Hi everyone, I wanted to post a sermon by a church minister on the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit. I have mentioned this here and some people didn't seem to get why I was mentioning it about the Holy Spirit gifts and about the Comforter (the Holy Spirit). Jesus is the Son of God. When he left us he said he would send his believers from heaven the comforter which is the Holy Spirit to help us on our journies and support the church. Most seem to get the Holy Spriit sent to them through baptism and faith. The fact that Jesus is the one who appoints these gifts means that his existence is real. I have also atttached a Bible note about what the Holy Spirit can help with, it is for all believers.
The Sermon
In our reading from the letter to the church at Corinth, Paul in his greeting to the church gave thanks for them and mentioned that they were not lacking in any spiritual gift as they waited for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And a question for you. Are you aware of your own spiritual gifts? We all have
them. We're in the season of Epiphany when we celebrate Christ being revealed to the world through his baptism and miracles.
Maybe this year we need to explore or rediscover the spiritual gifts that
we've been given. We're all gifted by God. And spiritual gifts are not reserved for priests or super spiritual Christians. They're given to every believer for a purpose greater than ourselves. And the church doesn't thrive because of one talented person. It thrives when every member uses their God-given gifts.
They're not earned by holiness, education, or age in faith.
They're graciously given by the Holy Spirit. And spiritual gifts are expressions of
God's grace working through his people. God intentionally gives different gifts
to different people because a diversity of gifts is a strength. No gift is insignificant and a hidden gift is just as valuable as a more visible one. And a church needs a wide variety of gifts to function fully.
Every church is equipped with all the gifts it needs. So if a church feels that it's lacking something, it may be that it hasn't enabled its members to discover their spiritual gifts. And this can happen if you have people who are so good at doing everything that there's no space for others to step in. Or maybe people might
assume that others have got certain gifts and they don't need to find other
other gifts from other people. People are locked into certain ways and
patterns and the challenge of doing something different may seem a bit of a threat.
Spiritual gifts are not given to us for personal status, not for competition or self-promotion. They're given for the common good, to build up the church, serve others, and to reveal Christ to the world. When gifts are used selfishly, the
church suffers. When they used lovingly, the church flourishes.
And love is what makes spiritual gifts spiritual. Every gift must be exercised with
humility, compassion, and grace. Without love, gifts become sort of
noise, and service becomes obligation. A ministry can become pride.
So, you might be wondering, what are these gifts? They're referred to and listed in several of the letters to the churches in the Bible.
Some highlight spiritual empowerment by the Holy Spirit and others emphasize roles and functions in the church. And I played around for the first time this week with AI. And I asked AI to give me a list of spiritual gifts. And so here with the help of AI, here's a combined list of the commonly recognized spiritual gifts in alphabetical order and they come from several letters in the Bible. Administration, apostles, discernment, encouragement, evangelism, faith, giving, healing, helping, knowledge, leadership, mercy, miracles, pastor, prophecy, teaching, tongues, interpretation of tongues, and wisdom. And to explore these and understand what they mean could be a whole year of sermons and more. But we can start by exploring what in this list might resonate with us.
All spiritual gifts are about service. Jesus taught his disciples that he came
not to be served but to serve and that the first should be last and the last first. So, how are we going to serve? In the gospel reading today, Jesus asked Andrew and Peter what they were looking for.
And he responded with, "Come and see." We can accept this invitation for
ourselves and explore what God has given us and discover our spiritual gifts.
So, how might we do this? Well, we need to take time and reflect.
We might like to ask ourselves some questions such as where do I experience the most joy in serving? If your heart sinks at something, maybe that isn't your gift. Where have is where have I seen spiritual fruit in my life? And you may find that um others might be affirming gifts in you. How has that been happening? Has someone said, "Oh, you're really good at that. Maybe you should follow it up." We might do this with a spiritual director or at a quiet day or on a retreat or in the quiet of our own homes.
At some stage, it's good to check out what others may be noticing. It's as well to remember that spiritual gifts grow through use, not just discovery. You may have more than one gift, and they can develop over time, and love must guide every gift.
We're invited to come and see to come and see how much God loves us all. That he was prepared to get involved with the human beings who he created in his image. So much so that his son was incarnated here on earth into a human family to come and see that God wants us to enjoy being human and live to our full human potential discovering our spiritual gifts. He wants us to leave church with smiles on our faces because we've been in his presence.
Jesus's disciples were a mixed bunch, a bit like us here in our own community.
I'm always heartened by the people Jesus chose as his close friends because they were far from perfect. They had ordinary and sometimes questionable jobs. They argued among themselves. They let Jesus down. And yet, it was these same people who Jesus entrusted with building his church here on earth. and they made a good job of this despite their disputes and differing personalities. We know this because here we are today nearly 2,000 years later.
If God can be at work in churches in a place like Corinth, then why not here too?
God has given us power and love and a call to light up the world.
This sermon is based on these scriptures.
(1 Corinthians 12).
(Ephesians 4)
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”
(John 14)
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter,
(Romans 12)
The Holy Spirit has many roles, helper, healer, protector, intercessor, advocate, strengthener, standby, comforter, counsellor, baptiser and a sanctifier. The Holy Spirit can also help you learn to care for yourself spiritually and also holistically.