God's Gift for you

Introduction

When asked what holiday is their favorite, what do you think the top 2 were among Americans? Christmas and their birthday. Why do you think this would be the case? Among Christians, Christmas has a different meaning however for the world around us (and for Christians as well), one of the reasons that Christmas and their birthday are the more anticipated holidays are because they receive gifts during these days. Gifts are exciting to receive whether you are 5 years old or 95 years old. Whenever Christmas came around, as a child, it was always fun to gather with my cousins and aunts and uncles to play games and watch movies together on Christmas Eve and then talk with my cousins about what we were hoping to find under the tree the next day. The anticipation always made that night seem like it lasted forever because of the expectation of an awesome gift the next day. Even for children who do not receive hundreds of dollars worth of gifts, Christmas still represents a fun and memorable holiday because of the anticipation of unwrapping a single present, large or small.

Birthday gifts are also fun to receive because it shows that someone else values and cares about you. Whether it be a parent, grandparent, family member or friend, receiving a card or a gift on your birthday is special because of the relationship between you and the person who gave you the gift. As Americans, we love to receive things! However, it is interesting to note that many Americans (54%) said that they would rather donate money or give a gift rather than receive something from someone. This is strange for a worldly person, however for a Christian, this makes sense. We should be willing and desire to give our time and resources to others rather than expect something in return each and every time.

I want to make an amendment to this poll and say that there is a 3rd “gift receiving” day that should be present for Christians. The day that you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. This day is often forgotten when we think about other major holidays, whether they be secular, like the 4th of July, or religious, like Christmas or Easter. We receive many “gifts” whenever we accept Jesus as Lord: Forgiveness of sins, salvation, justification, comfort, peace. However one thing that many Christians do not focus on nearly as much is our “spiritual gift” that we receive from God in this time. As we will do tonight, we are going to see that each and every believer is given a “spiritual gift” and it is not of our own natural ability. Rather, this gift is something given to us by God whenever we become a Christian that enables us to grow the Church and share the Gospel.

With that in mind, please turn in your copy of God’s word to Romans, chapter 12 as we examine what the apostle Paul has to say about spiritual gifts and what we are supposed to do with them:

Romans 12:1–8 ESV

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.

Be Transformed (1-2)

In the first 2 verses of , Paul states that we are supposed to not conform ourselves to the ways of the world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. We find ourselves in a day and age in which society loves to pride itself on being tolerant of people with differing viewpoints. This is true across the board with the exception of Christianity (often times).Our society tells us that the church is too “exclusive” and needs to be less judgmental in order to make people feel better about themselves instead of guilting people or making them feel “bad”. I want to be sympathetic to individuals like this. As a church, our job is not to use hateful words or say things in a “mean” tone of voice. Rather, we are called to be loving and kind, however our message must come back to Scripture each and every time. I have had many conversations with students (both Christians and non-Christians) who immediately, when asked a question, fall back to “i think this is the answer because it feels right” or something along those lines. To a non-Christian, that is the best answer they can muster up because there is no absolute truth to fall back on. However, for a Christian we must align our thoughts and beliefs on God’s Word and not on our feelings or the feelings/opinions of our society. This can be difficult to do, however, this is exactly what we are called to do in Scripture. We are not called to simply learn and grow in our knowledge but to put to practice what we learn.

Notice how Paul states that we are to offer up our bodies as a “living sacrifice”. As we talked about this morning, the church is called to be salt and light to the world around us. We are to look vastly different than non-Christians. We present ourselves as “living sacrifices” because in our coming to accept Jesus Christ as Lord, our old selves are gone and dead and the new creation that lives on is led by the Holy Spirit. By living, we are a sacrifice to God. Our mission as a new creation is to glorify Him. Obviously we will mess up and we know that we continue to sin, however our heart and spiritual worship must be centered on God and conforming to His will rather than man’s will.

