How to Understand Spiritual Gifts

Chapter 12 for our scripture reading and we'll read the first eight verses of Romans 12.

! Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,! holy and pleasing to God.

This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will. 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 measure of faith God has given you.

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.

If it is serving, let him serve. If it is teaching, let him teach. If it is encouraging, let him encourage. If it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously.

If it is leadership, let him govern diligently. If it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. There's no doubt in my mind that one of the greatest plagues on the Christian church, in America at least, in the 21st century, is consumerism.

And what I mean is that this idea that the church is primarily a place for me to consume, for my own personal consumption.

So I go on Sunday to be fed. I come here to get, to consume. And that's why many people choose churches for all the wrong reasons.

It's like going to Walmart, and they just want to pick out the right product. The same mentality they use about thinking about picking out a church. And so what can it offer me? Does it have a good children's program?

Does it have a good singing ministry? Does the preaching reach me and tell me how to live my life that I'm living right now?

And so the question is always, is this good for me? So in consumerism, there's two sides of it. There's the producer, and there's the consumer.

But that mentality is completely wrong-headed. Because if you are saved, then you are the church.

All the body working together is the church. And so the ministry of the church is not just what I do or what preachers do or teachers do.

It's not the people standing up producing. It's all of you, all of us, together working and using our gifts for each other.

So the ministry of the church is what you do and what I do. It's what we do together and out in the world. And so we all have a part.

And we know that we all have a part because God has each given us a gift in order to serve the body with. And this idea is so important because it's when we are each using the particular gifts and we are in the place where God has designed us to be in the church, that the church really grows and thrives.

So when a preacher is serving at the tables and the deacons are preaching, things are out of line. People are not doing what they're supposed to be doing. They're not doing what God has designed them to be.

And the church is going to suffer for it. And so a healthy church is like a healthy body with each of the members doing exactly what God has designed that member to do.

And so the question is, do you know what your gift is or your gifts are? And how do you know where you fit in?

So you're in a body. I just said, if you know your place and you're using your gifts in the right way, then it's good for everyone. So how do you know where you fit in?

And that's what the question I'm going to try to answer tonight. It's how to know your spiritual gift or your spiritual gifts. Basically, the sermon is divided into three sections, into three parts.

In the first part, I want to talk about some preliminary. I want to make some preliminary observations. And in the second part, I'm going to try to answer the question, how do I know what my spiritual gifts are?

So that's the bulk of the message. And in the third part, I just want to talk very briefly about the way that we are to use our gifts. If we're not using our gifts in the way that God has intended them, it doesn't matter if you know what they are or not.

It's not going to do any good. And so we want to talk about how to use your spiritual gifts. So first, some preliminary observations. The first preliminary observation is this.

You, if you are converted, you have at least one spiritual gift that came from God by the Spirit to you when you were converted.

You have at least one spiritual gift. Listen to 1 Peter 4, verse 10. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others. Peter assumes that every Christian, regardless of age, IQ, location, whatever, every Christian has received a gift, is a gifted Christian.

And that means that if you are a Christian, then you are a gifted Christian. Jesus Christ, the glorious, risen Savior, has given you a gift in order to serve his body.

And that's what Peter said at Pentecost. So if you have your Bibles open, turn in them to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. Remember all the apostles in this passage, the Spirit had come upon them.

They were speaking in tongues. And the people said, they're drunk. And Peter's response was, we aren't drunk. The last days have come upon you.

So look at Acts 2, verse 17. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

And they will prophesy. Now, don't let the strangeness of these, the words distract you. Peter is quoting the prophet Joel to say, the end has come.

It's come upon you. And what is the sign of these last days? What's the sign that you are presently have entered into the last days? And he says, the Spirit of God has been poured out on all of God's people.

Men, women, sons, daughters, young, old. Every one of God's people in the new covenant, in these last days that we are living in, are gifted in a unique way to serve others, to be a member of the body of Christ.

Now, in the Old Testament, not everyone had the Spirit poured out upon them. Not everyone was gifted in that way.

In the Old Testament, only certain people were gifted by the Spirit. The prophets were said to have the Spirit poured out upon them. They were gifted. Some of the leaders, some of the people working on the temple, but most people weren't.

