Let Your Kingdom Come - Part 3

announcements:

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call to prayer

Prayer meeting - starting Sundays at 7pm

Next Steps

Tithing Unit coming up - beginning of february

After the unit, we’re gonna challenge people - try tithing for 3 months.

Missionary Update!

we do this every 3rd sunday

Dan and Jen Chaloner

Sponsor Child - ERDO

What do we mean by Spiritual Gifts?

The bible basically uses two terms to describe this concept in the new testament.

πνευματικός

This means ‘an expression of the Spirit’.

χάρισμα

This means ‘an expression of grace’.

If we want a complete picture of what a spiritual gift is - it’s simply

A spiritual gift is something we are enabled to do through the Spirit and by grace

Now, notice, there’s a few missing points here:

Spiritual gifts are not about us having special powers

The spiritual gifts may be something you’re good at , it may not.

Talking about the more supernatural gifts, The easiest, easiest way to fall into idolatry and sinfulness is to believe that whatever power may be operating through you by the Spirit is actually your power.

If you pray for somebody, and they are healed, that’s amazing - but you don’t have healing powers. God does.

It starts with the spirit’s power, and is channeled through grace. We’re literally just the vehicle for it.

Spiritual gifts are not necessarily just something we’re good at

There are spiritual gifts we’re good at. and there’s ones that we do that we’re not.

The ultimate point is not whether you’re good at it or not - it’s whether the Spirit is moving you to do it.

Spiritual gifts are not about our desires or plans

Because it’s directed by the Spirit (he decides, he directs) and it’s channeled by grace (we are here not because we deserve it, but in spite of the fact that we don’t), we take a back seat planning wise.

And this is important to understand, because we ALSO need to remember that God is way, way different than us.

Isaiah 55:8–9 NIV

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

What are the Spiritual Gifts?

There’s a few places in the bible to look.

Romans 12:6-8

1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28-30

Ephesians 4:11-13

But here’s a good rule of thumb:

If there’s a need - there’s a person enabled by the Spirit to meet it

There’s a great test out there that, while it’s not EXHAUSTIVE and it’s not meant to answer e very single possibility, it’s a good portrait.

We will post a link that lets you go through it yourself.

If you want it printed out to look at - come talk to me!