Spiritual Gifts 2025-08-10
Notes
Transcript
Our Scripture passage today if in Roman’s 12:3-8 and it is primarily education/instructions on Spiritual Gifts
Let’s read the passage and then look into it.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
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.
Gifts, where do they come from?
Gifts, where do they come from?
God!
Spiritual Gifts come from God!
I’m not going to have more spiritual gifts because
my family was rich (which it wasn’t)
You’re not going to have less spiritual gifts
because you grew up poor (if you did)
Spiritual Gifts are gifts from God.
They are given by His Choice
His choice not ours.
We cannot force God,
to give us a gift,
We cannot demand,
God give us a gift
that He doesn’t want us to have.
But we can ask Him for spiritual gifts
Attempts to force God to do anything,
would be dabbling in magic.
My Old Testament teacher at Fox, explained that
many pagan religions tried to use their chants, spells and rituals to cause the
forces of nature
to make the God’s
do their will.
That kind of thinking,
sees god as something under
the forces of nature.
But our God, is an awesome God
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Magic spells, <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
mantras, <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
chants, <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
don’t work on Him.
Repetition of a request won’t
wear Him down,
As Jesus taught
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Well, let’s get back to spiritual gifts,
which are given by the grace of God
as He sees fit.
Paul says
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: ...
This is Paul,
former persecutor of the church,
who voted with others
that followers of the Way, that is Christians
should die!
This is Paul,
not only forgive by grace
not only put to work by grace
put into a life of service to Gods’ church by grace
but also now speaking to the church as a leader
with Apostolic authority by the Grace of God.
What is his first concern?
What is his first concern?
New International Version (2011) Chapter 12
I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
His concern is that some may have pride in their spiritual gifts.
Would that be an awful outcome?
To have a spiritual gift from God,
to help other,
yet you gift is marred by pride
that looks down on others
down on others in general or
down on others, who don’t share
your spiritual gift.
Remember,
Spiritual gifts, are God’s choice.
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;
Who Chooses our spiritual gifts?
Who Chooses our spiritual gifts?
God does!
Can we ask for other gifts?
what I mean is ask for additional gifts?
I assume so because Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12.31
31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.
But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.
Why encourage us to pursue the most helpful gifts
unless God sometimes says yet to our requests.
There would be no reason to call us to that pursuit.
Pride
Pride
Can a Christian take Pride
in his or her spiritual gifts?
How many say “NO”?
How man say “YES”?
You CAN NOT take pride in a gift
you didn’t earn,
and don’t deserve.
You can not assume
you are better than someone else because of a spiritual gift,
you have and they don’t
But, you can take pride in being diligent in practicing your gift,
to bless others,
to help others,
in the body of Christ,
and potential believers.
Attitude
Attitude
Does our attitude good or bad,
have any effect on our spiritual gifts?
Jonah had the gift of Prophesy,
but he hated the people he was sent to preach to
he didn’t want them to be saved from God’s wrath.
But they were saved
by his preaching,
saved by his proclaiming of God’s word.
Did Jonahs’ stinking attitude matter to God?
Yes,
God took Jonah to task about his attitude,
and he even illustrated His point,
by growing the plant that shaded Jonah over night
and then killing it off over night.
Jonah was mad at God for killing the plant, but what did God say.
9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
God, cared about Jonah’s attitude.
God, cares about our attitudes too,
as we exercise our spiritual gifts, in service to Him.
I’ll illustrate that again later in the message.
Another way we see this in the bible is
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Are you a cheerful giver?
Are you a cheerful giver?
And by the way, I’m not focusing on the offering plate,
there are many ways we can give to God,
our time, our talent, our hands and feet
and in serving God
in giving to God
we can be cheerful about it
or grumpy.
Are you a cheerful giver?
Serving
Serving
One of the gifts Paul list is serving.
Pam and I both are geared with servant hearts.
but sometimes we can get overwhelmed with serving,
I have been known to say
“If you can’t do it cheerfully, then you need to do less”
That is far easier advice to give, then to receive.