There is a difference between before Christ and after Christ, and this is one of those differences. But brothers and sisters, you live in the last days. And that means after Christ's resurrection and ascension, the Spirit has come down, and all of God's people are now gifted.

And so, you are not probably dreaming dreams and seeing visions, or prophesying like a prophet, but nevertheless, the same Spirit that was upon the Old Testament prophets is upon you, working and giving you some gift.

And isn't that wonderful? It's such a privilege to be the new covenant people of God. There are better things for us than our old covenant brothers and sisters experienced.

And so, we are all gifted, from young to old. And I want to talk very briefly to the young people, college-age high schoolers. And the reason I want to talk to you, because I think we have a tendency at that age to sort of be passive in regard to our relationship to the church.

We're sort of thinking, I don't necessarily have a place here. I don't know what exactly I'm supposed to be doing. If God has saved you, then you are converted, and you are gifted.

You are gifted. You are necessary. You are useful. And so, now is not the time to sort of be sitting back, thinking, well, I'll serve later. Now, if you are young, is the time to serve.

If you're saved, then the church needs you to use your gift. Even if you're young, they need you to use your gift.

So, you're not on vacation. You aren't too young. God has saved you not to put you on vacation and give you a break. He's saved you in order to put you to work, what we saw in the worship.

God has saved us in order that we would be full of good deeds, rich in these things. So, young people, don't waste your early years.

Don't waste your singleness. Now, singleness is a gift from God. Paul says so in 1 Corinthians. Now, it's a temporary gift for most, but it is a permanent gift for some.

But either way, Paul calls it a gift. It's something that you haven't earned. It's something that is to be treasured and enjoyed just like a gift.

Now, a lot of people sort of view singleness as sort of a time when you're in the airplane, you know, and you're waiting to land. You're at the airfield and you're just sort of circling, waiting for the next thing to happen and nothing's going on.

I would encourage you, don't look at your singleness as a time just to wait for the next thing to happen. Your life is happening now. God's church needs you now.

And so, use your singleness. Use this time. So, young people, the kingdom of God, it needs singles. It needs singles.

It needs singles to do things that married people can't do. There are people to reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ that live in very dangerous places.

And I can't take my family there. I can't take my family to places where single people can go. And so, maybe this is why there are so many still unreached peoples.

Maybe this is why Satan still has such a grip on the Arab world. It's because young people aren't embracing their singleness as a gift, as an opportunity to go, but as a liability while they sit and wait and aren't doing very much.

And so, if young people, if you would embrace your singleness and say, this is a precious gift from God that I can use to serve in a very unique, special way, then, who knows what God will do with you?

If you change your attitude towards that basic reality. Because the gospel is worth dying for. It really is worth dying for. Don't make an idol out of marriage.

Marriage is a great gift from God, but it is a temporary gift from God. And it lasts for just this lifetime, and then it's over. But God's glorious kingdom goes on and on forever.

It is the most important thing. And so, think about it that way. So, we all have a gift. Young people, you have a gift. Don't ignore your gifts.

Now, that's the first preliminary observation. You at least have one spiritual gift because God has gifted all of His people. Here's the second preliminary observation. The spiritual gifts are designed by God for the good of the church.

Spiritual gifts are for the good of the church. Now, we already read in 1 Peter, each one is gifted in order to serve others.

To serve others. And that's the consistent message of the New Testament regarding spiritual gifts. In every place where it talks about spiritual gifts, it uses it, or it's talking about it in the context of how we can love one another.

Now, we read Romans chapter 12 where it talks about giftedness. Right after the passage that we read, Paul goes on and talks about love.

How we love one another. And then, in the middle of, remember, 1 Corinthians, he's talking to these Corinthian believers who had this all wrong. They were a very gifted church.

Very gifted. But they were using their gifts in the entirely wrong way. They were actually using their gifts as a way to boast, to alienate, to embarrass, to be arrogant, to show off.

And so, in the middle of his discussion of the spiritual gifts, in 1 Corinthians, he says, now let me show you a more excellent way. And do you remember what that more excellent way was?

It was love. If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I'm only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. Great gifts without love are useless.

