Congratulations, You Are Gifted. Series

You Are Gifted! What Satan Doesn’t Want You to Know About Spiritual Gifts.

Sunday, January 15th, 2006

Part One of a Six Part Series

Intro:

A couple of years ago, my Dad and I took a week off and went up to our cottage at Delta Lake Camp. We went because it still had the original 25 year old roof on it and it was in desperate need of a new roof. My father built this cottage with his own hands and takes great pride in it, every part of it was carefully planned and crafted and he knew every detail of the building and was active in making sure that it stayed in good shape and looked nice so that it could continue to function the way it was supposed to. He had a specific job for me: roof it.

I had done roofing in college and was pretty good at swinging a hammer so I figured we’d get it knocked out pretty quickly.

Well, I was wrong. The first day of roofing went very slowly. See I’d never owned a “real “ hammer. I’d had plenty of hammers but never a heavy duty, put a nail through a brick wall, kind of manly man hammer. My father watched as I struggled a bit with sinking the nails and finally he left. I had no idea where he’d gone but I kept plugging away with my little girlie hammer. He came back about a half hour later, walked over to me, took my hammer and handed me a brand new heavy-duty beast of a hammer. It didn’t help my aim at all but when I did hit the nail it sure made a difference. It also meant that when I hit my thumb it hurt all that much more.

My dad had a job for me to do, something that he’d planned for a long time, a job that was very important to him, he had a very personal investment in the project. He knew that with the right tools, I could get the job done better. So, he gave me a gift that would allow me to do what he asked.

God is in the process of building His Kingdom here on Earth. The way that he’s chosen to do that is through His church. Not the wood and brick kind of church, not a particular denomination or specific congregation, but the church that is made up of His believers, He is building this kingdom through us. He has a personal interest in the project, to see as many come into a relationship with him as possible. And because of that, he has given us everything we need to be successful in our work. He has given us the right tools in the different ways that he created us and He has given to each believer, a gifts or set of gifts that will enable them to carry out the important role that He created them for. His desire is for the church to function as a relevant, healthy, impactful force in the world, his way of accomplishing that is spiritual gifts.

I. Definition of Spiritual Gifts:

1 Corinthians 12:6-7 says:

There are different ways that God works in our lives but it is the same God who does the work through all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.

Spiritual Gifts can be defined as: God’s special endowment of believers for service primarily within the body of believers.

While God equips us in many ways to impact and help those who don’t know him, spiritual gifts have a specific purpose and they are primarily to be used in the church. Spiritual Gifts are to be used to strengthen and build God’s church.

1 Cor 4:26 All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church

1 Cor 14:12 So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.

The word that’s used for spiritual gifts is Charismata and the root of that word, Charis, is the Greek word for Grace. These gifts are part of the grace that God extends to us, an undeserved gift to equip us to do His work. They are more than just talents, although often a talent and a gift go hand in hand. They go beyond the basic commands of God. All are called to have faith, only some have the gift of faith. All are called to share the gospel, only some have the gift of evangelism. Spiritual gifts are a work of God in our lives that change us and empower us to do the everyday work of the kingdom.

"No local congregation will be what it should be, what Jesus prayed that it would be, what the Holy Spirit gifted it and empowered it to be, until it understands spiritual gifts." John MacArthur