Who's calling?

Last week, if you remember we talked about love. And one part was the love God has for us that we see in the relationship with the Son and the moments on the cross that freed you and I.

After the cross, Jesus gave gifts to His own, the ultimate gift of the Holy Spirit, along with gifts for ministry in this world, and He is still giving them to people that come to Him.

touch on gifts and callings today

I envision small group mtgs in the future to get more familiar with gifts and callings with each of us.

Today we can know:

the importance of gifts

why God gives gifts

What purpose they play in the church

Let me ask you a question.....

have you ever been in a situation where you had to do something but you found that you didn’t have the tools/skills to do it?

like fixing a car? but you don’t have the right tool?

wanting to write but you don’t have a pen?

what about wanting to have a campfire but you don’t have any matches? true story, right Mike?

if I had the matches before the campfire meeting, we could have started it right up, but instead we had to hunt for them. I wasn’t prepared to start the fire!

having the tool/skill that you need to do a job is really about preparation, isn’t it.

If we prepare beforehand, we have what we need to do the job.......but if we don’t prepare, when the time comes to do the job, we can’t do it!

that feeling of not having what you need to do a job, what does that feel like?

....well, it doesn’t feel good. You might feel foolish, or bummed out, sad or incapable.

it

it could even affect you all the way to your identity where you think of yourself like you’re a failure because you couldn’t do the job. that’s when it can have a grip on your life in all kinds of other areas which about paralyze you from moving forward. Now, thinking spiritually about that, who would want you to think like that, God or satan?

What about the last time you wanted to share your faith with someone? did you talk yourself out of it? did you tell yourself “they won’t listen to me anyway” or “I don’t know how to say it well enough to see them get saved”

What are those voices? are they excuses? are they giving you justification not to do it? yeah, not to have success, not to have victory?? all these are rooted in how the enemy wants you to think. it certainly isn’t the way God wants you thinking!

So, why would you listen to the enemy when you want to share your faith? Good question! then stop it, don’t listen to that voice.....even if it sounds like you! listen to God! His word! Ask God what He is saying, ask Him what to say to the person....

the question comes down to this, are you spiritually prepared to deal with this person? if not, then you know exactly what you need to start working on, so you better get busy!

this next verse comes after Paul speaks so beautifully about grace and not working for your salvation....

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

So, there is planned moments in your future that God knows, God prepared, and there are two general outcomes that we can have.

either we have walked in God’s will beforehand which we have gotten ourselves prepared for the job He has for us or,

We are humbled because we didn’t get ready and we didn’t have the tools/skills to fulfill God’s work.

two ways we can go....which would you choose if you had the choice?

you do have the choice for the future work.

That church, is the importance of us knowing God’s will in regards of our gifts and us preparing now for what is to come. we need to grow and mature the gifts God has given us to do the work!

=======So, why does God give gifts?

1 Corinthians 12:7 ESV

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

these gifts are not like a birthday present...... those are for us. those are to be used by us, for us so we can get enjoyment out of them.

Spiritual gifts, like the verse says, are for the common good. they are for others. so, God gives you a gift for the purpose of helping another. God’s gifts to us are for others to benefit from.

example.

What if God gave you the gift of prophecy and He gave you a word to give to others that would help them with a future decision?

or what if God gave you the gift of helps and there was an event in the church that your gift could really make a difference.

these two examples....what if the one that had the gift didn’t share it? it would cause the big picture to be missing something. someone might be losing out on a blessing. and if we are gifted to do something and we choose not to do it, we lose a blessing as well.

Is it disobedience as well? ouch, don’t go there Pastor Kel. ok,but the gifts God gives you and I are to be used, to be shared and to create what God wants on this world. Let’s share our gifts church!!!

-----=====What do we have for gifts and how do they work in our church?

let’s get this straight first thing.

gifts are not a status thing, gifts exist for the benefit of the church.

God gives them so we get gifts and the gifts we get are meant to work for a purpose that God has. We need to know that because sometimes we can get mad or even jealous of another persons gift, we might think we want that gift......but God knows what He is doing, doesn’t He???

Paul’s list is not a complete list, but do we see some of these gifts at work here?

1 Corinthians 12:8–10 ESV

For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

1 Cor 12:

Wisdom, Knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, other languages, interpretation of other languages.

in other places of scripture we see more gifts....

and we see even more gifts as well as throughout scripture we can see these gifts being lived out.

but there are gifts of all kinds.....listen for what God has given you.

Administration, Apostleship, Craftsmanship, Evangelism, Exhortation, Giving, Helps, Hospitality, Intersession, Leadership, Mercy, Pastor, Service, Teaching, and what ever God needs, He can give gifts to accomplish His work.

We are a part of this incredible plan to introduce, guide and assist others in their journey of knowing who God the Father is and what the Son has done for them for their salvation and eternal life. What an amazing God to create and develop this plan.

So, all gifts work in either building and growing the body of Christ, which is the church, on the inside or outside, and they work through our voices or through our actions.

the questions that we need to wrestle with now is.....

What are the gifts God has given you to use and

are you preparing them for the job that God has prepared for you in the future?

these questions can lead us to an ongoing conversation with each other until we see, know and do what God has called us to.

And the glory, all the glory belongs to and goes to the One who we praise, the only God of the universe! Praise You Heavenly Father!