Good morning, CHURCH!

(Opening joke)

All of us who have had children know that once they can talk, they ask a lot of questions.

It was no different for Adam and Eve.

After having children, they started getting a lot of questions from their kids.

“Whose your mother and father?”

“Where is your belly button?”

But one of the toughest questions they got was about why they no longer lived in Eden.

And Adam doing that Adam thing he does thought he had the simple answer for this: “Well kids, your mother ate us out of house and home.”

Are you ready to be equipped today?

Let me see your Bibles.

Let’s go to the book of 1 Peter 4:10-11 for this week’s wisdom Vaccination.

This Week’s Wisdom Vaccination

1 Peter 4:10-11 ESV

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Like we’ll see later from Paul, Peter emphasized the diversity of gifts in the church and the need for all of them until the end.

The gifts God gives us are to serve one another and to glorify God.

They are not for us to brag about the gift or gifts he has given us.

The gifts are manifestations of “God’s grace in its various forms.”

It is also implied that each believer has received at least one spiritual gift as we see Peter addressed his words to “each one”.

The notion that God has granted charismatic gifts to each believer is also something we’ll see confirmed by Paul.

Even though every believer possesses at least one gift, the gifts are not necessarily the same.

God’s grace manifests itself “in its various forms,” so that the diversity of gifts reveals the multifaceted character of God’s grace.

2 weeks ago I spoke about hearing God speak to you.

When He Speaks

Last week Pastor Morris spoke about being in tune with God’s

Spiritual Indicators

There is a reason we need to hear God speak and that we need to follow his indicators.

It’s not just so that we can go to Heaven when we die or that we avoid Hell.

God desires total and complete restoration in his creation call mankind.

Everything God has for us is to help get us back to garden status.

(Dominion, health, everlasting life, sourced by God’s love etc.)

Today’s message title is:

Spiritual Gifts - What are they?

Today we’ll talk about what spiritual gifts are and next week we’ll talk about what they are for.

Let’s start by clearing up one thing.

Spiritual Gifts are not weird or strange.

That’s something man has done but we don’t see that in the Bible.

Spiritual Gifts are abilities given to individual believers by the Holy Spirit in order to equip God’s people for Ministry, both for the edification of the Church and for God’s mission to save the world.

Spiritual Gifts are not wiring's we have based on life’s challenges that teach us to be aware of certain things. (e.g. I can read people because of my tough childhood.)

Spiritual Gifts don’t have to be based on your personality before becoming a believer. (e.g. just because you have no desire to play golf doesn’t mean I can’t give you some golf clubs if I want to.)

Let’s look at the progression of spiritual gifts throughout the Bible.

The scriptures will be on the screen. I would like for you to follow along today, and you can go back and re watch to write them all down.

In the Old Testament, God’s Spirit granted special gifts to people whom God had chosen for a particular purpose (e.g., prophecy, leadership, artistic creation).

The gifting of the Spirit was rare but was certainly a significant way in which God chose to work among his people.

Joel records a promise that, one day, God would pour out his Spirit and spiritual gifts more broadly.

Joel 2:28-29 ESV

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

Joel was prophesying that despite what’s going on now, there will come a time that God will pour out his Spirit on all flesh;

The New Testament record of the Spirit’s empowerment begins with Christ.

Luke 4:16-21 ESV

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.

21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

It was the custom for the teacher to stand and read the scroll, then return it to the attendant and take his seat where he would begin to speak.

Jesus shocked the crowd because they were expecting this prophecy to be fulfilled in the future but he said it starts today with me.

Later, when Christ sent out his disciples to minister in various towns, he gave them a share in his spiritual authority, and they performed wonders in his name.

Luke 9:1-2 ESV

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

Jesus deputized the twelve.

(Just as a police officer doesn’t make law, they just enforce it.)

After Christ’s ascension, the Spirit came upon the church, fulfilling the promise in Joel. Starting with the 120.

Acts 1:8-9 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

This is where you should see yourself fitting in to the story.

Acts 2:4 ESV

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And then Peter said:

Acts 2:15-16 ESV

For these people are not drunk, as you suppose since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

Joel 2:28-29 ESV

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

Apostle Paul didn’t want the church to be uninformed about spiritual gifts, so he gave them 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 ESV

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

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

8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,

9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

10 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.

11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

The Spirit’s distribution of spiritual gifts among believers was central to the Christian experience and crucial for the empowerment of the faith and for the spread of the gospel.

And if it was crucial then, it surely is today.

At least three of Paul’s letters mentioned spiritual gifts. (Romans, 1 Corinthians which we just read, and Ephesians.)

We read 1 Corinthians. Let’s read Ephesians.

Ephesians 4:7-8 ESV

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men

Ephesians 4:11-13 ESV

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

Now let’s read in Romans.

Romans 12:4-8 ESV

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.

God has an initiative to restore humankind to wholeness and harmony, and the use of spiritual gifts are tools that he uses to help bring that initiative about.

(Closing illustration)

If you’re watching online or here in the room, I have a very important question to ask you.

What is Holy Spirit saying to you right now?