And they're annoying, even. They don't do anyone any good, and they cause problems for other people. So what is the purpose of spiritual gifts? Well, you're in Acts.

Turn back to Romans 12 again. Sorry. Romans 12, chapter 12, verse 5. Well, what are the purposes of the gifts? Well, they're the way that we love and care for the body.

They're the way that we love and care for the body. Romans 12, 5. So in Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to the others.

We have different gifts according to the grace given us. Now, did you hear that? It said, each member belongs to the others.

I belong I belong to you. I belong to you. And when that hits me, that changes the way that I use my gifts.

I exercise my gifts in a different way when I realize that my gifts and my, even myself, are not my own. They belong to you, and they're for your good.

And so, to be honest, I'll be very honest. I love being a pastor. I love the opportunity that I have to sit and study God's word for great lengths of time.

I enjoy working on sermons. I really do. And I get a lot of pleasure out of my job. And we're going to see later that that's good. But this preaching gift, this teaching gift that God has given me in some small measure, is not meant for my personal pleasure.

It's not just meant for my personal enjoyment. God has gifted me to serve you. And so, I'm not my own. I belong to you. And I don't belong. And my gifts are for you.

And it's the same with you. You belong to each other. You belong to every other member of this body. And that your gifts belong to them.

And you are to use them for their good. And when I realize that, that makes me want to work harder. It makes me want to serve more diligently. Lead.

And give. And show mercy. All the things that we read in Romans 12 that we serve and we teach and we encourage if we contribute into the needs of others that we do it. And Paul is saying you do it with all of your heart.

Well, you only do it with all of your heart when you realize that these aren't for me. They're for you. Now, it's the same for you. Paul wrote in Ephesians, from Christ the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.

How do we grow together? We grow in love as each part does its work. And so, your gift is for the good of the body. And that means that you are robbing the body of Christ when you use your gift selfishly or when you use your gift stingily.

When you don't use it as much as you could. And that's Paul's point in Romans 12 is to use your gifts and to use them well, use them frequently. And so, can you imagine a stomach, this part of the body that God is put there and he's saying I'm going to keep all the food to myself.

I'm going to keep it for me. Forget the rest of the body. Or can you imagine a set of lungs that say I'm keeping all the air for me. I love having air so I'm keeping it all to myself.

I'm not going to share it. And that's what a Christian is like who doesn't share his spiritual gifts. He's going to destroy in some way the body of Christ. And so, we belong to each other.

So, that means that we have to use our gifts for the good of the body. Now, those are the preliminary observations. Let's move into the question at hand then. How do you know what your spiritual gifts are?

How do you know what your spiritual gifts are? Now, let me say on the outset that in the passages that deal with spiritual gifts, namely Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, they never really address this question explicitly.

They don't really come out and say, well, this is how you know. Paul doesn't say this is how you know what your spiritual gifts are. So, I'm going to give you seven basic steps. But, these seven basic steps are more like sanctified common sense.

They are not like seven step by step and by the end you're going to have this guaranteed you know the answer of what your spiritual gifts are. It's going to require some thinking on your part.

Well, when I was in college in one of the classes I took I had to take a spiritual gifts inventory test. alright, so I didn't know what that was about so I sat down at this computer and I answered all these questions about my life and all my spiritual doings and the things that I do and all my spiritual activities and questions like, well, do you like to teach?

Do you teach? Do you like to give? Are you a good giver? You know, things like that. And, on the one hand, you know, I understand that maybe those questions are helpful.

They might be helpful but when I got the results they were just laughable. And the reason is is basically now that I think about it there was like eight gifts or I don't know it was like ten gifts and I was gifted in every single area except for one.

And I'm like thinking, you know, that's not right. I mean, nowhere in the Bible it says, okay, everyone's gifted in all these ways. But, it said I was especially gifted at teaching and then I realized well, that was because I was actually doing some teaching at the Sunday school class at the church I belong to.

And it said I was really bad at giving. And I thought, wow, I don't even have a chance to give. I'm this poor, broke college student. And it kind of got in the way of my generosity.

I, you know, as much as I would want to give. And so, you know, as far as the teaching, it didn't ask anyone if I was any good at it.

