Get On The Bus Series

Get on the Bus

1 Corinthians 12

March 16, 2025

A man was walking through the forest and saw a fox that had lost its legs, and he wondered how it lived. Then he saw a tiger come up with game in its mouth. The tiger ate its fill and gave the rest to the fox.

The next day the tiger did it again and fed the fox. The man marveled at God's greatness and said to himself, “I’m going to rest and trust that God will provide me with all I need.”

He did this day after day, but nothing happened. He was starving and cried out to God! He heard a voice tell him, “Open your eyes to the truth, stop imitating the fox and be the tiger.”

What’s the point? There are a lot of people who want to be the fox and don’t want to be the tiger. Like the tiger, we have the ability to serve and give, but do we prefer to be the fox?

I hope over the past weeks, you’ve been wondering how you can serve God? Because, everyone is vitally important in God’s kingdom.

Whether you are serving out in front of people or behind the scenes, the church needs everyone to be involved in the life of the church so we can fulfill God’s call to our church and bring glory to God. Every person is needed and important.

The church in Corinth was young and didn’t understand spiritual gifts, so Paul does a great job of unpacking them.

In 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, Paul stated - - - -

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and

5 there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and

6 there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

Do you hear that? There are a variety of gifts, services and activities. They all come from the same God, from the same Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Paul even makes it trinitarian.

It’s that very same God who’s working in each of us to help us grow closer to Him, and that same God is helping us serve others, all according to the gifts He’s freely given us.

One last verse from last week . . . because it’s really important to know –

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

Remember, all of our gifts are for the common good. It doesn’t matter what gifts you have, it doesn’t matter if some are more out there than others . . . ALL gifts are for the common good, for the building up of God’s kingdom.

We’re given these gifts and we are to use them according to our unique SHAPES. It’s an acronym. And the acronym, SHAPE comes from Rick Warren at Saddleback Church in California.

Understanding our SHAPE is really important when it comes to using our spiritual gifts, so we can find fulfillment in what we’re doing.

And it’s really important because God wants us to be fulfilled in whatever we are doing to build His kingdom. Yes, that’s right, God wants us to be happy, thrilled, ecstatic about what we’re doing in the kingdom of God.

So, let’s look at this acronym in a little more detail so you can begin to see where you might fit in, or why you have not been fitting in.

It could be you’re a triangle peg and your trying to fit into a round hole. You’ve got the best of intentions, but it’s not working out. So, let’s help it to work out for His glory.

When we look at the acronym — SHAPE - - - - the S is spiritual gifts. Depending on what you read in the Bible, there are about 20-23 spiritual gifts. People have different interpretations of them. The main gifts are listed in 4 different places in the Bible.

I’m going to quickly read through a list of Spiritual gifts. The gifts are as follows - - - -

ROMANS 12:3-8

Prophecy Service Teaching

Exhortation Giving Leadership Mercy

1 Corinthians 12:8-10

Wisdom Knowledge Faith

Faith Healing Miracles

Prophecy Discernment

Speaking in Tongues Interpret Tongues

1 Corinthians 12:28-30

Apostleship Prophecy Teaching Miracles

Healing Helps Administration

Speaking in Tongues Interpret Tongues

Ephesians 4:11-12

Apostleship Prophecy Evangelists

Shepherding Teaching

1 Peter 4:9-11

Hospitality Speaking / Teaching Serving

Additional Gifts

Intercession Craftsmanship Creative Communication

That’s the list of Spiritual Gifts. Some are pretty straight forward and others, you may wonder what’s that about.

If you turn in your spiritual gift assessment, I will score it and then we can review it together and I’ll have printouts for you about your gifts, so you can better understand what you can do to serve God in a way that’s really fulfilling for you at the same time.