someone else got a much bigger present.

We conclude the spiritual gifts with the final chapter, comparing two particular gifts, tongues and prophecy. Remember, the purpose of every spiritual gift is the build of the church.

Each gift should be used to help others know God better, and bring glory to the king of kings, not ourselves. So let’s jump into verse 1

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the spirit, especially prophecy for anyone who speaks in the tongue does not speak to people, but to God. Indeed no one understands them the other mysteries by the spirit, but the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort anyone who speaks of the tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church I would like everyone of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy, the one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church maybe edified.

The word translated pursue carries such meanings as Hasten, run, run after, and aspire too. There are many things in life that we can simply take or leave, but love is not one of them. Verse three and four, the term prophesies here incorporates all speaking gifts that edify the church see.

10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God

, 1 Pe 4:10. 1 Peter 4:11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

Edification, Exhortation” and Comfort results from prophesying in the church. For this reason, Paul wanted to Corinthians to exercise the gift of prophecy, instead of speaking in a tongue, by which a person merely edifies himself.

Tongues are a gift that is used to communicate with God. They are language that the speakers usually don’t understand Still is away for a person spirit to communicate with God. Tongues are directed towards God but prophecy is directed towards man.

Our focus should always be towards man. Prophecy can strengthen, encourage and comfort, but when tongues are spoken without an interpreter present, the only person that grows closer to God is the speaker, but if someone speaks a word of prophecy directly from the Lord, then all the hearers can be built up.

Edification- means to provide improvement of the mind and understanding, Ephesians 4:29 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

The apostle Paul is saying

The standards of speech for christians are extremely high

Exhortation-strongly encourage or urge someone to do something” Acts 13:15 15 And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.”

Encouragement/Comfort means to give strength and hope. Matt.9.22 But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

10689 Speech is a mirror of the soul; as a man speaks, so is he.

Publilius Syrus

When I read and began studying this passage, I thought coaches, teachers, preachers. People who work with individuals on a daily bases to encourage and help them see what they see in a person. What God saw in them and place them here on this earth for the betterment of someone else.

Let’s look at the definition Self-esteem refers to an inner sense of worthiness that gives a person resilience and resistance to attack or criticism.

• Generally speaking, each person has a concept about his or her self-worth (which may or may not be accurate), and self-esteem is how the person feels about (or evaluates) that concept.

• Having healthy self-esteem does not mean being proud or having an overblown view of one’s own importance. Paul encourages us to “think soberly” when it comes to evaluating ourselves (Romans 12:3. 3 Because of the privilege and authority[a] God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us

This means assessing ourselves with honesty and fairness.

Key elements of self-esteem include:

Self-confidence

Feelings of security

Identity

Sense of belonging

Feeling of competence

• Low self-esteem can manifest itself in many ways:

— feelings of self-hate, believing that one is unworthy or incompetent

— refusal to get close to people, believing one doesn’t deserve strong or supportive relationships,— refusal to trust others,— inability to accept oneself as special and unique,— rejection of what God intended the person to be in Him

— depression,— suicidal thoughts,— a need for lots of attention,— a competitive spirit,— poor decisions made that are based on fears and not reality.

I have created a book mark for you to place in your bible. and I call it

7 Ways to build Spiritual Esteem

Pray to learn how to overcome. Rather than pray for problems to be fixed or roadblocks to be removed, pray to understand yourself and what you must learn to overcome. Pray to remember what you learn and write down your impressions. (I John 5:4)

Think positively. Remember that you are a child of God. He did not put you here to fail. You’re not perfect, but you are headed in the right direction. Believe in yourself. Know that whatever comes, you can handle it with the Lord’s help.(Phil. 4:8)

Take care of your inner spiritual cleanliness. Be neat and clean. Keep your hair washed, your clothes pressed, your teeth brushed, and be sure to smile. Personal hygiene makes you feel good about yourself. (I Pet.3:3-4)

Be nice. Look others in the eye and smile, say a kind word, or do a small act of kindness. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:39).

Be grateful. Pause in the middle of a stressful period of the day and count your blessings. Gratitude has a powerful influence on our sense of well-being.( I Thes. 5:18)

Give yourself grace When you allow yourself to give yourself grace, you flip that a little bit: treat yourself as well as you'd treat others. Giving yourself grace means making the choice to interact with the world – and yourself – with goodwill and kindness..( Romans 6:14)

Invest in your spiritual talents. The first half of Romans 12:6 (NLT) tells us that God gives each of us a special talent. “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. (Romans 12:6)

We build up the church so we can change the world.