Counter Cultural
Notes
Transcript
Prayer
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. 20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
We found ourselves these past couple of weeks diving deep into the practical as we started Ephesians 4. See the first 3 chapters of Ephesians are all about right thinking, all about learning the amazing benefits of being in Christ and the rights and priviledges we have available to those of us who believe in Him and have called upon his name as our Lord. But here in Ephesians 4, Paul begins to take that head knowledge and started to apply it to our daily life, and how we can practically live out being In Christ. And particularly last week we looked at the gifts that God has given to the church, leadership gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors/teachers. And something totally slipped my mind last week and I could not believe I forgot about it, but alas, there must have been a reason, so this week we will begin with what I forgot to do last week.
Ephesians 4:16 says…
16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
As each part does its work. My job is to equip you to do the works of ministry. So it would be more biblically accurate to call you all, the body of Christ, ministers than to call me a minister. In fact, we all are ministers of this gospel. We are all called to participate in the work that God has called us to, but God doesn’t just call us to work and leave us alone to do it. No, by his grace he has gifted us in the Spirit with Spiritual Gifts that will help us minister.
And so,
Distribute Spiritual Gifts Inventories.
These are not a predictor of future
These showcase how God has already and continues to use you and has gifted you.
Gifts that the Spirit gives…
1 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
This is part of the equipping task I have been given. To make sure you know what your gifts are from the Spirit of God and then encourage you to use them.
So take the time, if you have not done so already and take this Spiritual Gifts test. It’s not perfect, but it will illuminate some things for you. If you have questions, I will make myself available (after vacation of course) to go over it with you. And I want to equip you to begin to use your gifts.
We are starting the Community Cafe here at Community Alliance soon. The vision for this ministry to create a space here at the church where there is a welcoming atmosphere for first time guests. To create some time before the service for fellowship. We are looking to kick this ministry off this fall. And in order to do so, we need people who are gifted in hospitality to help us create a welcoming atmosphere,
10:30-11:00 where there will be coffee and tea available and if we have someone who desires to bring in a snack to share then amen. But we want to create space for conversations to happen. For prayers to be prayed. For the body of Christ to delvelop deeper relationships with one another. And to create a welcoming atmosphere when you come in the door.
So we need people who are gifted in mercy
We need people who are gifted in administration
We need people who are gifted in helps
We need people who are gifted in hospitality
We need encouragers/exhortation
We need people who are gifted in service
We need givers to help fund the mission
We need prayer warriors/intercessors
Stage One: Create Space by moving Sunday school hour and opening up the cafe from 10:30-11:00
Creating a welcome team
Clean up crew
Stage Two: Purchasing some needed updates and equipment
New tables and chairs, some couches and kids zone entertainment area
Stage Three: Completing the doors/roof to create the welcoming entrance
A couple of years ago I was blessed with the opportunity to attend Exponential down in Orlando, its a massive gathering of Church Planters from all around the country and Kelvin Walker, the DS from the Metro District was there and preached a message I will never forget. In fact, it’s one that I listen to occasionally to fire me up, encourage me to continue going…
“The gifts of the Spirit for the equipping of the body. The gifts of the Spirit, he owns them, we steward them. The gifts of the Spirit, are meant to unify not divide. The gifts of the Spirit are empowerment for all on mission. Brothers and sisters, if the work of the Kingdom is dependent on your gifts, and not the gifts that Spirit gives to the body, then it’s all done by you, it’s all dependent on you, and ultimately it will end with you. But if the work of the Kingdom is built upon the leading and the filling and the ministry and the gifts of the Holy Spirit as He empowers the body, then the world will see that God is on the move, the gospel is being preached, Jesus is being exhausted, the kingdom is advancing. When empowered leaders are empowering the body, the collective community is going far because they are going together, the Holy Spirit is the Power source, the church is on fire and everyone get’s to play.”