1 Corinthians 12:12-31 Working Together with Our Spiritual Gifts

Do you know that you have spiritual gifts from God?

That’s right. Each and every one of us has spiritual gifts from God. These gifts come in many different forms. Some are greater than others, but they are equally important. Each gift is essential for the benefit of all believers. The danger is that someone who possesses a public and “impressive” gift might lord it over the one who possesses a private gift of service. Those who have the gift of helping others rarely seek recognition or attention. Their instincts are to reach out and serve other without reward or recognition.

The theme of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians is unity. The church in Corinth had many issues, but the greatest problem was the lack of unity within the church. In the section of First Corinthians that is just before the reading we heard today, the diversity of the body illustrated the diversity of the gifts within the body of believers. In this section of the Letter, attention is cast on the fact that many members are required to make up one body.

The church today sometimes finds itself in a similar situation. Sometimes there is fighting about who is most important in the church body. This wastes time that would be better spent demonstrating unity and unity to a world that needs a model of genuine community and unity.  

One sign of unity is when all members equally care for one another. Spiritual gifts are not just a matter of figuring out what one is good at so he/she can be satisfied in serving. Spiritual gifts are intended to promote unity and working together to share the Good News.

One example of spiritual gifts is the gift of prophecy. Prophets in Old Testament times were those who proclaimed the very words of God before there was a written text. A prophet today is one who proclaims the very words of God as revealed in the Scriptures. Paul listed apostles first and speaking in tongues last. The Corinthians were putting speaking in tongues first and casting aspersions on the apostles, especially since the apostles were acting in a similar manner to Old Testament prophets.  

Some believers have the gift of preaching while others have the gift of leadership. Not everyone has the same gift, and not everything we do will satisfy us 100% of the time. Not all roles or gifts are equally exciting, but they are equally important. Everyone works together and they are firmly planted on the foundation of their faith in God. In the children’s talk you will hear in a few minutes, I compare the church to a human body. Being a Christian is like being a part of a human body. Each Christian is unique, but each Christian is part of something bigger, namely, the Body of Christ. If we aren’t connected to the church, we won’t know the purpose of our lives. We won’t know our role or our function. We won’t know our value or our meaning. We need to be in relationships with other people. We have to learn from others if we want to fulfill our potential and our role within the Body of Christ.

God creates people to carry out specific kinds of work in order to meet human needs. God uniquely designs each of us. He fits each of us for certain tasks. He distributes skills, abilities, interests and personalities among us so that we can carry out his work in the world. That work includes spiritual tasks and secular tasks such as health, education, business, law and so on.

In light of what has gone before within the Corinthian church, Paul’s exhortation to desire the best gifts may seem contradictory. As the following verses will reveal, what Paul considers the best gifts will be quite different from that the Corinthians had been pursuing. The best gifts are those that glorify God the most.  

The church is the body of Christ. Every believer is part of that body, so every believer should make the church a priority. When church isn’t a priority, believers deprive themselves and fellow believers. That foundation helps us work together, especially when one member is suffering. Believer are encouraged to come together to help fellow believers when they suffer. The best way to help is for each believer to use his/her gifts. When we use our gifts to do God’s work, we strengthen each other and the Church as a whole.

We need to be connected to a church family so that we can fulfill our calling to serve other believers in practical ways. We need the church and the church needs us. There are no insignificant roles to play in either the church or the body of believers. Every role is of equal importance, because all of the roles are connected. This is something for us to seriously consider at this time of year. It is time for church and parish annual meetings, and during these meetings people are elected to various positions of leadership within a church or the parish. If you are asked to consider running for a position, it means that the people who are asking you think that you have gifts that are especially suitable for the position.

Most of us will never be in a position to influence a lot of people. When we act or speak, only those who are close to us will notice, but our actions will ripple outward to affect an entire community. When we serve God and others, we steady the whole body as we support each other. We must always look for needs that God can meet through us. We don’t have to depend on our own personality or powers of persuasion. Christ will work through us. We are his eyes, ears, hands and feet in the world.

The measure of a Christian worker is not the ability to speak or the worker’s personality. It is the enduring work which he/she accomplishes. That work won’t be manifest or completely recognized until Jesus returns. Only Jesus can truly judge the merits of our efforts.

Some people are multi-talented and well-rounded, but they rarely commit to doing one thing well. They are spread so thing that their impact is minimal. All Christian workers need to stay focused on what they are good at. Here’s a good example of why we need to stay focused.

