Discover Your Gifts and Use Them!

visiting us this morning.

If you're visiting with us this morning or you're a returning Messiah student, this is the final message in a five-part August sermon series called Charismata.

Charismata is the Greek word for gifts in the New Testament, often translated as spiritual gifts in our English Bibles.

The word is built on its root, charis, meaning grace or unmerited favor.

And so you can think of Charismata very literally as gifts of grace.

They're given to us by the Holy Spirit to benefit the Christian community and help us manifest God's presence and power on the earth.

We've said that Jesus possesses all of the charisma, and he distributes the gifts to each of us in the church according to his wisdom and good pleasure.

And so we've been exploring how the spirit equips the church with various kinds of spiritual gifts, various kinds of charisma, so that we can discern how God is uniquely gifted each of us to serve him in and through the church.

Once again, here's the definition that we've been using for a spiritual gift.

Spiritual gift is when the Holy Spirit manifests his presence and imparts his power into and through individual believers to enable them to exceed the limitations of their finite humanity, so they might faithfully and effectively fulfill certain ministry tasks for the building up of the body of Christ.

In other words, you know it's a spiritual gift when the spirit energizes a believer to accomplish a ministry with effectiveness that cannot be adequately explained by natural talent, education, personality, or experience alone.

With gifts of the spirit, they make a visible spiritual impact on others when they're utilized to bless and build up the church.

For those who are new today and those who appreciate a brief summary, uh here is where we began in the series.

The message gifts of grace where we laid a biblical foundation for understanding spiritual gifts.

And we said that everyone has a spiritual gift, at least one, and that all gifts matter.

In the second message, we looked at the fivefold ministry and leadership gifts that Paul lists in Ephesians 4:11.

That's apostles and prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

And how those gifts are for equipping the saints for works of service and to help church mature into the likeness of Christ.

And in the third message, many gifts one spirit.

We looked at various spiritual gifts that Paul mentions in his letters to Christians in Rome as well as in Corinth, and we considered other gifts that we see today in our context which Paul did not mention in his list.

And then last week in the message, the gifts that make us nervous, we took a look at the power gifts or what people often think of as the charismatic gifts including gifts of prophecy, healing, miracles, deliverance, and speaking in tongues.

And and grant them as well as in the brethren in Christ at large, we believe in the practice of these gifts, being mindful of the abuses and the extremes as we seek to stay on the road to being biblically balanced in our teaching and our practice.

That brings us to the last sermon, an invitation to discover your gifts and to use them as we wrap up this series.

Would you pray with me, please?

Father, we come to you with open hearts and open minds.

And we ask, Lord, that you would speak to us.

Holy Spirit, help us to put out all distractions, things that would deter our attention away from you and hearing your voice above all other voices.

Lord, would you take this message, would you apply it to each and every one of us, no matter where we are in our journey, all for the building of the church in the glory of your name and of your your kingdom.

We pray these things in Jesus name and all God's people said.

Amen.

Amen.

You have your Bible, would you grab a Bible or your Bible on your phone and turn with me in the scripture to Romans chapter 12.

Romans chapter 12.

We're going to be reading from verses 3 through 11 this morning.

I'll be reading from the new international version.

As you're turning there, would you stand with me in honor of the reading of scripture?

Romans 12 beginning with verse three.

Paul writes, "For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.

But rather think of yourself with sober judgment.

In accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you." For just as each of us has one body with many members, many parts, these members do not have all the same function.

So in Christ, we, though many, form one body and each member belongs to all the others.

We have different gifts.

Listen to this.

We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us.

If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith.

If it is serving, then serve.

If it's teaching, then teach.

If it's to encourage, then give encouragement.

If it is giving, then give generously.

If it is to lead, do it diligently.

If it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Love must be sincere.

Hate what is evil, cling to what is good.

Be devoted to one another in love.

Honor one another above yourselves.

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

You may be seated.

Some of us grew up in the 80s and the 90s.

In the 1984 film, The Karate Kid, Daniel Larusso is a bullied teenager who wants to learn how to defend himself against his new classmates from the Merciless Cobra Kai Dojo in town.

Now, I'm guessing saying that probably some of our college students have seen the new Cobra Kai show, which is based on this original story.

He eventually discovers that the maintenance man of his apartment complex, Mr.

Miyagi, knows karate and so he asks Mr.

Miyagi to teach him.

