Spiritual Gifts Series
Part 9 – Helps and Administration
First Baptist Church of Tawas City Michigan
Rev. Bruce A. Shields
www.TawasBaptist.org
Welcome to the First Baptist Church of Tawas City.
If you are visiting today, please be sure to fill out a visitor card and leave it in the pew after the service.
We’re going to wrap up our Sermon Series on spiritual gifts today.
The last two gifts we will be discussing are helps and Administration.
PRAYER
A few things we need to remember about spiritual gifts;
We are at war right now, a spiritual one.
Our enemy is smarter, stronger, more experienced; he has more resources, and definitely a better understanding of spiritual things.
He will defeat us in our minds, in our relationships, in our marriages, at work and in our homes.
You cannot hide from him.
But we do not have to be alone in this battle.
The scriptures promise that if we leave this evil spiritual kingdom we were born into we can have benefits and protection from this adversary.
So how do we leave this evil kingdom we were born into?
We accept Jesus Christ as our Lord.
We give our spiritual being, our heart to Him.
Once we make Jesus Christ our Lord, many miraculous events begin to unfold for us.
God begins working on our spiritual selves.
We don’t immediately see the results on the outside, but God begins working on us right away if we truly surrender.
We begin to change our thinking.
We begin to see the world and the things of the world for what they truly are.
We see people, industries, and events for what they are instead of what were told they are.
The wool is removed from our eyes.
We begin to read God’s word, filling our hearts.
We decide to be baptized to show the world that we have been born again!
We have accepted Jesus and He has made us a new creation.
We continue to read God’s word spending time with Him in prayer.
Through prayer we build a relationship with our Father in heaven.
As our hearts fill with God word, it begins to overflow and it starts coming out of us and into the world around us.
We start living and speaking God.
Just as God brought us into this world through speaking it, we bring God into the world around us through constantly speaking of Him and His greatness.
We begin to speak things with faith and belief.
We pray for God’s Holy Spirit to fill us as He did at Pentecost.
And it is from God’s Holy Spirit that we receive some of God’s traits.
These spiritual gifts from God.
These abilities which empower us to live out God’s will in our lives and serve Him in this spiritual war.
Through the Holy Spirit we receive the spiritual armor which protects us and enables us to carry out God’s mission for mankind.
Remember its God’s will that NONE parish but all come to repentance.
We are soldiers in a spiritual battle, wearing our spiritual armor of God, and serving in the manner that He sees fit for us.
Each of us who have accepted Christ has been enlisted in God’s army.
Each of us who have the Holy Spirit has the armor of God available to us.
Each of us who have the Holy Spirit has at least one spiritual gift to serve the Body of Christ with.
We cannot use what we don’t know we have.
That is what this series is all about.
Understanding what some of the gifts are so that you can discover what gift God has given you and then use it so that you are serving the Lord in the purpose He created you to.
God’s will is for all to come to repentance.
God’s will is for us to reach the lost.
This church is here for one reason, to be a beacon to this community.
A lighthouse to the lost.
A spiritual warfare hospital where we bring those in who have been wounded or destroyed in the spiritual battle that is raging on outside those doors.
We are here to rescue the lost.
We do this through spreading the Good News of Christ.
We can’t spread the Good News if we don’t know the Good News.
So we must read our Bibles.
We must go to church to hear and understand the stories and events in the Bible.
We must devote our hearts to God to do His work.
We must reach out to the lost.
You know, we have an outreach committee here.
But in actuality, this entire church is supposed to be an outreach.
Each one of us on a personal level is supposed to be preaching the Word of God and what He has done in your life to every one you know.
We each are given abilities that we use together to operate as one Body of Christ.
What is your gift?
Acts 6:1-7
“1In 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.”
We’ve talked before about the gift of Helps.
This is the ability to take the initiative to meet the practical needs of others, freeing them to fulfill their own calling.
This is a very important gift in the Body of Christ.
We have all heard of Pastoral burnout.
This is where the Pastor of a church has reached beyond his ability and calling and runs out of gas for the ministry.
It happens quite often.
Sometimes this happens because a church will put the weight of the entire church upon the pastor’s back making everything the pastor’s responsibility.
There are certain denominations which are notorious for this.
We need to remember that God has created us a Body with MANY parts.
If each does his part, then no one person will get burned out.
Someone with the gift of helps sees where they are needed, and jump to the opportunity to help.
But they too can become burned out if they do not seek God for guidance.
Sometimes God wants someone to do something in the Body, and someone with the Gift of helps sees the need but does not go to God in prayer, and fills that need.
That need may have been for someone else.
So everything should be prayerfully considered.
This will keep us functioning in a healthy manner and prevent burnout.
I feel that helps is one of the most important gifts because there are people who have gifts and want to use them, but are sometimes tied down with other responsibilities which may prevent them from using their gifts effectively.
What was the result of those who helped the disciples in Acts 6?
Read verse 7;
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.”
Because of those who helped, the disciples did not have to neglect their ministry of the word of God.
Another gift is administration.
Before I talk about administration, we need to remember that not all of the gifts are listed in the Bible.
We are told in the scriptures that there are many gifts, and we know that God can do anything He chooses.
He ay choose to give you a special gift for a certain time and purpose that would never be used again afterwards.
Like in the Old Testament when God gave the gift of craftsmanship to those who were unskilled so that they could create garments for the priesthood.
Exodus 28:3, 4
“Tell all the skilled men to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. 4 These are the garments they are to make: a breast piece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests.”
God wanted something done, and He gave those the ability to do it.
He never asks us to do anything without giving us the ability to accomplish that task.
Administration is the ability to execute plans by managing people, resources, and time.
Titus 1:5
“5The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint[a] elders in every town, as I directed you.”
Paul left Titus as an administrator to carry out plans my managing people in Crete.
Each committee should have a chair person with the spiritual gift of administration.
This will ensure that we get the most out of our efforts in serving God.
If you are a poor administrator, and God has not given you the ability to fulfill that position, then I would prayerfully consider finding someone with that ability to serve in that position.
When we try to serve in areas God has not given us ability to serve in, we actually hold that ministry back.
In a few weeks we will be having a Spiritual Gift Workshop.
We will gather for food, fellowship and a survey to help us discover what gifts God may have given us.
We will then be able to see what areas of service these gifts can apply to and perhaps through this prayerfully consider and understand where God wants us serving.
Each one of us here to day is here because God wants you here.
Each one of us here today has an ability that God has given us to serve Him.
CLOSING
When we close today, I want you to consider coming to the spiritual gift workshop and discover what gifts you may have.
If you feel you know what your gift is, then I want you to prayerfully consider where God wants you in this body.
If you have accepted Christ, you have at least one gift.
If you are not sure if you have truly given yourself to the Lord then come forward and the Elders will pray with you.
If you are interested in getting baptized to tell the world of your decision for Christ, then see one of the Elders after the service.
If you would like prayer for healing come forward and as it says in James 5, come forward to the Elders, they will pray for you and lay hands on you anointing your head with oil.
God has a plan for you and this church, only when we act as one body of Christ together will we be able to accomplish what God has for us.