A sea captain and his chief engineer argued as to which one of them was more important to the ship. They couldn’t agree, so they decided to switch roles. The Chief Engineer came to the bridge and the Captain went to the engine room. After a couple of hours, the Captain come on the deck. He was covered in oil. He waved a monkey wrench at the Chief Engineer and shouted, “Chief, you’ll have to come down here. I can’t make the ship go.”

The Chief Engineer replied, “Of course you can’t. We’ve run aground!”  

We must not allow our gifts to be greater than the fruit of the Spirit. When our gifts are greater than the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, our lives will crumble. When we grow in faith, God’s power will work in us to make us more Christ-like.

 

Bibliography

1.      Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 1588)

2.      Dr. Ed Young, “Body Builder.” Retrieved from www.edyoung.com

3.      Carolyn Dale Newell, “No Member is Too Weak.” Retrieved from Chritianity.com@crosswalkmail.com

4.      Christine Caine, “Gifts and Fruit.” Retrieved from Biblegateway@e.biblegateway.com

5.      Pastor Rick Warren, “Where Do You Believe God Can Use You?” Retrieved from connect@newsletter.purposedriven.com

6.      Dr. Charles Stanley, “How to Serve the Church.” Retrieved from www.intouch.org

7.      Michael Brooks, “Standards.” Retrieved from www.forthright.net

8.      Dr. Jack Graham, “How to Maximize Your Kingdom Impact in 2015.” Retrieved from www.jackgraham.org

9.      Joel Osteen, “Know Who You Are.” Retrieved from www.joelosteen.com

10.  Os Hillman, “Is There Hierarchy in Calling?” Retrieved from Chritianity.com@crosswalkmail.com

11.  Jim Liebert, “Partners of Equal Value.” Retrieved from www.homeword.com

12.  Dr. David Jeremiah, “A Helping Hand.” Retrieved from turningpoint@davidjeremiah.org

13.  Dr. David Jeremiah, “The Body of Christ.” Retrieved from turningpoint@davidjeremiah.org

14.  Dr. David Jeremiah, “Uniqueness and Unity.” Retrieved from turningpoint@davidjeremiah.org

15.  Rick Warren, “You Learn Your Purpose Through Relationships.” Retrieved from connect@newsletter.purposedriven.com

16.  Rick Warren, “God Created You to Need Other People.” Retrieved from connect@newsletter.purposedriven.com

1 Corinthians 12:12-31 Christians Need Each Other

Good morning boys and girls!

How many of you like to do things for yourselves, such as tying your shoe laces or getting dressed or brushing your teeth? Do you like it when people try to help you when you don’t need their help?

Boys and girls, there are some things that we can’t do by ourselves. For example, could you run a relay race by yourself? Could you play basketball or football if you were the only person on the team?

The church is the same. Jesus tells us that all of us are members of the Body of Christ, also known as the church. We don’t come to church as individual people and then leave. Jesus tells us that we are to be a team of people who work together for Jesus. Each of us is an important part of that body, and all of the things we do are just as important.

Our church body is just like our human body. All of the parts have to work together, and all of the parts have to be there. Suppose we were missing an eye or an ear or a hand or an arm or a foot or a leg. What would happen?

Let me tell you a story about how important it is for people to work together for Jesus. It’s a story of a little girl named Shelly. 

I like being on our youth group planning committee, thought Shelly as the members shared ideas for making their meetings more interesting. But she frowned when Cole offered his suggestion. "How about planning a mission program that reaches out to kids in our community?" he asked. "And let's give everyone in the youth group something to do. You know--get everyone involved."

Mr. Gray, the youth leader, liked the idea. "That sounds good," he said, "and it will fit in nicely with the Bible study I'm planning for the next several weeks."

"But some of the kids never want to do anything," objected Shelly. "I don't see how we can we get them involved if they're not really interested, so what would we do about them? Or doesn't it matter? Do we really need them?"

"Nah." Zoe, another committee member, shook her head.

Cole disagreed. "We want them all to have a part," he insisted.

"Let's think about that, kids," said Mr. Gray. "Let me ask you something." He turned to Shelly. "You broke your thumb a few days ago. Does it matter?" he asked. "How important is your thumb?"

"My thumb?" asked Shelly in surprise. She laughed as she looked down at her bandaged thumb. "I didn't think I used it much . . . until I couldn't use it at all," she said. "Now that it's broken, I see how much I really need it. It's way more important than I ever knew!"

"Yes, I thought it might be." Mr. Gray smiled. "And God says that's exactly how it is with the body of believers. All who believe in Jesus are referred to as the Body of Christ, and every single member is important--just like every part of our physical bodies is important. Each person has a job to do for the Body of Christ to function properly."

"That makes sense," said Shelly, "but . . ." She frowned. "I still don't see how we'll get kids to help if they don't want to." She looked at her thumb again. "Or do you think they will want to if we show them that we need them?"

