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.
The beauty of spiritual gifts is that we were created by God to have them. They’re freely given to us by God. So, let’s look at the other aspects of your SHAPE.
You may already have an idea of what your SHAPE is and how it works, but lots of people really don’t. When we go over your results, if you want, we will also go over your SHAPE.
Let’s look at the H - which stands for HEART or our PASSIONS.
The Bible uses the term “heart” to describe an all encompassing group of desires, passions, motivations, and dreams you have. Your heart represents your inner being and your desires — — what you love to do and what you care about most.
Proverbs 27:19 tells us - - - -
19 As in water, face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.
Isn’t that true? Your heart reveals the real you — who you truly are, not who others think you are. Your heart determines why you say the things you do, why you feel the way you do, and why you act the way you do.
Your heart demonstrates your character.
In the same way, God has given each of us a unique emotional “heartbeat.” We all have it. For some of you when you hear a certain topic, your heart skips a beat, your pulse quickens. Why? Because it’s a subject you’re passionate about.
Have you ever been passionate about something and the person next to you is yawning and totally bored. And you’re thinking . . . “you slug, you should be hyped about this.”
But they’re not and that’s because we’re all wired differently. We instinctively care about some things and not about others. That’s OK! These are clues as to where what you’re passionate about and where you should serve.
Sometimes we hide our passions, because revealing them can make us feel a vulnerable. Yet our passions are our deep desires or purposes that bring us joy and fulfillment.
Those are the issues in which we are willing to go to battle over. Some experiences capture your attention, while others turn you off or bore you to tears. These reveal the passions in your heart.
So, that’s the HEART . . .
Next comes the A or ABILITIES
We’ve looked at this verse before, Paul tells us in Ephesians 2 - - - -
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus before there was a world. God created us to do good works because of our salvation.
Your abilities are the natural talents and developed talents you have. God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. That’s something we need to believe about God and ourselves.
One of the most common excuses people give for not serving is “I just don’t have any abilities to offer.” That’s absurd.
We have multiple abilities and talents that we don’t really consider talents and abilities. Many are untapped, unrecognized, and unused abilities that are lying dormant inside of us.
Every ability can be used for God’s glory. A verse we’ve looked at in the past weeks is from Colossians 3, when Paul said - - - -
17 Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
God has a place where your specialties can shine and you can make a difference. I hope you believe that is true . . . because it is.
You’re the only person who can use your abilities. No one else can play your role, because they don’t have the unique shape God has given you.
God’s equipped you with everything you need to do His will. Think about pray about it, or ask someone what you’re good at. There’s more than you realize.
Even little things . . . like organization, studying / reading, cooking, sewing, woodworking, fixing things, sports, music, and more are abilities - - - - and these can be used to make a difference.
To discover God’s will for your life, should consider what you’re good at doing and what you’re not good at.
Next comes the P - which stands for PERSONALITY
Your personality will affect how and where you use your spiritual gifts. Some things we’d look at include — — “are you introverted or extroverted? Do you prefer an organized setting or chaos? Are you task oriented? Do you prefer working alone or in a group?” Questions like that help us narrow down where we fit best.
A great story from the Bible to help us see personality differences is the story about Mary and Martha in Luke 10 -
39 Martha had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to His teaching.
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving.
And she went up to Jesus and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
Do you see the difference in their personalities? That would totally shape how you served depending upon which person you were.
These sisters were wired very differently. Mary was relational, Martha was task oriented. Each of us were designed to serve in a certain style. Understanding how God designed your personality will help you to serve to your greatest potential.
For instance, two people may have the same gift of evangelism, but if one is introverted and the other is extroverted, that gift will be expressed in different ways.
It can be disconcerting and draining to you, and even others when we’re serving against who we’ve been created to be.
This is why it’s important to understand our SHAPE when we want to serve.
It’s obvious that God has not used a cookie cutter to stamp out people. He loves variety; and we need variety, just look around. And there isn’t a “right” or “wrong” SHAPE. We need opposites to balance the church.
Now we come to the E or our EXPERIENCES
In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul wrote -
12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel - Philippians 1:12
Paul said his experience, what happened to him has helped shape him so that he could advance the message of Christ.
So, the question comes to us as well – what has my life history prepared me to do?
Our past experiences help shape our character, it’s impacted our abilities and influences us. Whether we like it or not, our life experiences dictate the way we live our lives. Sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse.
We’ve all been shaped by our experiences. Many were beyond your control, yet, God allowed them for His purpose of molding and shaping us.
When we look at our life experience, some break it down into 5 areas.
Ministry experiences: How have you served God in the past? What worked? What didn’t?
Work experiences: What jobs have you been most effective in and enjoyed most?
Educational experiences: What were your favorite subjects in school? What hobbies do you have?
Spiritual experiences: What have been your most spiritual times with God?
Painful experiences: From what problems, hurts, and trials have you experienced which has shaped you?
For example, we don’t like to dwell on our hurts, we want to get rid of them as quickly as possible, yet, God never wastes a hurt!
Oftentimes we’re able to minister to someone who’s experiencing something we’ve already gone through. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:4 –
4 God comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction,
with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. - 2 Corinthians 1:4
That’s such a powerful truth, those hurts we want to forget, or those jobs you despised may allow you to minister to someone in a way that nobody else can.
God wants you to be open to ministering to people who are walking through the same valley you’ve already passed through!
OK! Whew . . . that’s a lot. That’s a lot to think about! But more than anything, I want you to be fulfilled in whatever you do for the kingdom of God. Being frustrated as you serve stinks! It takes the joy away because our energy is getting zapped and we feel sapped.
One thing will always be certain . . . the church will always need people to do the ministry. Every one of you, those who are here and those at home . . . have gifts.
There are needs all around us. People need work on their homes, help with taxes, people need meals, help understanding medicare and insurance, help with budgets, they need help learning how to use a computer or phones.
People need to know who Jesus is, kids need tutors, people need a friend to walk with them in life, someone who accepts them and embraces them. We have the potential to be the provider for these and many other needs. Our future is all around us.
That future must start with each one of us, becoming excited / passionate about being involved in ministry. Working with other brothers and sisters in Christ, working with those we don’t know Christ, bringing in friends who don’t know Christ so they may learn about Christ while working with you.
That’s what’s really cool about things we do. You can bring friend to something we’re doing. No strings attached, but in the process, they may see Jesus at work through you or others.
We need to get on the ministry bus. I just don’t want you to get on any ministry bus. Get on the right bus. Get on the bus that God is calling you to get on. And in the end, we end up at the same destination . . . which is really cool!!
If you feel like you are just kind of languishing and wanting more out of life. If you feel like God has more for you, but you’re not sure what it is . . . . and you’ve never examined your spiritual gifts, let’s do it!!
