These are the Father's Gifts

Series: Unleashed: Living & Walking in the Gifts of the Spirit

October 16, 2016

Jericho Ridge

 

Unleashed: Living & Walking in the Gifts of the Spirit

 

“These are the Father’s Gifts”

 

Text: 1 Corinthians 12:4-14:25; 1 Peter 4:7-11

Focus: Gifts are to deepen our love for God and reveal God’s love to unbelievers.

 

 

Calling Together with Feedback

 

Can someone shout out the focus of our current sermon series.

(gifts of the Spirit)

 

And what do you want to get out of this sermon series?

(what’s my gift? how do I use my gift? who has what gift in JR?)

 

What’s your evaluation so far of the first 4 weeks? 

  • Pastor Brad began with some basic truths & myths of gifts.
  • We’ve spent time on the gifts of prophecy and healing.
  • What’s your feedback so far?

(good, but is there more? Are we something missing? waiting for something?)

 

 

Why do you Want these Gifts?

 

The title clearly states our intentions/desire as unleashing the gifts that God the Father has for us through the Holy Spirit.

  • In other words, we want to see an ongoing/vibrant exchange between us and the Giver of the gifts.
  • And while the first few weeks have been good, and we have seen some encouraging evidence of this… and in no way am I throwing Pastor Brad under the bus … full disclosure that we are in constant communication and on the same page.

 

  • In the spirit of transparency and authentic community, I don’t think that we are experiencing an unleashing of the Father’s gifts in the life of Jericho Ridge.

 

  • And this has made me pause this week, because I don’t want the status quo for me personally, or for us as a community.

 

  • Now, if my assessment is due to me having an off weak, or it’s just my opinion, or if I’m just seeing the cup half empty rather than half full … then I am open to your admonishment, your correction and encouragement.
  • I know that normally we come to church and the message is more a teaching/proclamation time than a conversation, but I am asking you to engage in this conversation, because it’s our conversation as a church community.

 

Let me give you a moment to shift mental gears, by sharing some of the conversation that I’ve been having with God & Pastor Brad this week on behalf of our church family…

  • As I’ve been praying and evaluating our JR ethos around the Unleashed series, I’d say that we’ve done more than just scratch the surface of the “miraculous” gifts (prophecy, healing, didn’t get to tongues yet) in the past weeks.
  • And yet, this week, I do not feel at liberty to move on to the “simple” gifts (hospitality, helps, encouragement, mercy), like we’d planned.
  • Instead, I’ve been wrestling with a sense that we are missing something or that we are butting up against somethings as a church family?

And if that’s true then I can’t just move on and keep doing what we’re doing.

 

So Brad and I have been praying and seeking the Lord.

  • “Why not God? Why aren’t we experiencing an unleashing?”
  • Apparently, Pastor Brad received a picture of Las Vegas and went there to investigate for the weekend… (just kidding) …
  • One of the pictures God gave me was that of a dog in a yard, leashed up and waiting on his mat.
  • In the picture, the dog represents the church.
  • And in the picture, we want that dog to be a young, energetic dog busting with excitement as he hears his owner approaching and sees him coming through the gate.
  • The dog is expecting to be unleashed and pounce all over his owner … like his owner is the best thing in the world.

 

But that hasn’t been our picture yet.  So, why not God?  Why aren’t we experiencing an unleashing as your church when it comes to spiritual gifts.

  • God what are we missing?
  • What’s impeding, or distracting, or subduing us from living and walking in the gifts of the HS as Jericho Ridge?
  • We want them God!
  • And your word says that we should want them!
  • Remember, this is all happening as the week progresses…

 

And then I hear God ask this question … think of how often Jesus answered a question with a question…

“Jericho Ridge, why do you want the gifts of the Spirit?”

 

 

Please take a minute and answer this question.

  • Write a sentence or two down, text me (778-834-3692) …

 

“Jericho Ridge why do you want the gifts of the Spirit?”

 

 

Conversation time … (my suspicion is that our focus is in need of a course correction)

 

----------------------------------

 

Whenever we focus on spiritual gifts, we are prone to becoming myopic, narrow-sighted, and ultimately self-centered.

  • We usually end up taking the gifts of the Father and making them about us.
  • In fact, I would go so far to say that’s actually how we’ve been conditioned in the church when it comes to spiritual gifts … God gives them to us and then they’re ours and it becomes about us and what gifts we have or don’t have.
  • And I’m realizing that “we” have done the church a great dis-service.

 

  • We have a fashioned a narrow and rather lacking ethos in which spiritual gifts can or more to the point can’t exist within the life of the church.
  • Our myopic tendencies cause us to lose sight of the grander landscape that God is creating and working in our midst.

 

“Jericho Ridge, why do you want the gifts of the Spirit?”

  • It’s such a basic and yet such a significant question.
  • And Paul provides the answer in his letter/conversation with the Christians in Corinth.
  • Thankfully, they had a lot of the same issues and questions around the gifts of the Spirit as we do today.
  • So they write Paul and he writes them back and we have a large portion of that conversation in 1 Corinthians 12-14.
  • The Corinthians have been focusing in on the gifts, especially the miraculous (prophecy, healing, tongues)…
  • …and they have questions on the how to’s and the what if’s, and who has what gift and how should it be used properly…
  • And this is what God the Father says to the church through his servant Paul:

 

12 Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

  • Notice how Paul begins by refocusing the conversation on God the Father, Jesus, and the HS.
  • He doesn’t want us to misunderstand … this conversation we are having is, but isn’t about us!
  • Ruth Haley Barton calls it a great paradox. She says it’s “all about you (because you are the one God has called and gifted to be where you are in any given moment) and yet, it’s not about you at all (because it’s all about being available to God for what he will do in and through you for the sake of others).”
  • Henry Nouwen describes it as cultivating “ongoing preparedness” in a life lived in response to the presence of God in the midst of our own daily human experiences.