Cole nodded. "Yeah, and I think we should be careful to not complain about anything we're assigned to do, but act like we're enjoying it ourselves," he said.

Zoe grinned. "That part should be easy. I think we will enjoy it," she said.

"Good," Mr. Gray approved. "Let's put those ideas into action."

 

Let’s close our eyes and bow our heads for a moment of prayer. Dear God, thank you for the chance to come together and work together to do what you want us to do. Help us to remember that what each one of us does is important to you. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.

Bibliography

1.      “The Broken Thumb.” Retrieved from www.sermons4kids.com

2.      Mark A. Hultquist, “Many Parts-One Body.” Retrieved from www.sermonsuite.com

 

Mark 1:21-28 Jesus and His Authority

Have you ever noticed that everywhere you go in life, people in authority are telling you what to do and what not to do? These people can be teachers, police officers, government officials or even the staff here at Hillsview Acres. Hopefully these people will do what they feel is best for us instead of what is best for themselves. Someone else who has authority and can tell us what to do and what not to do if we will let him is Jesus. We see a good example of his authority in the reading we just heard from Mark 1:21-28 a few minutes ago.

The demon recognized Jesus and called him the Holy One of God, perhaps because he hoped that by identifying Jesus by name he would have power over Jesus. The title “Holy One of God” refers to Jesus’ authority as a high priest. It was ironic that Jesus’ authority was first recognized by a demon. The people were amazed at Jesus’ authority and teaching, especially his authority over the demon. His words had full power to accomplish what he said.

The purpose of Jesus’ earthly ministry was teaching, not performing miracles or casting out demons, even though these actions accompanied his teaching and told of God’s presence within him. Casting out this particular demon reinforced Jesus’ authority to teach. When he taught in the synagogue, he referred to no source of authority beyond himself, unlike the Jewish rabbis who referred to the authority of the Scriptures. Jesus is the source of authority. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, and the demons reinforced this claim by acknowledging him to be the Son of God. The demon came out because it could not resist Jesus’ authority. The Scribes and the Pharisees only recognized a Jesus who threatened their authority. 

A Bible teacher who wants to have an impact on his/her students must teach life applications from the Scriptures that they have lived out personally. In other words, the teacher must “practice what he/she preaches.” Jesus did that when he cast out the demon.

There are people who capture the interest and attention of their audience every time they speak. These people often speak with authority. Jesus was one of those people. When he spoke, people listened because he spoke the very word of God. When God speaks, there is a ring of authenticity. His authority and power can encourage us to make changes in our lives. An encounter with Jesus and his authority changes everything. A good example is the apostle Paul. He met Jesus while on the road to Damascus, and that encounter changed him from a persecutor of Christians to an eager disciple of Jesus.

All of us have been given authority to tell others about the Good News of the Gospel. Some of us have been given a particular anointing from God to use to touch the lives of others. God will reveal our anointing only if we ask him-and that asking includes prayer.

The Gospel emphasizes the authority of Jesus and his teachings instead of his words. We need to study his teachings to see the authority they have to change our lives. This can only happen when Jesus is the highest authority in our lives.

Bibliography

1.      Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 1344)

2.      ESV Study Bible. Part of Wordsearch 11 Bible software package.

3.      McKenna, D.L. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 25: Mark (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982, pp. 47-49)

4.      Os Hillman, “Teaching versus Imparting.” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com.

5.      Berni Dymet, “The Blah, Blah, Blah Treatment.” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com

6.      The Rev. Dr. Janet Hunt, “As One Possessed.” Retrieved from www.dancingwiththeword.com

7.      Exegesis for Mark 1:21-28. Retrieved from www.lectionary.org

 

Ephesians 3:1-12 The Greatest Gift of All is for Everyone

Well, Christmas is almost over for another year. For most of us the holidays are over and our lives get back to normal this week. Children will be going back to school, people will be going back to work, family and friends will be going home (if they haven’t gone home already), and we will be settling back into our normal routines.

There is one more part of Christmas to come, and that’s why I said that Christmas is almost over. There is one more gift for all of us, and today-the Feast of the Epiphany-we receive that gift. That gift is the fact that Jesus came for all of us-both Jews and Gentiles. This concept is represented in the visit of the Magi, which we heard in Matthew 2:1-12, but it is also represented in the legendary story of the fourth wise man-a man named Artaban.

