Last week we began a three part sermon series focused on stewardship, taking care of what God has given to us. NIV Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
Our memory verse passage reflects that God owns everything. We have been given our time, talent, and our treasure by God to use. That is what a steward is, someone who cares for someone else’s stuff. As stewards of the time, talent, treasure God has given to us, we have a responsibility to use these according to God’s plan and purpose. Last week we began looking at managing our time God’s way. God’s desire is that we manage our time according to God’s priorities, which are our relationships, God first, others (spouse, children, family, and then friends) and myself second. It is God’s desire that we organize our time according to these priorities. When we adjust our time to our God given priorities, we find much more satisfaction in life because we are focusing on what really matters namely our relationships with those we love and care about. Last week I commented that I had never heard anyone at the end of their life complain because they felt they had not spent enough time working. Regrets are always regarding relationships. When we organize our time according to God’s priorities we live without regrets of spending time unwisely.
This week we are focused on another aspect of stewardship, our talent. By our talent I am referring to our natural abilities, the skills we learn, and the spiritual gifts we are given.
1. God has given me a unique combination of abilities, skills, and gifts.
A. We are given natural abilities and skills.
God has created each of us in a particular way with certain natural abilities and skills. God made you uniquely you, there is no one exactly like you. Even if you are an identical twin, you are not exactly like your twin. Your personality will be different, your abilities will be different because that was the way God intended to create you. [Example of Bobby and Josiah]. If you are a parent, didn’t you marvel at how each one of your children, who had the same mother and father, could be so totally different. Each one had different abilities. There were things one may have been good at, while another was good at something else. It seemed that way almost since a very young age.
That is true with all of us, God has given us each differing abilities in order to complement one another. You are able to do things well that I cannot do. I am able to do things well that you can’t do well, but when we bring them together we are able to accomplish what God has called us to do.
We read about these natural abilities and skills in the Bible, specifically in the OT when, God commanded Moses to build a Tabernacle or a tent which was to serve as a place of worship for God’s people. In building the Tabernacle, God employed people who had talents and skills in certain areas.
NLT Exodus 31:1 The LORD also said to Moses, 2 "Look, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri... 3 I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, intelligence, and skill in all kinds of crafts. 6 "Moreover, I have given special skill to all the naturally talented craftsmen so they can make all the things I have instructed you to make:
Focusing on verse 6 we read that God had given natural ability or talent of craftsmanship to some of the men. Then God also gave them a certain skill to complete the project of building the Tabernacle. God gives both natural abilities, and skill which can be taught to others.
NLT Exodus 35:25 All the women who were skilled in sewing and spinning prepared blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen cloth, and they brought them in. 26 All the women who were willing used their skills to spin and weave the goat hair into cloth.
God gave some of the women a skill in sewing and weaving so that they could use their talents to help build a place of worship. [Reminds of the woman at our church who serve by using their skills at knitting to make blankets for the infants born at the hospital].
NLT Daniel 1:17 God gave these four young men [Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego] an unusual aptitude for learning the literature and science of the time. And God gave Daniel special ability in understanding the meanings of visions and dreams.
With Daniel and his three friends were given the natural ability to learn literature and science, and also foreign languages. These young men used their gifts to serve in a foreign land under a foreign government. God gave them these abilities so that they could one day honor God by using them.
I believe God has given each of us natural gifts, and the ability to learn skills.
Illustration: Creation School
Once upon a time, right after Creation, all the animals formed a school. They established a well-rounded curriculum of swimming, running, climbing, and flying. All the animals were required to take all the courses.
The duck excelled at swimming. In fact, he was better than the instructor! But he only made passing grades in climbing and was very poor in running. He was so slow, he had to stay after school to practice running. This caused his webbed feet to become so worn he became only average in swimming. But average was quite acceptable so no one ever worried about it, except the duck.
The rabbit was top of her class at running. But after a while, she developed a twitch in her leg from all the time she spent in the water trying to improve her swimming.
The squirrel was a peak performer climbing, but was constantly frustrated in flying class. His body became so worn from all the hard landings he did not do too well in climbing, and ended up being pretty poor in running.
The eagle was a continual problem student. She was severely disciplined for being a nonconformist. In climbing class, she would always beat everyone else to the top of the tree, but insisted upon using her own way to get there.
Each of the animals had a particular design. When they did what they were designed to do, they excelled. When they tried to operate outside their area of expertise, they were not nearly as effective.
I like that story because it helps us understand that just as God has created each animal with certain talents or abilities, so we are created with natural abilities. The sad reality is that many people, even Christians, have never really explored who God has made you to be. These abilities are there, but are never discovered and never utilized, or we take it for granted not thinking that it is anything special. Most people have not tapped into all the potential God has given us.
B. Christians are all given supernatural gifts.
Not only are we born with natural abilities, but the Bible tells us we are given special abilities called spiritual gifts. These gifts are significant to us as Christians because we are the only ones who receive these supernatural gifts because they are given by the Holy Spirit when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. When we believe that Jesus died for us, and we follow him, the Bible tells us we are filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). The Holy Spirit in turn gives us these special gifts as he chooses. God creates every person with natural abilities, however spiritual gifts are given only to those who have faith in Christ.
NLT 1 Corinthians 12:1 And now, dear brothers and sisters, I will write about the special abilities the Holy Spirit gives to each of us.
