Gifted For A Purpose
1 Corinthians 1: 4-9
Intro: During the depression there was a sheep ranch owned by a man named Yates. Mr. Yates wasn’t able to make enough on his ranching operation to pay the principal and interest on the mortgage, so he was in danger of losing his ranch.
With little money for clothes or food, his family (like many others) had to live on government subsidy.
Day after day, as he grazed his sheep over those rolling West Texas hills, he was no doubt greatly troubled about how he would pay his bills. Then a seismographic crew from an oil company came into the area and told him there might be oil on his land. They asked permission to drill a wildcat well, and he signed a lease contract.
At 1,115 feet they struck a huge oil reserve. The first well came in at 80,000 barrels a day. Many subsequent wells were more than twice as large. In fact, 30 years after the discovery, a government test of one of the wells showed it still had the potential flow of 125,000 barrels of oil a day.
And Mr. Yates owned it all.
The day he purchased the land he had received the oil and mineral rights. Yet, he’d been living on relief.
A multimillionaire living in poverty.
The problem? He didn’t know the oil was there even though he owned it.
Many Christians live in spiritual poverty.
They are entitled to the gifts of the Holy Spirit and his energizing power, but they are not aware of their birthright.
. God has given them and the church all they need to be rich spiritually and functionally in their life.
. The church struggles when it’s members let their gifts lay dormant and the individual never experiences the full riches that is found in Christ Jesus until they take hold of and use the gift that God has given them.
. This morning’s passage from 1 Corinthians tells us much about God’s gifts to the Church.
. Lets look at our passage. 1 Corinthians 1: 4-9
4I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus.
5Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge.
6This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true.
7Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
9God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
. Paul started his letter reminding the Corinthian believers that they had been called out, set apart, looked upon as saints by God.
. The he reminded them of the gifts that God had given them and why they were given.
. The first thing we see here is that gifts are:
. Given at salvation
Look at verse 4 again.
. 4I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus.
. Now that they belong to Christ, now that they have been saved, been redeemed, been set apart, become part of the family of God, they were given spiritual gifts.
. We must first have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ in order to receive our spiritual gift.
.If you are here this morning and have truly placed your faith and trust in Jesus, you have a spiritual gift.
. I do not know what your gift is but you have one.
. There are many gifts given by God through the Holy Spirit and this is not the sermon to examine them. Just realize that if you are here this morning, God has a plan for you in your life. A plan that will not only give you a sense of fulfillment but also a sense of purpose.
. Paul says that he thanks God for those gifts because he has seen them at work in their lives.
. I thank God this morning for you who are in a relationship with Christ for bringing you here to serve and minister.
. Next we see that God gives Christians gifts in order to:
. Enrich the Church.
.Look at verse 5 again.
5Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge.
. These gifts enrich the church.
. As we will see as we go through 1 Corinthians, God has enriched the Corinthian church with eloquent speakers, those with the gift of exhortation.
. God sent first Paul there to start the church, obviously the Apostle Peter had been there and taught and stayed for a period of time and there was a preacher/ teacher
. That is the foundational gift that God gives to the church. People with the gift of teaching.
. God uses this gift to enrich the church.
. There are many things that enrich our lives isn’t there?
. Our family, children, grandchildren, our jobs, even our hobbies help to live a fuller more engaged and fulfilled life.
. God’s gifts also enriches our church, they help us be more engaged and fulfilled in the mission of the church.
. We, for a church our size, to have the teachers that we have is truly a gift from God. These men and women who labor and study and teach us God’s word brings us closer to God and they enrich our lives.
. Paul was bragging on the teaching that God had brought to the church there in Corinth. Reminding them that God had used these gifts to enrich their lives and the life of the church.
. Next we see that spiritual gifts are not only given to enrich the church, they are also:
. Given to complete the Church.
. Look at verse 7 again:
. 7Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
. Paul tells the church in Corinth that God has given them the people with the gifts they need in order to be complete.
. God has given you all you need to do the task that you have before you.
. God does that you know.
. In our trifold that we use in our outreach, we state that we are a diverse body of believers.
. That is true. We have different backgrounds, different socioeconomic circumstances in our lives but God has placed us here. You and I are here to exercise the gifts that He has endowed to us. We have all the gifts we need to accomplish the mission here at the creek.
. The problem that we and most churches have is not exercising the gifts that God has given us.
. If you don’t exercise something, it becomes weak, then weaker and weaker until it is of no use to you anymore.
. Many Christians choose, I said choose, not to exercise the gift or gifts that God has given them and that gift becomes weak and ineffective.
. As I look around this morning and see our members and some that have been around a while and have not become official members, I see all that we need to complete what God has for us here at the creek.
. I hear so many say to me that they don’t know what their gift is, my response is, are you looking.
. What in the church gives you a sense of fulfillment? What do you do for God that brings you closer to Him?
. Do you enjoy helping others; maybe you have the gift of mercy.
. Do you enjoy serving on a committee, maybe you have the gift of administration. I know too many of you, you could not imagine any joy coming out of serving that way. Guess what, you do not have that gift but some do.
. I challenge you this morning, search out what you can do within the kingdom of God that gives satisfaction and fulfillment then do it.
.God has placed you here, just as He did the Corinthian believers, to complete the church.
In verse 8 Paul writes that if the Corinthian believers and I believe us will use these gifts, we will be undefeatable.
Look at verse 7&8 in context again:
. 7Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns
. Utilizing these Gifts brings the church together in unity and strength.
. Each utilizing the gift that God gave them together to become stronger as a whole than they would be individually.
. Paul writes much about spiritual gifts in this epistle and we will look closer at them as we move through the book but look with me at chapter 12 Verses 12-18 with me .
. These verses will help us understand the completeness and strength that God’s gifts bring to the church.
12The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.
13Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
14Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.
15If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body.
16And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body?
17If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
18But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.
. God has placed us here, right here @ the creek to exercise the gifts that He gives us to grow his kingdom and bring honor and glory to him.
. Paul tells the church in Corinth and us that we have all the spiritual gifts we need to serve God right here in Monroe Ga.
. Not only do these gifts complete the church, gifts are also given to:
. Complete The Partnership With God through Jesus Christ.
.Look at verse 9 again.
9God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ for our life here on Earth and for our eternity, we enter into a partnership with Jesus.
. All partnerships are based on shared responsibilities.
. Jesus gave us the initial deposit for this partnership. He deposited his blood on a hill just outside of Jerusalem. He invites any that would want to partner with Him, become part of his family through this partnership, to simply believe in Him for their future. Place you faith and trust in Him. When you do that you are partnered with Jesus as you go through this life.
. Then He does his part again for the partnership. He sends the Holy Spirit to live within you and to bring along a gift for you so that you can perform another part of your partnership.
. The other part is your service to God through your love for God and others. Using the gift that He has given you.
. Jesus has done his part, are you doing yours.
. As I coach wrestling in the schools, I see the successful wrestlers all have one thing in common. They have a good partner that practices with them.
. You see, when both partners do what they are supposed to be doing, success follows.
. When only one of them does their part, the success of the one doing his part is much more difficult.
. Are you being a good partner this morning Christian?
. Are you using the gift that God has given you to fulfill your part of the partnership?
. Paul was reminding the Corinthian Christians and us that there is a purpose behind the gifts of God.
Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
Illustration from sermon central