Whenever we think of the word “transform” what do we often think of? We can think of recycled plastic that is broken down and used to create something new. We can think of a “transformer” from the comics or movies in which a robot transforms to a car or plane. However what Paul seems to be talking about here is a “ radical reorientation that begins deep within the human heart.” This change takes place deep within us. There is a Christian song that came out about 5 years that talks about the Christian being “consumed from the inside out”. That should be our call and goal each and everyday as Believers. To be transformed and consumed by the grace of God from the inside out. Our heart changes whenever we become a part of the Kingdom of Heaven and we have the Holy Spirit to help us walk in the way of the Lord. Because of that, we cannot be consumed over fleshly things but rather we are able to discern our situation and figure out what is correct because of the help of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Whenever we listen to the Spirit, we are able to do the will of God.

radical reorientation that begins deep within the human heart

Be Humble (3)

Be Humble

Getting into the meat of Paul’s message of verses 3-8, we see that there are 3 key things that we are called to do with our Spiritual Gifts. First, we are called to “Be Humble”. Paul, one of the greatest “Christians” to ever walk this earth, begins verse 3 by saying that it is by “grace” that he is writing to these people. Paul was very influential in the spreading of Christianity among the Roman Empire (he took the Gospel to the West - something that played a crucial role in people like you and I being raised in a very “Christian culture”) however, he never lost sight of the fact that without this grace, he would be a sinner and without hope. That is something that we must keep in mind each and everyday as Believers. Without the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary, there would be no hope. Therefore, we cannot boast in our own accomplishments when it comes to salvation or anything spiritually related. It all comes back to the work of Jesus Christ. Whenever we keep that mindset, we are able to do the work of the Spirit rather than get caught up in selfish thoughts and pridefulness.

Paul states that we are called to “think soberly” and “not think higher of ourselves”. Whenever we focus on ourselves, it is easy to think that we are “better” than someone else. That is a natural human tendency! We love to compare ourselves to other people in hopes of making us feel better than we actually are. We rationalize and judge others at the expense of exalting ourselves. Paul says that we are to do the exact opposite. We are to not get “over-hyped” on our own accomplishments or works but rather we think and focus on who our gifts have come from. Whenever we do this, we approach humility rather than pride. Humility is something that our culture is surely lacking on a large scale. Whenever Believers focus on Jesus Christ and realize that He is the giver of our spiritual gifts rather than our selves, we are able to stay humble regardless of the impact that our gift might have. At the end of the day, we must realize that these “gifts” are from God and we did not “earn” them just as we did not earn our salvation. We only receive salvation because Jesus Christ died on the cross. Likewise, as show, Christ has power over all things yet He chose to give us gifts. We must remain humble with this gift because we must realize that it is from God. It seems as though Paul’s point in this verse (3) comes down to this: Remember all that you have, your salvation and your gifts for service are only what God gave you. If you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus as our standard of measurement, pride will not sneak into your life.

Be United (4-6)

I was going to preach on last Sunday night to begin our Spiritual Gifts theme, however because of weather and everything else that did not get to happen. We will get to Ephesians after Easter, though! I say all that to say that verses 4-6 of have much in common with . We see in these verses that there are 3 distinct things that we must understand! First is diversity within the body of Christ. Paul loves to use the analogy of a body and if we think of our own bodies we can see what Paul is saying here. We all have a body, however our unified body is composed of various parts. As a Type 1 Diabetic, my pancreas does not work. My body is made up of parts that work and some parts that don’t work quite as well. As a church body, though, we see that we are unified as the body of Christ. However, we are diverse in gifting and purpose. Just as our human heart and feet have different functions, each church member will have a different job than another member. Praise God for this fact! As Rick Warren said: “Organizing around the gifts of your people will allow the church to focus on ministry, not maintenance. A gifts-based ministry encourages teamwork. It also makes better use of the talent around you (and why do you think God brought this talent into your church?). Building your structure on the gifts and talents within the church promotes creativity and allows for spontaneous growth. Decision-making becomes more efficient while the structure grows more stable.” We have many different gifts in our own church body!

