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GIFTED TO SERVE, Part 7
“One Glorious Objective”
By Rev. Will Nelken
________________________________________
Presented at Trinity Community Church, San Rafael, CA, on December 5, 2021
We are exploring the gifts with which God equips His people—what they are, how they come
to us, what they’re used for, what you can do to develop them, and how to use them most effectively.
Because His gifts are God’s deposits of grace and ability in our lives that equip us for the purpose for which He made each one of us.
“There are different spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them.
There are different ways of
serving, and yet the same Lord is served.
There are different types of work to do, but the same
God produces every gift in every person.”
(1 Corinthians 12:4-6)
In previous talks, we briefly examined three lists of God’s gifts in the New Testament, which I
categorize as:
Motivational Gifts
These gifts of God form and empower your personality for spiritual impact.
Leadership Gifts
Through these gifts Jesus identifies the leaders of His Church and motivates their vision.
Demonstration Gifts
By the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to meet the needs of those
around us, revealing the lordship of Christ.
The aim of God’s wealth of gifts is to build up His Church through two primary activities: serving “insiders” (fellow believers) and serving “outsiders” (the unchurched).
The act of serving
builds you up spiritually, and also builds up those you serve.
We need compassionate deeds and passionate proclamation.
Good deeds validate the Good
News we bring.
And the Good News clarifies the motivation behind our good deeds.
For God’s words must be heard in order to impart their power.
It is the message about Jesus
Christ that has the power to save.
As Paul wrote: “I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ.
It is the power of God at
work, saving everyone who believes.”
(Romans 1:16)
If we boil the message down to its essence, it might look like these five points:
God loves you intensely
and wants to share good things and eternal life with you;
But there’s a problem:
we don’t want God to rule over us—this is called sin, and it separates us (from God and others);
So God provided the Answer
by coming into our world Himself in human form, as Jesus of Nazareth—a man who never
sinned;
And as a man, He offered Himself in our place
to be our substitute and pay the penalty for our sins, to restore our relationship with God as
our Father;
This saving grace is offered to us as a free gift
which must be received by faith, in order to be effective.
A brief outline such as this, is easy to commit to memory, so you will leave nothing out that
needs to be said, and can easily resume if you are interrupted.
So, for our part, with the Scriptures as our basis, and the Spirit as our Coach, how should we
say it?
I have offered four words:
Organically
Unforced, building on established relationships
Conversationally
Not teaching, challenging, prosecuting, or judging
Personally
Be authentically vulnerable, humble, relatable
Invitationally
Aim to offer them Christ (low pressure, but earnest)
In the words of Peter: “Always be ready to explain [your hope in Christ].
But do this in a gentle
and respectful way.” (1 Peter 3:15-16)
Pragmatic Tools
In any application of the gifts of God, whether among Christians or unchurched people, let
your purpose be to build up Christ’s Church, and your manner be gracious and authentic.
Recognize this: the gifts of God are not imaginary, but pragmatic tools, empowering us to
serve the Lord and His people in this life.
Some of His gifts will not persist beyond this life.
Paul wrote: “There is the gift of speaking what God has revealed, but it will no longer be used.
There is the gift of speaking in other languages, but it will stop by itself.
There is the gift of
knowledge, but it will no longer be used.
Our knowledge is incomplete and our ability to speak
what God has revealed is incomplete.
But when what is complete comes, then what is incomplete will no longer be used.”
(1 Corinthians 13:8-10)
Clearly, supernatural gifts are not the Main Thing (as some may suggest); they are the means
to an end.
What IS the main thing?
Paul made it plain: “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of
these is love.”
(1 Corinthians 13:13)
As he said earlier: “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love
others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I
understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I
could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
3 If I gave everything I have
to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I
would have gained nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
One Glorious Objective
If your study of the Bible does not generate greater love for Jesus Christ, then you are not
reading in the way you should.
If your times of worship and prayer do not foster a deeper love for the Holy Spirit, then you
are just talking to hear yourself speak.
If your witness to others of the truth and grace of Jesus Christ does not nurture in you a compelling love for the unchurched, then your pride is getting in your way.
And if you’re doing none of these things, then what need have you of supernatural gifts?
The
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