I Corinthians 12:1-11, Gifted to Minister

I Corinthians 11:1-11

Gifted to Minister

Opener,

Christmas and Santa Clause. Santa brings gifts. He gives you what He thinks you should have.

-Part of the fun of Christmas morning is getting to open the gifts.

-2 Extremes in gift opening tradition.

-Some families are wild in their gift opening (describe).

It’s a free for all under the tree and the kids rip open whatever gifts have their name on it, in whatever order they want, with no orderliness.

-There is a lot of fun in the chaos of the moment.

-Some families are very orderly. It’s like they are from Britain in the 1870’s.

-Someone plays Santa and gives out one gift at a time, but mom gives instructions on which gift is given.

-That person has to unwrap in such a way as to not tear the paper or bow, so it can be reused.

-After the gift is opened they must walk over to the giver, thank them and shake their hand, high five, or kiss

the cheek.

-Then the receiver of the gift must immediately write a thank you note in calligraphy before the next person

can open a gift.

-Now at birthday parties the kids don’t open their gifts at the party, but wait till later.

-We receive and give gifts all of our life.

-My theory of why we give gifts is that we are made in the image of God.

-God is a gift giving God. He is a grace giving God. He gives what is underserved.

Transition - Today we look at how God has given us gifts.

1.The Source of Faith - The Holy Spirit. vs 1-3

The Holy Spirit is the 3rd person of the Trinity.

He - the Spirit is God - and plays a very significant roll in the life of the Christ Follower.

When you became saved God as Spirit takes the Truth of the Bible uncovers the spiritual blindness you have.

1) Convicts you of sin,

2) Shows you God’s perfection (how you miss the mark), and 3) convicts you of the judgement to come for you sin.

-God as Spirit takes awakens your heart to see that Jesus is the answer for your sin problem.

-God as Spirit gives you the gift of faith and the ability to use it.

-At the moment of belief 2 beautiful things happen.

Your sins are forgiven.The Spirit of God takes up residence in your soul.

-At the Salvation of the Christ Follower the Holy Spirit came into your soul.

We call this Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

-If you are a Believing Christ Followers, you have the Spirit of God in you.

-This is one of the best gifts that you have ever been given.

-You have been given the presence of God Himself.

-There are many things that the Spirit of God enables you and empowers you to do.

In our passage today we see this is verse 3...

Read verse 3

The Spirit of God gifts you with faith and power to confess Jesus and be saved. vs. 3

Romans 10:9-10

Question -

Let me ask you this, Have you confessed and believed that Jesus is your Savior and Lord?

-If not, God is calling to you right now.

-He is inviting you right now.

-Will you give your life to him in full belief, full trust and receive salvation?

Verse 3 tells us something else.

B. The Spirit of God also, guards you from sin.

vs. 3 “...no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” 

Barnett - Some people in Corinth at the Pagan temple worship of idols would yell out - “Jesus be cursed.” They thought this was a sign of worshipful loyalty to their God.

However, What this showed Christ followers was the demonic influence that was happening in the pagan temples of Corinth.

-The Holy Spirit guarded a person from being drawn into and making such an evil confession.

-You who have lived a long life. Have you ever looked back at a time of you life and asked, I should have fallen prey to that sin in a shady situation I allowed myself to be in.

-I wonder why I didn’t get drawn into that sin?

-Answer, the Holy Spirit.

-There are times that God will overtake your will.

-He will supernaturally help you do things you normally could not have done and he will supernaturally keep you from sin you would have otherwise have fallen into.

In our passage today note this ...

Summary

-No one who was led by God’s Spirit would say “Jesus be cursed” as part of worship.

-Only those who were saved, filled with God’s Spirit would say “Jesus is Lord.”

C. -Look at the distinction of the confession as we continue to drill down into verse 3. “Jesus is Lord.”

Not Jesus is God (though He is God) - “Jesus is Lord.”

Not Jesus is Savior (though He is the Savior from sin)

The emphasis is on Lord.

Lord is the King and the Ruler.

 His is the God who rules over all.

Jesus must not only be Savior of your life, but He also must be Lord.

-You say, I just prefer Jesus as my Savior.

-Jesus is the fire insurance for my sin.

-I prefer to be the Lord or King of my life.

-My friend, if this is you, you are trying to have just part of Jesus. You are trying to have just a piece of Jesus.

-It is impossible to have part of Jesus.

-If you have part of Jesus, You have none of Jesus.

-You must have Jesus as both Savior and Lord.

-He must be both your Savior and your King.

Q- Is Jesus Lord of your life? Is He Lord over all of your life or just part of your life?

Slowly

Is He Lord over your thoughts?

Is He Lord over your eyes and ears?

Is He Lord over your affections, your heart?

Is there an area of your life that He placing His finger on right now that He is asking you to surrender to Him?

-When you have all of Jesus you have someone who is majestic.

-You have the most overwhelming, beautiful, powerful being to ever exist.

In His greatness He exists both inside and outside the Universe.

And this Lord & King Jesus is not only a powerful wise King.

-He is also the tender Savior.

-Today He calls you to come close to Him.

Christ Follower - Will you right now draw close to your King of grace. Will you grab on to his tender hand?

-In a new area of your life, give Him control.

If your are not a Christ Follower...