Second, we must understand that there is Individuality with these gifts. There are many that happen at this church that we all play a part in, however there is a difference in the way that we go about carrying out ministries whenever people are not here. An example: imagine if you are gifted with the gift of service and volunteer to help watch children in the nursery on a Sunday but you feel as though someone is gifted in that area better than you are and you decide to skip or not come to church. What happens when this transpires is that we have to scramble and get someone else to cover that position. If you are gifted in a particular area, the church NEEDS you to step up and serve! You are called to serve and use your spiritual gift! No one else has the same gifting that you have, therefore you are responsible to find out what gifting you have and use it to help the church. If you do not know what your spiritual gift is then I know of several different ways that we can figure that out! One of the greatest things that happened to me as a younger believer was finding out what my spiritual gift was and being able to use it to help teach students. Other people from my youth at FBC Ozark had the gifting of music or service and they would be able to use those gifts as well in other areas that my gift was not in. The bottom line is that we need to KNOW what our gift is and then we must USE it because we all have different gifts and in order to represent Christ to the world around us, we need everyone to help out. No one has each and every spiritual gift. You can ask my wife about which gifts I lack (there are many), however God’s Word is very clear that we all have at least 1 and we must use it.

Third, we are a body. We are not lone-rangers who are in this thing called life on our own. No, we are a body and we are going to help one another out but most importantly, we are going to use our collective gifts to glorify Jesus Christ first and foremost! Both verse 4 and 5 state that the church is “one body”. It is useless to have strong arms without eyes to guide them or a tall body without a heart to keep it moving. Likewise, it is useless to have a good motive as a church and no arms to carry it out and share the gospel with the Lost. Our church must operate together as a body does to go about evangelizing to the lost. We must GO. One thing to keep in mind as we do this is that it can be very easy for our bodies to hurt ourselves. Whether it be falling down and hurting our hip or smashing a hammer on a finger, we can hurt ourselves very easily if we are not careful. Likewise, it can be very easy for the Church body to hurt itself whenever we do not pay attention to our actions and words around one another. One the other hand, whenever one part of our body is hurting, the rest of our body tries to compensate and “pick up the slack”. Whenever I was 16 years old, I was playing basketball with some friends on New Years Eve at our church gym. Around 10pm, right before we were going to leave for the night, my friend stole the ball and passed it ahead to me with no defenders around me. As a teenager who had just dunked a ball a few weeks prior, I went up to dunk the ball and impress my friends. What I was unaware of was that a defender had come behind me to block the ball because I had slowed down. As I went up to dunk, the defender hit me from behind and caused me to lose balance in midair. As I fell to the ground, my leg landed awkwardly and my right kneecap split in half. I was completely unaware of this until someone pointed and to my shock, my leg was severely injured. In the weeks and months that followed, my left leg became extremely strong as it had to compensate for my right leg’s injury. To this day, 6 years later, my left leg is significantly stronger than my right. Just as my left leg had to pick up the slack for the injury that took place to my right leg, believers must pick up the slack and help out injured members of the body in order to remain healthy and active. We do this not to make the injured person feel bad but we do this to encourage them and most importantly, to continue in the ministry of Jesus Christ and reaching the lost around us.

Be Active (7-8)

Paul finishes this passage of scripture by talking about 7 different Spiritual Gifts that God has given to the church. There are other gifts that Paul specifically mentions in other passages of Scripture that we will talk about in the weeks to come, however I want to spend some time tonight talking about these 7 specifically.

Gift of Prophecy

Prophecy simply means to declare truth. As believers we all should declare the truth of Scripture to those around us, however some are able to do so in seems to be able to convict and build up other people very well. A person with this gift will not speak based on their feelings or emotions but according to what the Word of God says and what it has revealed to them. shows 2 examples of people with this specific gift. Praise God for people who help speak life into us by convicting us of our sin and building us up in the Word of God.