 

  • Paul is saying the same thing, don’t misunderstand this … this conversation is not about you or your spiritual gifts.
  • These are the Father’s gifts and he gives them through the HS to whom he wants, when he wants and for his purposes.

 

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 28 Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles,
second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages.

29 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

 

  • Pause … for those of you who have just switched scenes in your mind and are now off at your wedding or someone else, you need to come back to the spiritual gifts scene.
  • This famous passage is not about marriage … it’s about living and walking with the Spirit.
  • It’s right here in the middle of our conversation on spiritual gifts.
  • In fact, Paul says it’s the most important aspect of our understanding spiritual gifts.
  • We are so used to pulling this chapter out and making it stand all on it’s own for the purpose of a wedding, etc…
  • But it’s the heart (pardon the pun) of the conversation on spiritual gifts.

 

  • Paul is actually transposing Jesus’ two greatest commandments right into this conversation on spiritual gifts.
  • Love the Lord your God with everything … focus on him first and always … and then love your neighbor as yourself.
  • Yes, we are talking about spiritual gifts, but none of that matters if we lose sight of loving God and loving others…
  • That’s why spiritual gifts are given … to deepen our love for God and to reveal God’s love for others, especially unbelievers.

 

  • “Jericho Ridge, why do you want the gifts of the Spirit?”

 

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

  • And just so you know what this love looks like in daily life, at home, at work, at school, in the church, on the playing field, at the grocery store, in the mall, over the telephone, when you are texting, while you’re driving…

 

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

14 So let love be your highest goal!  But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy. For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious. But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them. A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church. (are you deepening other people’s love for God with the gifts he’s given you?)

I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you could all prophesy. For prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you’re saying so that the whole church will be strengthened.

Dear brothers and sisters, if I should come to you speaking in an unknown language, how would that help you?  But if I bring you a revelation or some special knowledge or prophecy or teaching, that will be helpful. Even lifeless instruments like the flute or the harp must play the notes clearly, or no one will recognize the melody. And if the bugler doesn’t sound a clear call, how will the soldiers know they are being called to battle?

It’s the same for you. If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space.

10 There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. 11 But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me. 12 And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church.

13 So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said. 14 For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.

15 Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand. 16 For if you praise God only in the spirit, how can those who don’t understand you praise God along with you? How can they join you in giving thanks when they don’t understand what you are saying? 17 You will be giving thanks very well, but it won’t strengthen the people who hear you.

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you. 19 But in a church meeting I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language.

20 Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind. 21 It is written in the Scriptures:

“I will speak to my own people through strange languages and through the lips of foreigners.  But even then, they will not listen to me,” says the Lord.

22 So you see that speaking in tongues is a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is for the benefit of believers, not unbelievers. 23 Even so, if unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your church meeting and hear everyone speaking in an unknown language, they will think you are crazy. 24 But if all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and judged by what you say. 25 As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is truly here among you.”

26 Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize…

  • And Paul ends this part of his letter with logistics around practice of these gifts in the Corinthian worship services.

 

“Jericho Ridge, why do we want the gifts of the Spirit from the Father?”

  • What’s motivating us?
  • Jesus says our primary focus is summed up in loving God and loving others as yourself.

 

  • Paul says, yes, desire the gifts but use them to strengthen each other’s love for God and to reveal God’s love to unbelievers … everything other motivation pales in comparison and will not stand the test of eternity.

 

  • Another voice in the conversation … Peter, the one on whom Jesus built the church, says in 1 Peter 4,

The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

 

  • our own Pastor Brad when I asked him, “why do you want the gifts for Jericho?” said, “It’s not about wanting the gifts for JR, it’s about living and walking with the Spirit.”
  • God has all the gifts and he gives them when he wants and how he wants to whom he wants … we need to focus on loving him and others through the gifts God gives us.

 

And for what it’s worth, my answer is that I don’t really want the gifts (and please don’t hear what I’m not saying).

  • I welcome all the gifts, but what I really want is to walk with the Giver of the Gifts:
    • I want to walk in God’s presence when he heals people…
    • I want to hear God speaking to his people…
    • I want to be a witness of God forgiving someone…
    • I want to help out when God invites someone to my house for a meal…
    • I want to experience God loving someone unconditionally…
    • I want to be in God’s presence while his mercy and grace flow like a river from his throne…
    • I want to be an eyewitness of the God who creates new life, who heals brokenness, who redeems the fallen and tossed aside, who sustains faith!

 

  • And the unbelievable thing is that God says, “I want to do these things with you too … so here grab hold of this gift and let’s go love someone.”
Why do we want the gifts of the Spirit? The gifts are given to deepen each other's love for God and reveal God's love to unbelievers.

Speaker: Wally Nickel

October 16, 2016
1 Corinthians 12:1-14:40

Wally Nickel

Transitional Pastor

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