Sometimes we are in a rough situation,
and we have to give, more than we can give cheerfully.
Just yesterday I read a story about a daughter and son in law,
caring for her mother,
Who said to her daughter,
Why don’t you smile any more?
Truth was, because the work was constant.
To be a cheerful giver, you need to things:
You need to choose to be cheerful,
And if possible, you need to put boundaries
to keep your giving reasonable.
Sometimes, I am willing to help someone in one area,
and then they hit me with this laundry list of things
they want me to do for them,
and sometimes, I just have to say no.
But again, God loves a cheerful giver.
What gifts does Paul mention in our passage?
Here is the list again
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.
What is the first gift listed?
Prophesy
that is proclaiming God’s Words,
His words from the bible
His words, put on your heart but be careful their
The heart
your heart
my heart
because as Jeremiah says
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
So what should you do, if God has given you the Gift of Prophecy?
You should speak God’s words,
whether it is preaching, or teaching or just in conversations.
Not everyone called to be a prophet in people lives,
stands behind a pulpit.
What’s the next gift listed?
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.
Serving!
If that is your gift,
then do it!
Find a way,
find a place to serve
the body of Christ,
or the community
in God’s name.
What’s the next gift?
Teaching.
Is that your gift,
then find ways, find places you can teach.
Encouraging
What a nice gift to have for building up others.
If that’s your gift
then encourage others
try not to let the hardships of life
keep you from being an encourager.
Giving is another
You can have the gift of giving,
whether you are rich or poor,
but we are all amazed how giving some poor people are,
because like the widow with 2 mites,
they give so much.
But remember, God loves a cheerful giver!
Some people give their time.
Some people give the use of:
their space
their tools
their wisdom
There are many more things then money, that you can give.
Leading is a spiritual gift and it works best
if you do it diligently
Paul is leading,
as he writes these letters to the churches.
and finally in this list of spiritual gifts
is mercy
And if that is your gift, what is Pauls advice
do it cheerfully.
This is a very small list of spiritual gifts.
you can look at the following passages to expand the list
1 Cor 7:7
1 Cor 12:8-10
1 Cor12: 28-29
Eph 4:11
If we checked out these passages, our list would be longer,
but God gives more gifts then are listed on paper.
Enemies of Spiritual Gifts
Enemies of Spiritual Gifts
What are some enemies of spiritual gifts, and how can we overcome them?
Unaware Sometimes we are unaware of our spiritual gifts,
simply because we haven’t tried different things and found a good fit for us.
Afraid Fear of failure some some from trying to do anything for Christ but
2 Timothy 1:7 “7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
Lazy I hate to same, some may not use their spiritual gifts, because they are lazy, but sometimes we are lazy, without good reason.
if that applies to you then consider
Proverbs 6:6 “6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!”
Prideful Pride was Paul’s concern in our passage, before he started talking about spiritual gifts.
Can you imagine how excessive pride could turn people away,
who might have followed Christ because of how you otherwise serve Christ and the church.
Low self esteme I could not serve the church as I do, if God had not healed the fearfulness and low self esteeme in my heart.
And my final Enemy of Spiritual Gifts is.......
tireness/over worked When Elijah was so tired and discourage, running for his life in 1 Kings 19,
God had an angel feed him and send him to rest and that was some food because in the end, he went on south for many days.
Food and rest, can revitalize you in many ways, including serving God with your spiritual gifts.
Wrap up
Depending on how your mind works, you may have listened to this lesson and concluded,
“I don’t have this or that spiritual gift,
so I never have to do it”
And you just might be dead wrong!
In James 2:15
15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
James didn’t say
“If you have the gift of giving, help them”
Sometimes we are all called to do things,
outside of our gifting.
What about take aways?
Do you know,
do you have any idea,
what your spiritual gifts are?
Are you willing to do things to discover your spiritual Gifts?
Are you willing to find ways to pursue your spiritual gifts?
And will you try,
with God’s help
to avoid pitfall that could derail you
Christian service?
Today listing
ignorance
intimidation
idleness
Self - Important
inferiority complex
overworked
Let’s pray.