Gift of Ministry

This means helping or serving. The literal Greek word is “diakonia” which is where we get the word “deacon”. Some deacon bodies do not operate under the principle that their job is to “help” and “serve”, however praise God that the deacon body at Morgan Baptist operates by its Biblical definition. Someone with this gift readily seeks out needs in the congregation and helps to meet them. They seek to help the church fulfill various needs and often these needs are behind-the-scenes. Paul talks about this gift in in regards to Phoebe.

Gift of Teaching

A teacher defines truth. This gift, because of its importance, appears more often than any other in the list of gifts. The teacher instructs, explains, clarifies and makes simply and clear the truth of God’s word. Some have this gift in particular for teaching children, others teens, others adults. Some are uniquely gifted and can instruct persons at any age or spiritual level. Prophecy and teaching run hand in hand. Prophecy challenges the heart, teaching instructs the mind.

Gift of Exortation

Gift of Exhortation

Gift of Exortation

People with this gift challenge other Christians to grow in their faith. The word is paraklesis. It emphasizes the practical application of biblical truth to everyday life. The word means to encourage, to come alongside and urge. Exhorters warn, advise, counsel and challenge. If a teacher tells people what to do, an Exorter will show how to do it. This is often done 1 on 1 and outside of Sunday morning/evening.

Gift of Giving

All Christians are called and commanded to give to God financially. 10% is the commanded place to start, but it is not where we stop. In the words of Jesus Himself, “to He whom much is given, much is expected.” We simply have to see that all that we have is a gift from God (something non-Christians cannot wrap their minds around). This gift is sensitive to and provides for the needs of fellow believers and ministries with joy, generosity and integrity. This person has a God-given ability to see needs and give to meet them. This person is usually not interested in public recognition. His joy is simply in giving out of what God has given him to help others and further the work of our Lord. The churches of Macedonia and Philippi are said to have been filled with people with this gift.

Gift of Leadership

Gift of Mercy

This person has vision and can give direction. Like a sea captain at the helm he can steer the church in a direction that will see the church accomplish what God put it here to do. This gift is characterized by calm, clear thinking, wisdom and insight. This gift can motivate others to action and then lead them tactfully and graciously. Titus () and Timothy (, ) exemplify this gift. The problem that can happen for someone with leadership is that there can be a tendency to slack off or become lazy. That cannot become the case for a healthy church!

Gift of Mercy

Gift of Mercy

This gift joyfully, cheerfully (hilaroteti) shows compassion and kindness to those who are hurting. One with this gift is quick to reach out and help those in need, who are sorrowing and in pain. Persons with this gift have amazing sensitivity. They know when to speak or be quiet, when to go or stay away, when to pray, smile, cry or just be there. Barnabas may have had this gift along with the gift of exhortation (; ). By the grace of God, my wife has this gift and has helped me on multiple occasions by extending mercy to me in times where I have done something wrong. Praise God for people with the gift of mercy.

Conclusion

What should we takeaway from this message?

1). Make sure you are a Christian, for only a child of God has received these type of gifts from his or her heavenly Father ().

2). Know what the gifts are + come back the next 2 Sunday nights as we study other passages that talk about Spiritual Gifts!

3). Present yourself to God as a living sacrifice ().

4). Pray for wisdom ().

5). Jump in and start serving, seeking a place of service that brings you joy and satisfaction.

6). Listen for what others commend you for doing.

7). Don’t seek a particular gift. Recognize the gift(s) you have are a sovereign choice of God. Be content in what He gives you, for He only gives to you what is best for you.

As we talked about this morning, we are called to GO. Whenever we examine ourselves and find out what our Spiritual Gift/s is/are then we are able to help the church impact more people and become healthier as we become more involved and active in the ministry of the church. In all things, we must remember to be humble and to realize that these gifts come from God and they are given to you so that you can be active and serve. Once again, if you do not know what gift you have, talk to me and we will help you figure that out!

Let’s pray.