Message Transcript
You're fabulous!
I love you!
And we're going to be friends!
And that is exactly how you should feel when you enter into a spiritual community - when you enter a church. That is what I expect you will feel when you walk into the doors of any campus at Grace church.
You're fabulous!
We love you!
And we're going to be friends!
Now, dear brothers and sisters,[a] regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don't want you to misunderstand this. 2 You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice[b]; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.[c] 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages,[d] while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Paul uses 3 synonyms for what believers receive from God; all result in what believers receive but each indicates a different aspect
1. Gifts: charisma - a gift from God .
2. Service: diakonia - something we use in service to God and others.
3. Working: energema - the effect of God's power in us.
The spirit is the source of all spiritual gifts - we serve the Lord with these gifts - and God will work through us and our spiritual gifts to produce change and growth.
Our spiritual community needs each person using their gifts to encourage, support, motivate, mold, move and challenge each other. Because,true growth/change is possible when you are in authentic spiritual community.
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, ""I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,"" that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, ""I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,"" would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? 18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, ""I don't need you."" The head can't say to the feet, ""I don't need you."" 1 Corinthians 12:14-21
Engaging with different will push you to grow:
1. Authentic community is a community of honesty.
2. Authentic community is a community of love.
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn';t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing. -1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Behind every successful person is a tribe. A tribe of other people who support you and love you and push you to be your absolute best but stick by you even when you're at your absolute worst. A tribe of other people who could choose to compete, but take the higher, better road of collaboration instead. A tribe of other people who don't just fix your crown, but also bend down to pick it up and dust it off when it's fallen off. A tribe of other people who refuse to get jealous. Who refuse to compare. Who refuse to belittle or go low. Who refuse to gossip, or leave out, or hurt just to watch you crumble under the pressure.
A tribe of people who tell the truth. When it's hard. When it's easy. When it's uncomfortable. When a lie would be the simpler road to travel.
A tribe of people who pick you up and put you back on your feet when you've gone off-course. A tribe of people who have the courage to encourage you. A tribe of people who have the strength to strengthen you.
A tribe of other people who have your back, and your front, and your side, and your soul, and your spirit, and your heart, and your best interest in mind. Always.