As he journeyed with his friends, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, he became separated from them. He never made it to Bethlehem. For many years he sought the Christ Child and in the process had many adventures and assisted many people, including dying beggars and frightened mothers, to whom he gave two of the three great jewels he had originally planned to give to Jesus. He even traveled to Egypt, hearing that Jesus and his parents had gone there, but was again frustrated in his quest. Now, after 33 years of searching he arrived in Jerusalem, hoping at last that he might find the child.

At Passover time, Artaban, now an old man, noted an unusual commotion and inquired about its cause. People answered him, "We are going to the place called Golgotha, just outside the walls of the city, to see two robbers and a man named Jesus of Nazareth, who are being crucified on crosses. The man Jesus calls himself the Son of God, and Pontius Pilate has sent him to be crucified because he claims to be the king of the Jews."

Artaban knew instinctively that this is the king he had been searching for his whole life. Thus, he rushed to the scene. On the way he encountered a young girl being sold into slavery. She saw his royal robes and fell at his feet pleading with him to rescue her. His heart was moved and he gave away the last jewel for her ransom. Just then, darkness fell over the land and the earth shook, and great stones fell into the streets. One of them fell upon Artaban, crushing his head.

As he lay dying in the arms of the girl he had just ransomed, he cried out in a weak voice, "Three and thirty years I looked for thee, Lord, but I have never seen thy face nor ministered to thee!" Then a voice came from heaven, strong and kind, which said, "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of my brothers or sisters, you did it to me." Artaban's face grew calm and peaceful. His long journey was ended. He had found his king!  

This popular story powerfully presents the Epiphany message. The three magi of whom Saint Matthew speaks in his gospel brought their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, recognizing Jesus as priest, prophet, and king. Additionally, their presence in Bethlehem demonstrated how Christ was manifest to the nations. In a similar way, Artaban's adventure showed that Christ calls us to manifest his glory to all nations. Artaban's goodness and openness to all, even those he did not know, brought the face of Christ, namely the one he sought, to him. Additionally, those to whom he came, the poor and destitute, became Christ to him. Without realizing it, all his life he had been achieving his goal, to see the Christ Child. We, in turn, are challenged to be Christ to others; we must be ambassadors of the Lord.

God came to us in the form of Jesus so that we could come back to him. When we come to Christ, we are adopted into his family. We are also freed from the bondage of sin. That freedom has a purpose, which is being part of God’s plan for our lives. Our lives and the paths we take in life matter to God. We are to remember this when our lives seem aimless and without direction.

The church was unknown in the Old Testament and the Gospels. It wasn’t fully revealed until the events in Acts 2 occurred, especially the events that happened on the Day of Pentecost. It was not fully explained until Paul began his mission. The heart and soul of the mystery of the church is that Jews and Gentiles are joined into one body. The Gentiles are fellow heirs with the Jews, fellow members of God’s household, and fellow partakers of the promise of salvation for everyone. This process started with the visit of the Magi, but it was not fully realized until Peter preached to and baptized the Roman centurion Cornelius and his family.

Paul was the apostle, teacher and preacher to the Gentiles. The sufferings he experienced during his ministry were on their behalf, just like Jesus’ suffering and death were for everyone-both Jews and Gentiles. There are times when we as Christians will suffer for our faith like Paul, Christ and the disciples did. When we praise God, especially when we suffer, it forces us to keep our eyes on him and lifts us out of the pain of our suffering. It allows us to see clearly how God works in and through all believers to change something that is evil into something that is good. That does not mean that God causes pain and suffering. It means that God is with us and that he can use our suffering for his purposes. 

Paul’s calling to preach to the Gentiles was the disposition of God’s grace. God not only appointed Paul a minister of the Gospel to the Gentiles through grace, but anointed him with power. This verified Paul’s apostleship-an amazing thing considering that Paul so violently persecuted the church previously.

Christ came to unite Jews and Gentiles into one body of believers through the Gospel. Christ revealed the mystery to Paul on the road to Damascus and at other times during his ministry. The purpose of his ministry was of interest to angels, especially since they rejoice when a sinner repents.

The mystery is made known to us through both God’s direct intervention in our lives and through Scripture. This revelation is a gift for everyone, whereas until Christ was born it was seen only as a gift to the people of Israel. We are to share the promise with everyone.

If we enlarge our horizons, our theology will not be restricted to a denominational understanding but will affirm the ecumenical affirmations of the Christian faith centered in Jesus Christ. To be sure, we ought to preserve the best in our own theological tradition, but admittedly we do not possess the whole truth. We can learn from one another, and as we dialogue we sharpen our basic convictions. I’m speaking from experience. I have learned from preaching and leading worship here at Bridgewater United and at other non-Anglican churches, and in return I have been able to share parts of the Anglican Church traditions.

