Do Church – Gifted – Empowered to Serve

1. This is a good Sunday for today’s topic. You probably didn’t know this but pastors are always disappointed when people are missing from church, and some people think we just want numbers and seats to be filled, and that may sometimes be true. But for us it is that we want the body to be together on the same page, moving in the same direction and doing the same things. Some Sundays where you think this could be key, that’s the Sunday where everybody disappears.
2. Some of this is the devil but some of it is just us. I say that because what we’re going to talk about today is fundamental, and today is a good example of that because of all the parts that are missing. We’re still in the series “We don’t just go to church, we are the Church”, but as the Church we also go to church. The Bible tells us that we are supposed to gather as the Body of Believers, and the less we do that, the weaker we are – That’s reality. Today we add to our usual graphic, by saying “Don’t just go to church, be the Church, but GO to church’. We are fundamentally important to each other.
3. Today is Pentecost Sunday in the Easter Church, the day that we celebrate the empowering of the believers by the Holy Spirit. This is the time when God said, “I am not just going to come on you, with you and beside you, but I will inhabit you, this I will do this for a reason. I will give you gifts that are meant to be a blessing to the body of Christ and to the world around you”
4. Paul said “Do good to all people, starting with the family of God”. It’s important to bless the world, in fact that’s the goal, but to get to that point, we need to get together to exercise the gifts among us, to build each other up to what we’re supposed to be, so that we can go out into the world and do what we are supposed to do there. It begins here, in the house of God. 1 Corinthians 12: starting at verse 4 so that we’ll talk about different kinds of spiritual gifting. This will be more of a teaching than an encouragement. But I still hope that today you’ll leave, all built up and encouraged and especially asking the Holy Spirit who you are supposed to be fully in Him.
5. We’ll talk about 3 different kinds of gifts that God gives to the Church. You should fit somewhere within these three categories even in more than one. We go from 1 Corinthians 12 from verse 4, that in all this it is the same God and the same Spirit working.
6. The First is – Different kinds of Motivational Gifts. The Second is different kinds of Ministry Giftse., different kinds of Administration work. The Third is Manifestation Gifts. “Gifts, Service and Working.”
7. Motivational Gifts: Romans 12: 3. One Body – Many Members – each belongs to all the others. Each has a different gift – Prophecy, Serving, Teaching, Encouragement, Giving, Leading, Showing Mercy. This is not a complete that Paul is trying to give us, but he is showing us that each one of us has a different kind of Motivation. This is what God does for a Believer to serve.
8. Ministry Gifts, Manifestation Gifts:
9. God uses all of these gifts in these categories to minister to His Church and to build it up, so that we can accomplish His work on the Earth. That means, if you are not playing your part, then His work cannot be fulfilled in the way that it should, because there is no one in the Church that does not have a part to play and that’s why the Church is so frustrated around the Globe. Globally, all of the work in any church is done by about 12% of the people and the rest sit around worshipping and waiting for someone else to play our part. This is not an admonishment, that’s simply telling you that God has placed in you, things that no one else can do. We don’t believe that, because we haven’t let the Holy Spirit change our minds to think that way. Today being Pentecost, we could talk about the Holy Spirit coming with tongues like fire, about Peter preaching and 3000 people being saved. When we read this story, we focus on Peter as if he did something special, but he was just empowered by the Holy Spirit to do this thing. He was not always a spiritual powerhouse – the focus is not Peter but the Holy Spirit. Likewise, the Holy Spirit has come to empower you.
10. Motivational Gifts shape how the believer views life, relates to others and impacts the Church. Most of us wear some glasses and we see life through those glasses. Stavros picked me up at 5:00 am this morning full of smiles. If I had to do that, I would send Stavros, but if I had to go, I would be in the cafeteria with my head over a cup of coffee, my eyes drooping and me asking you not to talk to me all the way home. I don’t see life the same way Stavros does. God created each one of us with certain characteristics. When you were reborn, God gifted you with particular characteristics – prophecy, teaching, serving, exhorting, giving, organizing, or mercy – these are the ones Paul lists. Pastor Gail is a dynamic exhorter, while I am a teacher – we have different motivational giftings. The same with each one of you. Some of you are the reason why when people go out of the church, they say this church feels like a family. We can’t all be the same and we shouldn’t all be the same. The question for you today is “what shapes the way you view life, the way you relate to other people”. How can you use that to impact the church. God works through these motivational gifts to do His work in the Body, so that it can grow and remain healthy. Please read that list in Romans 12 and ask yourself, how do I fit in there, and if you cannot work it out, then ask us. Ask yourself how can you use those giftings inside and outside the Church.
11. Ministry Gifts are the tools God uses to build up the Church, and are most often confirmed by ordination. These are practical, essential, they are the “Can Do” types of gifts. All of us have some part of each of the five categories of these gifts, or even in more than one. Ephesians 4: 11-13 – Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastors and Teachers – through which the body of Christ may be built up. Everyone of us is supposed to be equipped somehow in these categories. Apostles are foundational – they begin building things, they start things, but don’t sustain them. They start the ministry by getting others involved. In general Prophets are people who speak the truth of God to the Church, it’s not just foretelling – Prophecy is “Thus sayeth the Lord”. There are people who are Evangelistically gifted – their motivation is to see people coming into the Kingdom.  There are Pastors – the Heart of the people – caring how others feel, about their needs, making sure that people are on the right path. A lot of people who lead churches aren’t Pastors but Apostles or Prophets. The Church has to have Pastors. Then there are Teachers.  Lots of people can teach, but there are some people that the Holy Spirit seems to communicate with when they talk. We should all be equipped to some degree in all 5 areas. We should at least try to get trained in these areas, so that when the opportunity arises, the Holy Spirit can empower us to perform in a particular area. In Ephesians 4 the bible tells us that some people are there to equip the rest of the Body, meaning that there are true Apostles, and God has given them to the Church to train us all to be apostolic. The same with Prophets and Evangelists until we all attain a certain maturity, so the whole Church becomes mature, attaining the full measure of what Christ wants us to be. If we don’t then we will remain spiritually stunted personally and as a Church. 1 Timothy 4: 14 “Don’t ignore your gift…” Paul sent Timothy to lead other leaders, telling him not to neglect what was recognized in him by the elders of the Church. As a Church we should be finding out who are the sent ones, and if we are willing to then become mature.
12. Manifestation Gifts back to 1 Corinthians 12 – The Spirit is given for the common good, to one a message of Wisdom, to another a message of Knowledge, to another Faith, to another Gifts of Healing, to another Miraculous Powers, Prophecy, Knowledge, Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues. Watch out for the repeated phrase “…to another, to another…” meaning that God is not expecting the Pastor to manifest all these gifts, or anyone else. The Holy Spirit wants to be at work through all of us in the Church. These gifts are expressed inside and outside the Church by various people. These gifts are distributed by the Holy Spirit just as He determines, in the time and place that He wills. These Gifts are not resident in you, not like the Motivational and Ministerial Gifts which are imprinted in you. The Manifestation Gifts are the Holy Spirit saying “I want to do this right now”. So, when we are together worshipping Him, we should be open to accept the call to give a word of Wisdom, or Knowledge or whatever else.