It just said, well, you're doing it, you must be gifted at it. Well, as a joke, kind of a few weeks ago, I retook a different test.

I found online a new spiritual inventories test and I wanted to see, you know, has anything changed? And, well, this gift, this test was much more spiritual, or much more thorough.

It wasn't much more spiritual at all. But it, it worked the same way. It basically said if you're doing something, you're gifted at it. And if you're not doing it, you're not gifted at it. And so, you'll be happy to know my highest, my best gift is pastoring because, well, I do a lot of that.

My two lowest scores was singleness. And, it was singleness and poverty. And I'm thinking, I have a job and I have a wife.

I'm probably not going to be very good at these. Now, that's not how you find out your spiritual gifts. Well, if you don't take a hokey online test that gives you straight and clear answers, what can you do?

And this is a question that I think really is important because, like I said at the beginning, when we're doing what God has designed us to do, it's best for us and it's best for the church.

So, here's seven common sense steps. Number one, humble self-examination. The one verse that I found that pertains to figuring out and using your spiritual gifts, there might be others, but this is the only one I found, is in Romans chapter 12, verse 3.

And if you're there, look at it yourself. 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.

Something that happened a lot in Paul's day and something that happens a lot in our day is people think they're gifted in areas that they're not and people think they're gifted more than what they really are.

And Paul's answer to that is humble self-examination. So you have to ask yourself the brutal questions. When I do this, does this actually help people?

You might need to ask some people about that. Yes, I want to do this, but in reality is my personality, am I naturally hardwired this way?

And there's a fine line a lot of times between how we're naturally gifted and how we're spiritually gifted. A lot of people who want to be pastors who aren't people people.

They're not people persons. They love studying. They love preaching. But they don't like people. And so they end up in places where they don't belong.

They're not gifted. And so they aren't thinking about themselves with sober judgment. And that's where this begins. If you want to know what your gifts are, begin by thinking about, and you're going to really need to do this all throughout this process, but think with sober judgment about yourself.

Step two, think through your options. Think through your options. Now there's two places, like I mentioned, that talks about, that gives sort of lists of spiritual gifts. The first is Romans 12 and the second is 1 Corinthians 12.

And we aren't going to take our time to read both of those passages and look through them. But when you have time, read them on your own. And the thing to understand is when you do, when you read these things, you have to realize that these are not complete lists.

They're not complete lists. They aren't identical. It wasn't like Paul was setting out a theology of spiritual gifts. Neither of them mentioned singleness.

And there seems to be a lot of room for other kinds of gifts that Paul just doesn't mention. And so the lists are merely representative. They're the kinds of ways that God gifts people.

And some of them aren't even applicable today. And we can't go into that right now. But as you look at these lists, there's a basic division. There's word gifts and there's deed gifts.

Some of the gifts are for speaking and some of the gifts are for doing. And maybe that's a good place for you to start as you're trying to figure out how has God gifted me?

Well, am I a speaking person? Or am I a doing person? And then look and see what areas you might be just naturally inclined to.

God sometimes, God sometimes gives spiritual gifts to people that aren't naturally gifted in that way. But most of the time, there's this harmony of spiritual gifts and natural gifts that they go together.

And so we want to look and know your options, kind of think through them. And that's step two. Think through your options. Step three, and this is actually the most important question.

This is probably actually a more important question than how do I know what my spiritual gifts are. Step three is find out what the body needs. Ask, what does this body need?

This body that I'm a member of, what does it need? The body needs all of the members working. If you're converted and you're a part of this body, we need you.

Grace Fellowship has needs. And so there's serving needs, there's doing needs, and there's speaking needs. So we have people that, we have needs that, we need people to help widows and care for people and care for the sick.

And there are speaking needs. We need teachers and encouragers and disciplers. And if you want to know what Grace Fellowship needs, the best persons to ask are the elders.

Ask them. Let me know. What does this body need? So find out what the body needs. Step four, pray. Pray.

Begin to pray over these needs. Ask God to raise up workers to meet those needs. Ask God to move in people's hearts to fulfill those needs.

Ask God to equip people to do those things. And then ask God if you are the person that needs to be meeting some of those needs.

And in what ways can I meet them? Lord, show me. And pray for your pastors. Pray that we would have wisdom to know who to talk to and how to bring people along.

