Spiritual Gifts: May 25, 2025
Beyond the Quiz: Discovering Your God-Given Gifts
Good morning, church family!
This past Sunday, we dove into a really engaging sermon about spiritual gifts, and it got us all thinking beyond those fun (but maybe a little silly) Facebook quizzes that tell you if you're a "wolf" or a "Hermione Granger." Remember those? While they might be fun for a laugh, understanding our spiritual gifts goes so much deeper and is infinitely more meaningful.
Pastor Michael started by acknowledging that, for a long time, figuring out our spiritual gifts has felt a bit like taking a test – you answer some questions, and it spits out a label. And let's be honest, that can sometimes lead to disappointment ("I guess I don't have a part in this church") or even spiritual pride ("I have all 17 gifts, I might be Jesus!"). The truth is, it's always been a bit more complicated, even for the early church!
The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the chaotic Corinthian church, tackled this very mystery. People were confused, even arguing, about gifts like speaking in tongues versus healing. They wanted to know: why did God give some people certain abilities and not others?
Two Essential Guidelines for Spiritual Gifts
Before even listing the gifts, Paul gave us two crucial guidelines that are still super relevant today:
Spiritual gifts exalt Jesus. If a gift isn't pointing back to Jesus as Lord and glorifying Him, then something's off. There's a lot of "spiritual stuff" out there, but our compass should always be: Does this make Jesus look good? Does it affirm His worth? Anything that says Jesus is worthless or just "another man" is not from God.
Spiritual gifts are motivated by love. This is huge! Paul spells it out clearly in 1 Corinthians 13: "If I speak in human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." You could do the most incredible, dramatic acts – sell everything you own, give your body to be burned – but if it's not fueled by genuine love for God and love for others, it means nothing. Zero value. This can be a tough pill to swallow, especially if we've "done all the right things" but without the right motivation.
These two guidelines are like our guardrails, keeping us safe and secure in God's will when it comes to exercising our gifts.
Unpacking the Gifts: More Than You Might Think!
Then, the sermon moved into 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul lists some of the diverse gifts given by the Holy Spirit for the common good of the church. These include:
Wisdom
Knowledge
Faith
Healing
Miracles
Prophecy
Distinguishing spirits
Speaking in tongues
Interpretation of tongues
Now, if you're like many of us, especially from a more traditional background, some of these might sound a little... "out there." We might wonder, "How could speaking in tongues be helpful? How do you even 'distinguish spirits'?" But the pastor encouraged us to embrace these, reminding us that these gifts are still at play in the church today!
The danger, he pointed out, is two-fold:
Pointing at others and saying, "We don't actually need you." This is a divisive heart, common in the Corinthian church then and sometimes in our churches now.
Writing ourselves off: "Because I can't do that, I must not belong."
Both of these miss the point that every member of the body of Christ is necessary and uniquely gifted!
How Do We Discover Our Gifts?
Forget the old paper questionnaires! The sermon gave us a refreshing, practical approach to discovering and exercising our spiritual gifts:
What do you naturally want to do when you hear the Gospel and walk in the Spirit? Do you feel compelled to share God's love, serve others' needs, or pray for those who are hurting?
Look for the fruit! When you act on that compulsion, is Christ glorified? Are people drawn closer to Him and to the church community?
Many of us haven't recognized God's power at work in us, often writing ourselves off. But our pastor urged us to try it out!
He handed out some fantastic two-sided checklists with various gifts, both the "weirder" ones from 1 Corinthians and the "more average sounding" ones from Romans 12 (like serving, teaching, encouraging, giving generously, leading, showing mercy).
The challenge? Step out in faith and try them!
For example, for the "healing" gift, it suggested: "Pray for someone who's sick or in pain. Ask God to bring physical, mental healing. Observe if there's any immediate improvement or a noticeable shift in their condition." Even if the person isn't healed instantly, they'll be blessed and encouraged by your prayer!
A Call to Obedience and Love
Ultimately, the sermon emphasized that spiritual gifts are just that – gifts of the Spirit. This means if you don't have the Holy Spirit (if you don't know Jesus), you won't desire to use them, because you won't have genuine love for people. God gives His Spirit to His people so they can act in love for the good of His church.
Whether it's prophecy (which at its core is looking at someone with love and speaking God's voice into their life for encouragement or challenge) or tongues (either sharing the Gospel in an unknown language or a personal "heavenly language" for prayer), the key is always love and encouragement. If it's not encouraging, don't do it. And don't judge your brother or sister for their gifts; recognize God has given you something unique!
Our pastor ended with a powerful thought: Imagine if you had a gift of healing, but never stepped out in faith to discover and use it. What a sad thought, to miss out on God pouring His blessings through you onto the church!
The call is clear: Find what obedience in the Spirit looks like for you. Act in faith, glorify Christ, and love your brothers and sisters.
What resonated most with you from this sermon? Are you feeling encouraged to step out and explore how God has uniquely gifted you?