-Will you right now, in your heart, say to God, “Jesus, I trust you. Jesus I give you my life. Thank you for forgiving me.”

-Will you right now turn control of your life over to Jesus?

-Will you say, “Jesus have all of my life. You may do with my life what you want.”

The reason that you are empowered to surrender all of yourself to Jesus is because of the power of The Spirit of God at work.

The Spirit, He is the source of your faith. He has given the Christ Follower Himself.

This knowledge will help dispel any ignorance concerning the giver of the gifts. vs.1-3, The Spirit Filled Christ Follower

2.

Transition - Not only is The Spirit the source of your faith, but He is the Source of your Spiritual Gift.

The Source of the Gifts, vs. 4-6, 11

Read vs. 4-6, 11

Evidence of the Trinity at work, vs. 4-5

I’d like to make just 1 quick theological point.

Some people will say that the word Trinity (Father, Son, and Spirit) God the 3 in 1. 1 God in three distinct persons.

That the word Trinity never appears in the Bible and they are correct.

-Here we see one of many evidences for the Trinity.

-I hope you have your Bible.

-Look in verse 4

vs. 4, Spirit = Holy Spirit

vs. 5, Lord = Jesus, see vs. 3

vs. 6, God = Father

Not only do we see that God’s Spirit is the Source of gifts, but we see Jesus and the Father incorporated into your giftedness.

Vs. 7 tells us, Each Christ Follower has been given at least 1 spiritual gift.

Some of you may have more than 1 gift.

When you were saved God blessed you with a Spiritual Gift.

Do I get to choose my gift. There are a few I like more than others.

vs. 11, He gives each gifts to who he wills.

God decides in His great plan who will get what gift.

Transition - The passage goes on in verse 7 to tell us the...

The Reason for the Gifts, vs. 7

vs. 7, God gives them so the body (the church) is built up,

The purpose of you spiritual gift is to benefit the body.

-The focus of the gift is not self, but others.

God gives different gifts for 2 reasons. The strengthening of the body & to bear witness to God.

Bear Witness of God - When all the gifts are working in unison you have a a beautiful ministry of believers that can only be explained by God doing a supernatural work.

Just like the human body is a walking miracle of interdependent systems.

So when all the spiritual gifts in a church are acting in unison, it is a spiritual miracle witness to a lost world.

Not only are all the gifts working together a witness of God, but all the gifts working in unison

Strengthens the body - The body is strengthened when all the moving parts are working together in harmony.

Illustration -

On my dad and mom’s 1st wedding anniversary my dad thought a practical gift would be good.

Little did he realize at the time, That was strike number 1.

Strike number 2 was that he didn’t ask mom what she would like or at least get a hint.

Strike number 3, a swing and a miss, was getting my mom an iron (clothes iron) - for their 1st wedding anniversary.

Their gifting didn’t line up. On that day their marriage was not in perfect harmony.

God has given you a practical gift.

A gift for you to use.

A gift that will effect others lives.

-In this, He is calling you to minister with the gift that He has given you.

Here is where you need to start asking questions.

If God has given me at least 1 gift, What is it?If I have a gift, how can I use it?

My friends - Pay very close attention to this.

You have been given a Spiritual Gift - to minister to others.

-God has gifted you, so you can minister.

God did not gift you to sit in the spiritual stands and watch the game go by.

He gifted you to get on the field and play.

-Your church family needs you to use your gift.

The question is this. Will you use it, or will you waste it?

Pause

We see that there is a diversity of gifts.

Many gifts that God may give.

The Diversity of the Gifts, vs. 8-11

Read vs. 8-11

Refer to the paper on Spiritual gifts.

Illustration - Every single gift is important and needed.

Supply chain -

Due to Covid all over the world there has been supply chain problems.

Let’s say you are putting together an engine. You need the parts.

We’ve had a massive supply chain issue due to Covid.

If your engine is aluminum

The company that casts aluminum engine blocks is in Pittsburg.

The engine block company needs an aluminum miner to pull aluminum from the ground in Canada.

The minor’s giant belt that moves the mined aluminum has broken rollers.

Those rollers are made in Czech republic in Eastern Europe at a factory.

The factory is hit with covid and is behind on making rollers.

The minor can’t mine aluminum.

The engine block company can’t cast an aluminum engine.

You can’t get your engine block because of Covid in the Czech republic in Eastern Europe.

Everyone in God’s church has a gift and a roll to play.

When someone sits out and doesn’t carry their load, the community of believers can’t do its job effectively.

Every church, especially this church needs each person to play a part.

Look at your spiritual gifts sheet.

Where do I go from here?

Ask the Lord to help you understand what your spiritual gift is.When you are working in it you will enjoy what you are doing. You will begin to feel a bit of a draw toward certain areas of ministry.Take you Spiritual Gifts paper - Read it. Pray over it.Step out - Start trying some different ministries.

Start looking for areas to serve in.

We will start to open up. More activities and ministries will happen.

Example Children’s Choir & picnic

-You may not have known this, but there was a whole crew working behind the scenes.

Cooking, organizing, tables/chairs, being relational ...

Closing

If you are not a Christ follower will you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior? He is the greatest gift one could ever have.

If you are a Christ follower, will you ask God to reveal you gift and will you start using this blessing He has given you?