And then just ask, keep asking God, Lord, there are needs here. Here I am. Do with me what you will. Ask him where you need to be chipping in and helping.

Step five, ask yourself, what do I enjoy? What do I enjoy? Let me ask you, does doing the Lord's will always have to be a miserable business?

Does doing the will of the Lord always have to be miserable? Sometimes we get into this works righteousness, medieval mentality where we think, if I'm enjoying doing this, then really God can't be in it for me.

This can't be the right thing for me to be doing. This can't be God's will for me. And a lot of that is because we don't understand that our Father loves us.

He loves us. You love to give good gifts to your children. God the Father in Heaven isn't giving gifts to His children and saying, well, this will make them miserable. God is not a harsh taskmaster.

He's a good Father. And usually, doing what He wants in the church is doing something that we enjoy. I'm saying usually, not always.

It's a place that we find joy and satisfaction in serving. And that's not to say that using your gift, obviously, there are times when it's not enjoyable.

It's not fun. Changing a dirty diaper in the nursery is not fun, I don't think, for anyone ever. But you might be gifted in nursery duty. But on the whole, where do you find joy and satisfaction?

And I mentioned this earlier. You know, God wants the elders in the church, the pastors, to enjoy their work. Hebrews 13, 17, obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden.

God expects His pastors to generally enjoy their job and not for it to be a burden. And the same thing is true for all of His people. In the ways that He has gifted you, He wants you, on the whole, to be enjoying these things.

These are ways, as you're growing in grace, that you're experiencing His smile. You're feeling, wow, I am useful. God is using me. It's something that you find satisfaction in.

Step six, seek godly counsel. Seek godly counsel from your parents, from the pastors. Ask mature, godly Christians who know you, who live with you, who know how you live.

Ask them, what do you think I should be doing? What should I be doing? And then when they give you the answer, listen carefully. They might tell you some things that you're not prepared to hear.

They might tell you some things that might hurt. They might tell you some things that might surprise you. They might press you to stretch out in ways that you don't think you're ready for.

Or they might be telling you, whoa, you need to slow down on this. I don't know if this is your cup of tea after all. but mature godly counsel is not always easy to hear.

But the wounds of a friend can be trusted. And so seek godly counsel. Listen to what they say and it will go a long way to sorting out this business.

Well, where do I belong? What should I be doing right now in the church? Step seven, don't just sit there, serve. Step seven is don't just sit there, serve.

Sometimes I'm afraid this whole question of, well, I don't know what my spiritual gifts are. It can be, not always, but it can be just an excuse to do exactly what you are doing and that's nothing.

You don't find out your spiritual gifts by pontificating, taking online quizzes or reading books. You find out what your gifts are by serving.

By serving. And so, it's when you're out there trying to do different things, you have a heart of service, a heart of love that your gifts come to surface.

So you thought you were good at this and well, you start going and no one is encouraged, no one is edified. Well, that's not your gift. Or you thought there's just no way that God could use me to be a teacher or to do this.

And then, it turns out, wow, the proof is in the pudding. God has gifted me in this way. It's surprising. And so, as you serve, what's going to happen is people are going to take notice.

Pastors are going to take notice. People are going to say, wow, that person is really, is really growing in this area. Let's give her some more work to do.

She's really gifted in this, so let's give her some more area to take care of. And they might come up to you and ask you, are you, you want to do some more of this? Or they might tell you, well, people are really encouraged by what you're doing.

Keep it up. And what is happening is you are getting, God is confirming you in what your spiritual gifts are. That's how he lets his people know that they're gifted in these ways.

And so you're finding out, you're discovering what your gift is. And you do it by serving. So no one finds out what their spiritual gift is in any other way than this.

They just get out there and they serve. And when they start lovingly serving their brothers and sisters, their gifts come to the top. Now, so what's the bottom line? Well, if you're a believer, Jesus, the glorious, risen, exalted Savior, has given you a spiritual gift.

And it's his loving gift to you. And it's his gift to the church. It's for his body. And so no one here is an outcast. No one is useless.

No one is unnecessary. No one is superfluous. God didn't give all the grace that I need to me. He gave a lot of the grace to you, and to you, and to you, and to you.