And not long into his training, Daniel gets upset that he seems only to be doing meaningless tasks to beautify Mr.

Miyagi's house and property.

You remember this?

Washing and waxing his cars, sanding the floors of his deck in the backyard, painting his house and his fence.

And one night, Daniel's frustrations boil over and he accuses Mr.

Miyagi of only using him as a personal slave.

And that sets us up for one of the greatest scenes in movie history.

I thought about acting this out for you, but I'm going to show it to you instead.

Let's watch this.

Turn the floor.

Stand up.

Show me sand of floor.

Sand of floor.

Sand of floor.

Big soccer.

Sand of floor.

Sand of floor.

Yes.

Now show me wax on, wax off.

Wax on, wax on.

Wax on, hat.

Wax off, hat.

Concentrate.

Look at my eye.

Look at hand.

Some inside.

Wax on, hat.

Wax off, hat.

Wax on, hat.

Wax off, hat.

Wax on.

Show me penta fence up down.

Up turn up turn other side look eye always look eye Show me penta house side side lucky list side side Show me wax on wax off.

Show me pentacles.

Show me side of faith.

Show me sand of floor.

Ah!

Hey!

Hey!

Hey!

Hey!

Look at eye.

Always look at eye.

Come back tomorrow.

Isn't that great?

Love it.

Never gets old.

Think about this.

Just like Daniel Larusso's moment with his master, Mr.

Miyagi, who he had grossly underestimated.

I think there's something similar about how we follow Jesus, learn to trust him, and discover our spiritual gifts.

Think about this.

Sometimes we're going through the motions.

We're working hard, but we're just not sure what it has to do with becoming like Jesus.

Or what difference it's making in our lives, the church, or for the kingdom.

And maybe we're looking for and waiting for something spectacular to happen, a voice from heaven, an undeniable calling, or dramatic spiritual experience.

But Jesus, as we see in Mr.

Miyagi's character, may already be revealing our gifts through the seemingly ordinary ways we are serving.

And so today, I'm inviting us to humble ourselves before our master, Jesus, and allow him to show us a thing or two about himself, about our gifts, about what is possible if we trust him and believe that he's good.

Amen.

So let's begin by giving attention to a familiar teacher student relationship in the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul's relationship with Timothy is one of the New Testament's clearest examples of discipleship, of mentoring, and of spiritual gift development.

According to Acts 16, Paul first encountered Timothy and Listra, which is in the region of Galatia.

We have a letter called Galatians where Paul wrote.

Where Timothy was already a respected young disciple.

Acts tells us.

Paul invited him to join his church church planning team as he was passing through town.

And over the years, Timothy became a trusted ministry partner, a spiritual son to Paul, an eventual leader in the church.

Church tradition says he becomes a bishop at some point.

Paul invested deeply in Timothy's life, encouraging him to faithfully use and develop the gifts that God had given him, making their relationship a powerful picture of how mature believers can recognize, nurture and release gifts that God has placed in others.

Listen to what Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 4:12 through 14.

He said, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young.

But set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.

Until I come to see you, devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to to preaching and to teaching.

In the verse 14, he says, "Do not neglect your gift which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you." So, look at that.

Notice verse 13, we know that Timothy's gifts were what?

preaching and teaching.

In verse 14, it appears that he was discouraged in some way, right?

We're just hearing one side of the phone conversation, but it appears that Timothy is likely discouraged and Paul therefore is wanting him to recall when he was first called by God.

You can imagine how that would be encouraging and when the church first recognized his gifts.

Remember where it began?

I told you this earlier in this series.

This isn't Timothy's idea, just as it wasn't my idea and some of your idea to do the things God has called you to do.

This is the Lord's idea.

I think that's fascinating.

Notice Timothy experienced people in the church.

Even through prophets in the church, prophecy.

I've been in settings before where someone spoke God's truth over a person.

And they had never met them before.

It's something like this happened with Timothy, declaring over Timothy that God was calling him to this task and that he would do certain things.

And Paul is saying, "Hey, remember that.

Remember that to to remember and to that there was recognition, there was affirmation of his gifts.

Just as Paul did the same when he was ready to launch his ministry.

Maybe you don't know that or you forgot that.

The church in Antioch believed that Paul and Barnabas were being called to plant churches and go on an apostolic journey.

In Acts chapter 13:1-3, you can look there.

We read that the church gathers around them, laid hands on them, prayed for them, and commission them to go.

And clearly, the discovery and the practice of gifts both happen within the community of faith.