NAU Romans 12:6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly:
NAU 1 Timothy 4:14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you,
Each one of us had been promised that we have at least one spiritual gift. Some may be given a lot of gifts and some may only be given one gift. The point is not in how many we are given, but how we are using the gifts we given. If we are given only one, we are to use that one gift. If we are given five, we are to use all five. To whom much is given, much is required. Paul gives a list of some of these spiritual gifts here in 1 Corinthians 12, also in Romans 12, and Ephesians 4. Some of these spiritual gifts include the gift of prophesy, pastoring, preaching, teaching, leading, speaking in tongues (different languages), wisdom, encouragement, giving generously, hospitality, mercy, intercession (long periods of praying for others), and healing. This is not a complete list but it gives us a peek at some of the giftings or graces that God gave us when we were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Some of us look at ourselves and we think, “I certainly don’t have any gifts,” or, ” I don’t see any special abilities in my life.” But we need to see ourselves the way God sees us (Rom. 12:3). When God looks at us he sees us for who we are, individuals who are beautifully and wonderfully creation and gifted. We know God has promised us that we have at least one gift, when we identify and use that gift(s), we become
How do I know what my natural abilities and spiritual gifts are? One of the most helpful ways I have found at discovering what I am good at is by asking other people who know me well. For some reason we are not able to see ourselves clearly, we are more apt to see our weaknesses than to see our strengths, but other people who know us have a better perspective. They can compare us to other people they know to see that we do some things better than other people. Another way to help with identifying spiritual gifts is to take a spiritual gifts inventory, which is a questionnaire you can fill out that helps narrow down what ways God may have gifted you. For those of you that are interested in discovering your gifts we will be handing out these questionnaires as you leave the service this morning. I encourage you to take one and work through it this week.
2. God expects me to use my gifts to serve others
NIV 1 Peter 4:10-11 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms…Then God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ.
1 Cor. 12:7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.
God has created us with natural abilities and given us special gifts for a reason. He wants us to use those gifts to serve other people, both in the church and outside the church. There are as many ways to serve as there are people. There are lots of ways we can serve others as long as we are doing it in God’s love. We do not serve selfishly hoping to receive back. We serve selflessly, giving of our time and our talent to help others. If you need some suggestions, to get your thoughts going, look on the back of your sermon outline and you will see a list of possible ways in which we can use our gifts and abilities to serve others. These are only examples of ways to serve, it is not intended to be an exhaustive list.
When one person isn’t using what God has given them, everyone else suffers. This is what Paul illustrates in 1 Cor. 12. Paul compares the church to a body with many parts. Just as a body has many parts; eyes, ears, feet, which function together in harmony so that the body works the way it should, so the church has many parts, you and I, and each one of us has a part to play by serving one another. When we don’t play our part it effects everyone around us, it is like having a body part that doesn’t function. We call that sickness, the body is sick when even one part doesn’t work right. The church is sick when even one person isn’t using their God given abilities and gifts in some form of service. We have a gift to share, are we sharing it?
[Invite lay person up at that point to award for Laity of the year]
, he serves others as treasurer of the church, paying the bills.] May also want to invite the others who were voted for: Ann Drier (bulletin, Sunday school), Mabel (lay member, choir director, UMW) & Garth Spencley (cleaning and building maintenance), David (choir and building) & Joyce (financial secretary, former PPR chair) Schmalzreid, Candy Murray (children’s choir), Tom Litzner (former chair, plowing), and Amy.
Benefits of Serving Others:
A. It Glorifies God (1 Pet. 4:10)
God is pleased when we serve others, in fact the Bible says in Rom. 12:1 that serving one another is an act of worship to God.
B. It Builds Others Up and Demonstrates our Love
NLT Romans 15:2 If we do what helps others, we will build them up in the Lord.
By helping to serve one another we lift them up, demonstrating to them that God really does care, we love them and God loves them. When we serve others in love we almost always builds them up. It encourages them, it helps the church accomplish its mission,
C. It satisfies our God given need to give.
You have heard it said, it is more blessed to give than to receive (Jesus’ words, Acts 20:35). The reason Jesus said this is because it is true, we feel good when we give because that is the way God has created us. When we begin to give of ourselves through serving we have this deep sense of fulfillment because we are fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives.
God, through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit has freely given you gifts and abilities, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to use your gifts, skills, and abilities to glorify God and serve others?
Actions Steps
1. Find out how you are already gifted by God (ask others, spiritual gifts inventory)
2. Observe what needs are in the church or in the community, and listen for where God is guiding you to serve.
3. Use your gifts and abilities to help serve others (see reverse side for sample ideas of ways to serve).
Not only is it important to ask what my God given gifts and abilities are, but it must also be accompanied by asking God the question to ask, what does God want me to do. If we get too focused on what gifts God has given us we may miss out on what God wants us to do putting ourselves in a box. Well I don’t have the gift of healing therefore I am not going to the hospital to pray for that person. For example when God called me into pastoral ministry (I say pastoral because all of us are called into some ministry), I argued with God that I couldn’t go into ministry because I didn’t have the spiritual gift of preaching, neither did I have the gift of leadership, and on and on. God response has been to me. I called you to be faithful and obedient to me, I will give you the abilities you need if you do what I am calling you to do.
Some people claim, they don’t have any gifts. I know that is not true because the Bible says otherwise. What it really means is that we have not taken the time to determine what our gifts are. Some claim they would be involved in ministry if someone would just ask them. You don’t need to be asked to get involved in ministry, just find out where God wants you to be and do it. I am giving you permission to be involved in ministry.
If you have never received any spiritual gifts because you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior you died for you that is your first step. Tell Jesus “I do, I do accept you and want you in my life, I want you to give me your Spirit so that I may have gifts to serve others.” For those of us who have received Jesus Christ but have not been using your gifts to serve others either because you didn’t know you had them, or because you have been too busy, pray this prayer with me. Lord I ask you to forgive me for not living to my potential for you. That I haven’t served others in the way I should. Help guide me to see how you have beautifully and wonderfully made me and gifted me so that I may serve your people.