In order to share the gift, we have to use the gifts God has given us. Some of us have the gift of preaching and teaching. Some of us have the gift of singing. Others have the gift of leadership, and still others have the gift of just being able to talk to other people and share what God has done for them in their lives. We know what our gifts are, but we also know our limitations. We don’t have to worry, because God will make up for our limitations. 

God created the church to be a public testimony to his grace-a place where anyone (both Jews and Gentiles) can go to receive a constant flow of mercy, and a place to hear the message of the Gospel. Yet the church not only declares the truth to humanity; God also designed the church to display the truth to angels.

The church is called to be a house of prayer. God’s people don’t need a priest to be a mediator to approach him, as was required in the Old Testament. Jews and Gentiles both have full access to God through Jesus.

Within the church there are to be no divisions due to race, spiritual or social reasons. Faith gives us free and unlimited access to God. When we place our trust in God, it opens the way for us to communicate with and have fellowship with him at any time and in any place. Anyone and everyone can come to him. We can do so because of God’s grace.

God wants everyone to see and share his wisdom. It’s up to us to make certain that this happens. Sometimes we can’t see that Christ came for everyone and can use everyone. We need to share our gifts and burdens just like Christ shared himself with everyone-both Jews and Gentiles. We are to spread the Good News to a world that desperately needs to hear it. When we spread the Good News, we are to share it with everyone, because Christ came for everyone-and that is the greatest gift that everyone can give and receive.

Bibliography

1.      Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp. 1642-1643)

2.      Preaching Magazine, November/December 2015 (Nashville, TN: Salem Publishing Inc.; p. 65)

3.      ESV Study Bible. Part of Wordsearch 11 Bible software package.

4.      Dunnam, M.D. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 31: Galatians/Ephesians/Philippians/Colossians/Philemon (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982; pgs. 175-182)

5.      MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible, NASV (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)

6.      Don Ruhl, “Our Job: Make People See the Manifold Wisdom of God.” Retrieved from comment-reply@wordpress.com

7.      Michael Youssef, Ph.D., “Moments of Weakness.” Retrieved from mydevotional@leadingtheway.org

8.      Joni Eareckson Tada, “Let Me Not Shrink.” Retrieved from communications@joniandfriends.org

9.      Dr. R.C. Sproul, “Answering the Ultimate Question.” Retrieved from Corsswalk@crosswalkmail.com

10.  Pastor Bob Coy, “Access-able.” Retrieved from www.activeword.org

11.  Don Ruhl, “The Privilege of Sharing the Preaching of Christ.” Retrieved from comment-reply@wordpress.com

12.  Richard Hasler, “Enlarge Your Horizons.” Retrieved from http://sermons.com/sermon/enlarge-your-horizons/14228

13.  Richard Gribble, “Ambassadors of the Lord.” Retrieved from http://sermons.com/sermons/ambassadors-of-the-lord/1467337

 

 

Matthew 2:1-12 The Star That Leads the Way

Good morning boys and girls!

Did you have a good Christmas? Did you get lots of gifts?

Did any of you go on a trip over Christmas?  How did you get there? Did you have to get directions? How did you get them? Did you ask someone? Did you go online and get directions? Did your parents use a GPS system or a map?

A long time ago there were some people who went on a journey. Can anyone guess who they were? They were the Three Wise Men. Let me tell you the story.

After Jesus was born, some wise men, also called Magi, saw a star in the sky which they believed announced the birth of a king. They traveled to Jerusalem and began to ask, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him."   Herod heard about the Magi and their search for a king and he was deeply disturbed. He called a meeting of the priests and teachers of religious law and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?" The priests told Herod that the prophet Micah had written that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. So Herod called for private meeting with the wise men and said to them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!"

The Wise Men didn’t have a map or the Internet or a GPS system. They had something even better to guide them. They had a star.

So the wise men followed information that the priests had given to Herod and the star that God had given to guide them and it led them right to Jesus. When they found him, they gave him gifts and bowed down and worshiped him.   Wise men, women, boys, and girls are still searching for Jesus. There are people who want to help -- people like pastors and Sunday School teachers. There is no map to help us find Jesus and there is no star to follow, but we do have the Bible. We can find the way to Jesus by reading God's Holy Word! The Bible is the map and star that will lead to Jesus. All of us should read it every day to make sure we are headed in the right direction!   Let’s close our eyes and bow out heads for a moment of prayer. Dear Jesus, we seek you today because we want to worship you and crown you as our King. We are thankful for pastors and Sunday School teachers who want to help us and we are thankful for the Bible which we have been given to lead us to you. Amen.

Bibliography

1.      “Seeking the Saviour.” Retrieved from www.sermons4kids.com