This is not a solo venture.

And on that note, I I want to say it's unfortunate in the past.

The church may have led some of us to believe that discovering your calling and your gifts is as simple as taking a gifts inventory test.

Uh you may recognize some of these images on the screen here.

Personality assessments, uh assessment tools such as the enneagram, the Myers-Briggs or the DISC or the Clifton Strength Test and then there are others can certainly help us understand things like how we naturally relate to people, how we process information, how we make decisions, what environments energize us, and how we tend to communicate and lead.

Similarly, spiritual gifts inventories can introduce us to biblical gifts that we may not have considered.

This is true.

And they've been helpful to me as well.

While I believe that these can be useful starting points for self-awareness and for conversation, there are limitations.

How so?

You might be wondering.

Well, these assessments, as I said, primarily describe things like your personality, your emotional intelligence, your natural tendencies, but a spiritual gift is a spirit-given a spirit-empowered work of God's grace in your life for building up the church.

They can certainly overlap, but they aren't identical natural gifts and spiritual gifts.

For example, a naturally outgoing person may be gifted to be an evangelist, but not every outgoing person has the gift of sharing their faith and seeing kingdom results uh because of it.

We know this.

We know this.

I'm sure there's some outgoing people in this room And you'd probably say, "No, I'm not evangelist." That's not my calling.

You may also be a naturally organized person with the gift of administration, but organization alone doesn't prove a spiritual gift.

Or take a naturally compassionate person.

They may find it easier to express compassion, but those with the gift of mercy are able to endure far more than most people in showing mercy when most people give up, they keep going.

And a naturally gifted teacher may teach mathematics, for example, and do that brilliantly, but not necessarily possess the spiritual gift of teaching that exudes Jesus and helps to deepen people's faith in Christ.

And yeah, I think that you can do that when teaching other subjects if that is a spiritual gift.

And sometimes God gives spiritual gifts that stretch us beyond our natural personalities.

Maybe you've experienced this.

I gave an example a week or two ago of someone I know who is socially inept.

And I don't mean this meanly, but I mean just a step above Rainman.

And yet when they get on the stage, God uses them powerfully, you would never even know it.

So, think about that.

We don't get to say, "I'm an introvert, therefore I can't preach." I'm an introvert, therefore I can't can't teach.

I'm an introvert, therefore, I can't evangelize.

Or I'm not naturally organized, therefore, God can't use me in leadership.

This isn't true.

Instead, we should ask, what has God given me naturally and how might the Holy Spirit be using and sometimes stretching or going way beyond those natural abilities for his purposes.

And see, I think all the more God gets glory out of that.

Right?

Because as you get to know people as the person I was referring to, you're like, clearly, clearly this is a work of God in someone's life.

This isn't something they chose and when they get in the position that God wants them to use their gift, it seems like they're a different person.

This is a spiritual giftedness.

Or put another way, if we're asking questions, we could ask this, how do I discover my gifts and begin using them in the church today.

If you're wondering where to begin, take a look at these four next steps.

Pray and discern, experiment and explore, ask and take to heart and trust and obey.

Let's look at each of those real quick.

Pray and discern.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal how he has gifted you.

Have you ever actually gone to God in prayer about this?

If you've decided to follow Jesus, if you've received his forgiveness for sins, you've made him the center of your life, then the spirit lives inside of you.

The Holy Spirit, Paul says in Romans that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of you.

So don't say I can't.

No.

No.

You must believe.

Go to God in prayer.

Go to God in belief and ask him, "God, how have you gifted me to serve the church?" And you might be so bold as we have evidence here in the New Testament which we looked at in this series to go to God and ask him for a particular gift.

I think we can do it.

So start with prayer.

Start Start in communication with God.

Then look at the next step.

Experiment and explore.

Try serving in different ministry contexts and environments.

You're not sure about your gifts or how God wants to work in your life in this season?

Right?

Some of you were in a new season.

You're starting Messiah.

You've moved to a new place.

Some folks in this room or maybe in the final season of their life, wherever you are in your journey, ask yourself, what does the Lord want for me.

Maybe it is to try some new things.

Maybe it's to experiment and to explore.

It may mean being intentional and moving into areas of ministry that are out of your comfort zone.

Uh, Pastor Melissa earlier in the prayer mentioned Seth.

Some of you know Seth.

If you're a regular part of this congregation, you know Seth is serving an internship right now.

