Spiritual Gifts Series
Part 4 – “Service, Giving and Mercy”
Rev. Bruce A. Shields – First Baptist Church Tawas City Michigan
www.TawasBaptist.org
I would like to welcome you to the First Baptist Church of Tawas City, we are very glad you are here today.
If you are visiting, please fill out a Visitor Card located in the back of the pew’s, and leave them on the pews as you leave, and someone will come by after the service and pick them up.
Scripture Reading
Acts 6:1-7
“In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
5This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”
PRAYER
Last week we talked about the first spiritual gift listed in Romans which was prophecy.
This week I would like to talk about a few more of the gifts listed, Service, Giving and Mercy.
Although these three gifts are different, they are also related in many ways.
All the Spiritual Gifts will fall within one of three categories.
There are the SUPPORT GIFTS which are foundational. They are vital to the body of Christ because they provide direction and leadership for the church.
Then there are SERVICE GIFTS which work behind the scenes, quietly encouraging and building up the body.
Lastly there are the SIGN GIFTS which supernaturally manifest the Holy Spirit’s power, authenticating God’s presence in the church.
Service or helps, Giving and Mercy all fall under the service gifts.
The scripture we just read is directly related to Deacons. Why they were needed in the church at the time, how they chose them and what kind of men they needed to be to fill the part.
Let’s take a look at the first of the three gifts we’re going to talk about today, and that is Service.
Service which is sometimes called helps is the Spiritual gift that gives you the capacity to take the initiative to meet the practical needs of others, freeing them to fulfill their own calling.
You are helping them to serve God the way He called them to serve.
Here we read in Acts that some of the widows were being overlooked in the distribution of food.
So the twelve (Elders of the church at the time) gathered all the disciples (congregation) together and let them know there was a need.
The twelve knew that it would not be right for them to stop doing what God had called them to do to distribute food, but the food still needed to be distributed, so they wanted the disciples to choose 7 men full of the spirit and wisdom to take this responsibility. The congregation chose them, not the Elders.
Deacon in Greek (diakonos) literally means those who wait on tables.
But this is just one example of service or helps.
The Spiritual Gift of Service would be anyone who takes on a task or responsibility that would free someone else to serve God in the way of their calling.
You are helping them serve God!
Through the next few weeks I want everyone to remember that NO GIFT IS NON-ESSENTIAL.
God wouldn’t give you a gift if it was worthless or didn’t really address a need in the church.
The gift of service is one of the quiet giants.
In the scripture we read that the elders would be taken away from their calling if it weren’t for the deacons.
They stated that they knew it would be wrong of them to go, so God addressed a need within the church through the elder’s obedience to their calling from God in their ministry.
If anyone here ever says, “I’m just an usher.”
Or, “I just clean the church.”
Or, “I just count the tithe.”
Or, “I just ring the bell on Sunday before service.”
You are in the wrong mindset. You are DOING something. You are serving the body of Christ! You are serving this church!
You are taking a responsibility and freeing up others who have a specific calling of God.
This is service or helps.
Here’s an example. According to the American Baptist Churches of Michigan, I, as the one giving the sermon, am supposed to determine which songs Emily is going to sing, how many and what order.
I’m sorry, but that isn’t biblical.
No where in the bible does it say, that as part of the calling of pastor or teacher, I have to make a list of songs for the Sunday service.
I think Emily is doing an awesome job, and I don’t want that responsibility. She knows more about the songs than I do, and she is the one up here singing them.
What sense does it make for me to spend my time on something that is not my calling?
This would take me away from my calling of preaching and teaching, which we just read in scripture, is not a good thing.
This is one reason why the actual roles and responsibilities within the church need to be better defined, so that we can be a biblical church as opposed to a church structured to the precepts of men. Jesus warns us about this.
God tells us what the roles are, and how they are to operate, and the closer we are to operating biblically, the healthier and greater this body of Christ will become.
I see many people here in the congregation today who are exercising their spiritual gift of service, and may not even know it.
I see certain people bringing in food for the food bank, repairing windows, decorating the sanctuary.
And much more!
You are exercising your gift of service or helps!
The next gift we are going to talk about today is giving.
This is not tithe, we are all commanded to tithe.
Giving is the Spiritual Gift that gives you the ability to cheerfully contribute materials BEYOND a “tithe” for the work of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 8:1-5
“And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.”
They were in extreme poverty, yet they were rich in generosity.
They gave even beyond their ability, on their own.
No one told them to.
They pleaded for the PRIVILEGE of sharing in this service to the saints.
They did more than was expected because of their poverty.
But they didn’t sacrifice their tithe to do so.
In verse 5 we see they gave tithe FIRST, THEN to the disciples to continue their ministry.
Here is another gift I see within the church.
You can see how Service and giving are kind of related.
Sometimes in serving, people give, beyond tithe.
Tithe should never be redirected to other ministries.
Tithe is a command which is done in obedience to the Lord.
Not because God needs your money, everything already belongs to Him.
But that’s another sermon.
Matthew 6:1, 2 - Giving to the Needy
“Be careful not to do your ’acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Luke 21:2-4
2He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.[a] 3"I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."
She gave, not a tithe, but all she had. This is the gift of giving. Going beyond what is commanded in the tithe.
Most people think that 10% is the required tithe in the O.T., but actually that was the minimum tithe you were to pay.
Not everyone is called to give beyond tithe, but some are.
And it is NOT determined by how much you have.
The widow had very little, yet gave all.
The last gift we’ll look at today is the gift of mercy.
The Spiritual Gift of mercy gives you the capacity to detect hurt and feel compassion for those who are hurting.
Luke 10:30-37
“In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ’Look after him,’ he said, ’and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
Here we have an example of mercy.
To recognize someone’s hurt and to address that hurt in compassion.
Many times in the scripture we read where it says,
“Jesus looked upon them and had compassion.”
Jesus could see the hurt in people, and He felt it. But He also addressed their needs after He recognized them.
We are to have mercy as a Christian.
But the gift of mercy goes beyond Christianity and into “being like Christ”
The priest was “too religious”
The Levite was “not righteous”
But the Samaritan was “merciful”
Going beyond just seeing hurts, but responding to them.
Bandaged his wounds,
Cleaned them with oil and wine,
Put the man on his donkey,
Took him to an inn,
Took care of him all night,
Paid for the inn,
Asked the keeper to watch over the man,
He reimbursed the keeper for all the extra expenses.
All who belong to the body of Christ have at least one gift.
But you have to belong to the body of Christ.
To do this, you have to accept Jesus as your Savior.
ALTAR CALL / COMMUNION
Ask yourself right now,
Have I recognized Jesus as Lord?
Have I confessed my sin to Him?
Have I asked Him to be my Lord and Savior?
If you would like to do that now, come forward and one of the Elders will pray with you.
If you would like to accept Jesus as your Lord and savior and allow God’s love to spare you from hell, come forward.
If you would like to be baptized or join our family here at the First Baptist Church, please come forward and one of the Elders will help you.
Or if you have a prayer concern or would like to be prayed over, now is the time to come forward and we will pray for you.
James 5:13-15
“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.”
If the Holy Spirit is calling you forward, come forward now.