And only when you are working and doing your part am I built up. And so, you need me. I need you. We need each other.

Well, how do you find out what God, how God has gifted you? You have to think. You have to examine yourself. You find out what the needs are, and then you pray, and you seek godly counsel, and then you serve, and you get to work.

And then your gifts begin to shine out. Now, very briefly, very briefly, how do you use your spiritual gifts in the best way? How do you use your spiritual gifts in the best way?

One last passage. Turn over to 1 Peter 4. We're going to look at verse 10.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. And if anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. Well, how do you use your spiritual gifts? Peter tells us you use it as a gift from God.

You use it as grace from God. It's tempting to think after you've done something really good to pat yourself on the back and think, wow, that was really good. I was very encouraging there.

Or, you know, I preach a decent sermon. I say, wow, that wasn't half bad. But none of those gifts come from you. And none of those gifts come from me. You notice they're God's grace that's come down in various forms.

They were God's grace. And that means they were purchased at Christ's cross for you. So what did it cost Jesus to give me the gift of preaching, to give you the gift of serving, to give you the gift of ministering, or whatever your gift is, what did it cost him to give you your gift?

Well, it cost him his life. It cost him his life. And so every time we use our gifts, they have Christ's blood on them.

They come from him. It's all of God's grace. And so we're just the delivery boys. You're the delivery boy, the delivery girl. And so when the pizza boy comes with your papa, John's pizza, and you say, oh, thanks, I love that, he doesn't say, oh, well, great, you know, thank you.

I know I did. I made this great, wonderful pie. I made this recipe. There's nothing to be proud of when you deliver someone's gift. And so when God gives you a gift and you use it for other people, make sure that it's, you're pointing to the source.

It is God's grace that this is even happening. It's God's grace. It's not your accomplishment. So use your spiritual gifts as a blood-bought gift from Christ.

Then use your gift relying on God's strength. Look at the middle of verse 11. He should do it. That is, he should serve with the strength that God provides.

Every time you're about to serve, every time you're about to use the gift that God has given you, you're about to teach, you're about to encourage, what you do, what you need to do is go into it trusting God for his strength.

He should serve with the strength that God provides. And so we have to go into using our gifts prayerfully. Oh Lord, I need you to help me.

I need you to help me. If you don't help me, I'm not going to do any good for this person. I'm going to try to use my gifts, but they're going to fail. And so I need you, Lord. I need your strength.

I have no strength of my own. And so you serve in his strength. You don't serve in your own strength. And you just don't wing it in your own might. You have to do it prayerfully.

And so what is the result when you use your gift trusting, relying that God is going to come through and he's going to powerfully work? Well, God is praised so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

So what happens when you serve in God's strength? Your heart, the person who is using the gift, your heart is lifted up in praise to God. God is so good.

He's so strong. I had nothing for that occasion. I had no words. I had nothing. I had no physical strength left. And yet here he was and he came in and he helped me.

Who am I that God should help me? And so the person who's using their gift praises God for the way that God is using them. And then the person who's on the recipient end, who's the receiving end of the gift, praises God.

God really used that brother to encourage me. God really helped me out through her. Isn't God good? So my heart is lifted up, their heart is lifted up, and God is glorified through Jesus Christ.

And that's the most important thing. Because you see, spiritual gifts will one day disappear. But God's glory is forever. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we do ask that you would please help us to understand this topic of spiritual gifts and help us to use the ways that you've gifted us for your glory.

Not to do it selfishly, not to work arrogantly, but to rely on your strength. Lord Jesus, thank you that you've been so good to your church, that you've given her everything she needs.

You've poured out the Holy Spirit upon her, and you've blessed her in ways, in such wonderful ways. Thank you for giving gifts to men.

Here we are, we're sinners. We don't deserve to be a part of your body. Lord Jesus, we don't deserve to be even on your earth. Thank you for having mercy on us, for setting our feet on the road to heaven, for setting us in a body that loves you.

and I pray that we would grow together, that Grace Fellowship would grow and become stronger than what we were yesterday as we love each other and as we use our gifts for your glory.

We ask these things in Jesus' name, Amen.