And I walked with Seth Seth for multiple years.

He came to us when he was 19.

19 since mid late 20s.

serving the Lord.

And as he matured in his faith and as we did the Paul and Timothy thing, begin to see gifts in Seth.

Begin to encourage Seth, try new things.

Go Sure, somebody asked you to do that.

Go try that.

Go do that.

And also helping him to balance, right, the work and rest rhythm, not to burn himself out.

And I think Seth, as we've seen, is starting to find where God is calling him, where God is working in his life.

And this isn't just a role for pastors to do this kind of thing.

It's a role for all of us.

If you've been in the church for years and you've served in a variety of ways, maybe you're newly retired or maybe you're up in age and you you can't do what you once did, that's understandable.

That's okay.

But be open to how the spirit is calling and equipping you for a new or maybe final season of life and ministry.

What can you do to prepare the next generation?

to prepare to hand off the baton to that next person.

Ask, what needs do I see and how can I help?

Let's look at the third step.

Ask and take to heart.

As you're walking and serving in a community with other believers, ask people who know you, particularly mature disciples, people who've walked with Jesus for some years, ask them about your gifts.

What about your gifts?

What gifts do they see in you?

Of course, you might receive insight and get affirmation when you're not looking for it.

That's happened to me in my own journey.

As I got involved in ministry and I started trying new things, I had people in the church affirm.

They affirmed me and they they they they saw the things that I was doing.

For example, I can recall times when people would say, "You know, you're really good teacher.

Have you thought about being a senior pastor one day?" Right?

Are you listening to those affirming voices.

People say, "You know what?

You seem to have a not just a nag, but a gift for that.

People listen to you.

People are blessed by you when you do that.

When you sing in the in the worship on the worship team.

Or when you serve in this way, you seem joyful, much more joyful than the other guy washing dishes over there, you know?

Whatever it is.

Whatever it is, are you listening to the affirming voices.

I got permission from Pam Thomas and our congregation to share this with you.

Recently, you know, we've been doing some behind-the-scenes work on forming a prayer team for Sunday morning.

That we're going to roll that out in a couple weeks and we'll have a a place over here off the side of the stage for folks to come and and to pray and to pray with some team members.

And I invited Pam.

I I sent her an email with with some others.

And she responded and said, "Can I talk to you about this in person?" Sure, let's do it.

We sat down together and she said, "Why me?" Why me?

That I I'm not I'm not sure I ever thought of myself doing that sort of thing.

I said, "Pam, let Let me tell you why.

Because I've had many experiences with you.

I have seen your shepherd's heart.

I've seen how you care for people.

I've seen how people feel cared by you.

And I've heard the authenticity in your prayers.

And I think you can do this.

She went to her small group, talked about it with her small group, some of her members, the members of her small group in here, and they affirmed her in this.

This is how it works.

This is how it can happen.

Ask how am I being called and affirmed in my gift.

Lastly, look at the final step there, trust and obey.

Many of you'll think of that old hymn, trust and obey.

There's no other way, right?

Be strong and courageous as you exercise your gift.

Look, I know that it can be a little scary.

Stepping out into the unknown, trying new things.

But I encourage you to trust that if the Lord is calling you out of the boat, remember that story?

If he's calling you out of the boat, he'll enable you to walk on water.

What do you need to do?

Keep your eyes on him.

Keep your eyes on the Lord.

Pray, Lord, help me to be faithful in using my gift.

And church, if you'll do that There are untold blessings for you and blessings for others that await.

Sure, there'll be challenges, but you'll also be surprised by God's goodness.

If you'll trust and obey the voice of the Lord and the leading of the spirit.

And when you've just you think you you've just been washing and waxing cars or sanding decks and painting houses and fences.

Jesus will bless you with those moments of insight and of clarity that what you're doing matters and what you're doing has eternal significance.

Amen.

Trust the master.

He knows.

He knows and he's good.

So be strong, be courageous, keep using your gifts and wait on on the Lord to bring it all together, right?

Cuz he will do it.

Trust him.

Listen one more time to what Paul wrote to Timothy.

This time in his second letter to Timothy.

He said, "I am reminded of your sincere faith which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice.

And I am persuaded now lives in you also." Notice how Paul points out Timothy's legacy of faith.

Those who've come before him, those who help mold him and shape him to encourage him.

Verse 6 he says, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the lane on of my hands." Look at that.

Fan into flame the gift of God.

It's like coals, right?

