expressions of worship

Part 5 Expression of Worship

Romans 12:1-13 Worship in Spirit and In Truth – Expression of Worship. In this text Paul exhorts us to actually do something. In the previous verses Paul has been asking us to consider things or to think them through. No longer. Now it is about getting up and acting.

· If you are just joining us for the first time you might find this annoying. Oh there they go telling everyone how to live.

· If you have been here for a while you realize that this doing something is an expression of worship to God. Seeing his value and worth and ascribing to him value and worth by giving all of yourself to Him. This is what we have covered in the last three weeks.

Romans 12:1–13 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. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. 9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Have you ever read or heard John 14:12-13 and wondered how in the world can the disciples do greater works that Jesus did? That’s absurd. I mean he is Jesus and they are well, the disciples. Further more its even more absurd when you think about applying that passage to us as disciples removed by 2000 years. And yet… Jesus pre-resurrection and pre-Pentecost is finite in the sense that he cant be everywhere all at once. But having given the Spirit to his disciples and the fact that all of his disciples worldwide have his Spirit, Jesus can be as salt and light in every nook and cranny on the globe. How?

Romans 12:6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them…

· Definition of “gift of the Spirit”

o Wayne Grudem: All abilities that are empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in any ministry of the church.[1]

o A spiritual gift is an enablement to meet the needs of people; it is given by the Holy Spirit on the basis of God’s free grace in such a way that people are brought more under the lordship of Christ with the result that the body of Christ is built up in quality and quantity[1]

· They are for the building up of the body of Christ

o 1 Corinthians 12:7 (ESV) 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

o Ephesians 4:11–12 (ESV) 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

Romans 12:6-8 The Gifts 6Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Two Broad categories of Gifts – Paul presents a partial list here. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of gifts but instead an overview. There are others listed in Ephesians, and 1 Corinthians as well.

· Word Gifts – address core needs (See Romans 12:1-2)

o Prophecy – see Grudem. Differs from the OT understanding of the term. It generally did not have the sense “one who speaks God’s very words” but rather “one who speaks on the basis of some external influence” (often a spiritual influence of some kind). Titus 1:12 uses the word in this sense, where Paul quotes the pagan Greek poet Epimenides: “One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ’ The soldiers who mock Jesus also seem to use the word prophesy in this way, when they blindfold Jesus and cruelly demand, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” (Luke 22:64). They do not mean, “Speak words of absolute divine authority,” but, “Tell us something that has been revealed to you” (cf. John 4:19).[2] Much more commonly, the words prophet and prophecy were used of ordinary Christians who spoke not with absolute divine authority, but simply to report something that God had laid on their hearts or brought to their minds. There are many indications in the New Testament that this ordinary gift of prophecy had authority less than that of the Bible, and even less than that of recognized Bible teaching in the early church, as is evident from the following section.[3]

§ 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 Don’t despise, but test the prophecies.

§ 1 Corinthians 14:29-38 Weigh what is said by the prophet.

o Teaching – helping people understand the gospel and scriptures. Luther, “The teacher transmits knowledge.”

o Exhortation – encouraging them to apply the gospel and scriptures. Luther, “the exhorter stimulates” the application of this knowledge.

· Deed Gifts – addresses felt needs

o Service – helping. Where we get the word deacon. It’s a very general term. Basically it means getting down in the dirt and working.

o Contributes – using your resources to meet the needs of others.

o Leadership – influencing others to become who they are called to be. Caution – this has little resemblance to what the world considers leadership.

o Acts of Mercy – alleviating pain and suffering.

· These gifts are from God.

· These gifts are given to all believers when you received Christ you received his Spirit. When you received his Spirit you received gifts (endowments).

· These gifts are given in clusters. No one has all the gifts and most people have multiple gifts.

o We lead with our strongest gifts.

o Caution – not being “gifted” in area does not exempt us from serving there. I don’t have the “gift” of generosity so therefore I will never contribute to the needs of others would be an absurd viewpoint. I have heard this one – I don’t have the gift of evangelism so I will not share my faith. Or the teacher who thinks. I have the gift of teaching so I don’t serve in ways that gets my hands dirt. You get the idea? Those dispositions demonstrate that the person holding those views thinks of themselves more highly than they out to think (Romans 12:3)

· The Spirit gives gifts as he chooses. You can develop a skill and be more efficient at using a gift but the Spirit gives gifts as he chooses.

Question – are offices (teacher, prophet, apostle, pastor) gifts? No. The gifts are abilities given but there are certain abilities given that are then used in the context of an official office or leadership role. Not everyone serves as a leader but everyone is called to serve and use the gifts God has given to him or her.

Question – how does a person find out what their spiritual gifts are? Two approaches.

· Egocentric (self centered)

o What am I awesome at?

o What do I like to do?

o What needs are there in the Body and in the world that match my giftedness.

o Problem with the egocentric starting point is that it ultimately ends up being about self.

· Christocentric (Gospel Centered) – Look at the next verses…

Romans 12:9-13 9Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

The expression of our worship, that is the use of our spiritual gifts is an outflow of love.

· Love first of all towards God (Romans 12:1 and 1 John 4)

· Love towards one another (Romans 12:4-5)

· Love seeks to meet needs.

o Love takes inventory of the needs that it sees out there

§ In the Body

§ In the World

o Love takes inventory of its own resources.

o Love gives itself freely to meet those needs.

· As we do this we tend to find a sweet spot or an area that when we step up in that way others are blessed. This is how we discover our spiritual gifts.

What are the needs? Examples:

· Backyard Bible Clubs

· Financial needs – Elizabeth Schrock last week or the general needs of the local church

What are my resources?

How can I help?

Communion – the bases for our serving is once again NOT to earn merit but to thank God for the merit we already have in Christ.

· Receive Jesus

· Worship Jesus and in doing so you will help others and yourself to see his worth more clearly.

Discussion Question

1. Read Romans 12:6-8. Which of these gifts do you possess? Do you tend to be stronger in word based gifts or deed based gifts?

2. How did you come to discover your spiritual gifts?

3. What needs do you see in the body of Christ which you might be equipped to help? How do you plan to go about meeting those needs by using your gifts?

[1]Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine (p. 1242). Leicester, England ; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House. [2]Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine (p. 1050). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House. [3]Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine (p. 1051). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.