This work that God has begun to do in Timothy.

It's like It's like coals or maybe a blue flame.

Just barely going there, maybe small.

He says, fan it.

Give it oxygen.

Work it out.

Continue to grow, continue to learn, continue to use it.

And he says, laying my hands.

Yeah, earlier we heard him refer to that time that they spoke prophecy over over Timothy, calling those gifts out.

Paul is letting us know in the second letter, he was one of them.

He was there.

His hands were one of those hands on Timothy, blessing him, commissioning him.

In verse 7, look what he says, "For the spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline." Oh church, listen to this.

He wants Timothy to know the fear is from the evil one.

It's from the evil one and to remember that power, love, and self-discipline is reflective of the spirit at work in his life.

And so it is.

with us.

So it is with us.

Let's sum up the message with three quick takeaways.

Let's look at this.

Number one, we're saying every believer has been gifted by God.

We've reiterated this each week.

Let there be no doubt.

You have natural gifts and spiritual gifts.

While those can overlap, it's important to Remember, that it's the Holy Spirit that empowers you in your giftiness to bear spiritual fruit and to bless others in the church.

The big idea here is if you belong to Jesus, your gift is needed in the church.

We're all apart of the family of God.

Take away number two here.

Gifts are discovered in prayer and community.

Don't miss this one.

Don't miss it.

You discover your gifts by paying attention to how God has wired you Looking for spiritual fruit, listening for affirmation of your gifts from mature believers and actually stepping into opportunities to serve.

The big idea, you don't discover your gifts by attending church as a passive receiver, you discover them by engaging with the body of Christ by getting in the game.

Lastly, take away number number three.

Here's what we're saying.

The church thrives when you use your gifts.

As Paul told Timothy, we must fan into flame the gifts that God has given us so that we might grow in our faith, continue to experience God's goodness and be a blessing to others as we follow Jesus together.

And lastly, the big idea here, our congregation's health and flourishing, including our potential as a force for good in the world is dependent upon the Holy Spirit.

It work in us as we intentionally discover our gifts and use them for his glory.

It takes a village.

You heard that phrase?

It takes a village.

If there's something you don't particularly like about the village, guess what?

You don't just get to leave.

You get to help the village.

You get to help it be all that God has called it to be.

Amen.

Amen.

Lastly, here's some questions to help us reflect and respond together.

Let's reflect on these and just listen to the voice of the spirit as we come into a time of reflection and response.

Number one, as you reflect on your personality, maybe you've taken some of those personality assessments.

As you think about that, as you think about your abilities and experiences and the ways that others have affirmed you.

Where do you see evidence that the Holy Spirit may be working through you?

Right?

It's more than a natural gifting.

Think about that for a moment.

Number two.

Is there a ministry or opportunity you've been avoiding because you don't feel qualified or certain about your gifting?

Maybe you're wondering like, "Bam, why me?" Why did they ask me?

What might happen if you simply took the first step?

Just think about that.

Envision that.

I'm an assistant baseball coach with my son's team.

And some of you athletes you know this, the power of visualization.

Right?

Sometimes tell them, see the ball.

See it come in, see it go out.

When you step into that plate, see yourself hit the ball.

What does it look like when you smack a line drive through the infield?

Church, what does it look like?

When we're following God in faithfulness to what he's calling us to do, see it.

See it.

You know, sometimes I reflect on my own calling and I and I know that God gave me some visions and sometimes dreams.

Other times I wondered if it was me visualizing.

Maybe the Lord was using that too.

Can I see myself doing what God has called me to do?

With that comes a confidence, to stand up there and to swing for the fences.

I can do this because God's called me to do this.

Trust the Lord.

Trust the Lord.

Lastly, lastly number three.

What is one specific step that you'll take this week to discover, to develop or to use a spiritual gift that God has entrusted to you?

Another way of saying that would be this and you've heard this before if you come to Grantham.

What is God saying to you?

What are you going to do about it?

What are you going to do about it?

Let's do something about it.

As we conclude this message and this series and we prayed this prayer last Sunday.

Let's pray this congregational prayer together again and bring this series to a close.

Pray this with me.

Holy Spirit, give us hearts that are open to all that you desire to do among us.

Guard us from fear, pride, and deception.

Teach us to pursue love above all else.

To eagerly desire the gifts you choose to give and to use every gift for the glory of Jesus and the building up of his church.

Amen.

Amen.

Bless your church.