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ICEL
People Who Leave
• Why do people stop attending church?
• Don’t like the music.
• Aren’t being “fed” by the preaching.
• Another church has a better program.
ICEL
Church Shoppers
• In the United States we have a consumer
culture.
• Many people become church shoppers.
• They go to the church that meets their needs.
• They don’t go to serve; they go to consume.
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Why People Leave
• I believe that one of the main reasons why
people leave a local church is that they come
as consumers, rather than as servants.
ICEL
Why Do You Attend Church?
• Do you come to church
• For encouragement?
• To worship? To learn about God?
• For a “spiritual boost” to get through the week?
• These are good reasons – but incomplete.
• We also come to church to serve.
• We serve God by serving each other.
ICEL
The Church at Corinth
• The Corinthians had questions about spiritual
gifts (or spiritual people).
• So they wrote a letter to Paul with questions.
• Paul answers their questions in 1 Cor. 12-14.
• This is an “inside conversation” for Christians.
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Scripture text:
1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to dumb idols.
3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:1-31 Corinthians 12:1-3
ICEL
Ignorance
• Paul does not want the Corinthian believers to
remain ignorant regarding spiritual gifts.
• Spiritual gifts are not like pagan religious experiences.
• People are not carried away by pagan deities.
• Lucian’s Paris says of the power of love, “A sort of
god (daemon) carries us away wherever he wills, and
it is impossible to resist him.”
(Dialogi Mortuorum
xix. I)
ICEL
The Source Needs to Be Tested
• Ecstatic utterance can have several sources
• The Holy Spirit;
• the person themselves;
• demons.
• Paul, therefore, evaluates ecstatic speech.
• Inspiration must come from the Holy Spirit.
ICEL
Scripture text:
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.
6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message
1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (1)1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (1)
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Scripture text:
of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another
gifts of healing by that one Spirit,10 to another miraculous powers, to another
prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another the ability to speak in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (2)1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (2)
ICEL
Unity and Diversity
• There are different kinds of
• Gifts – but the same Spirit
• Service – but the same Lord (Jesus)
• Working – but the same God (Father)
• Works all of them in all men.
• Here is a link between gifts and the Trinity.
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Gifts Distributed
• Every Christian receives at least one gift (7).
• Gifts are given “for the common good” (7).
• The Spirit of God determines what each
believer receives (11).
• The different manifestations of the gifts “are
the work of one and the same Spirit” (11).
ICEL
Different Gifts
• Message of wisdom – a practical discourse
involving ethics and exhortation.
• Word of knowledge – Christian truth.
• Faith – extraordinary ability to believe for
“moving mountains” (1 Cor 13:2)
• Gifts of healing – comes and goes? Or different
gifts for different needs?
ICEL
Different Gifts (2)
• Prophecy – proclaiming God’s truth; foretelling;
leading to “strengthening, encouragement and
comfort” (14:3)
• Distinguishing of spirits – to discern the source
• Tongues – ability to speak in different kinds of
languages
• Interpretation of Tongues – ability to make
indistinguishable speech useful for the Church
ICEL
More Gifts!
• This isn’t an exhaustive list.
• Other gifts are mentioned in Scripture.
• Evangelism, Exhortation, Shepherding
• Music (Eph. 5:18-19), Craftsmanship (Ex 31:1-5)
• Service, Giving, Martyrdom, etc.
• These gifts are linked together in the Body of
Christ
ICEL
Scripture text:
12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.
13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body.
1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (1)1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (1)
ICEL
Scripture text:
16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (2)1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (2)
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Scripture text:
19 If they were all one part, where would the body be?
20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”
22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts
1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (3)1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (3)
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Scripture text:
that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,
24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given honor to the parts that lacked it,
25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (4)1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (4)
ICEL
Unity Among Diversity
• All the parts form one body.
• No part is unnecessary; every gift is important.
• No one gift is given to every believer.
• Otherwise, we would all be eyes.
• We couldn’t hear or smell.
• Without all the parts (i.e. gifts) we wouldn’t have
a body.
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Unity Among Diversity (2)
• God arranges the parts “as he wanted them
to be” (18).
• He made the quieter gifts (e.g. intercession,
helps, giving) to be “indispensable” (22).
• He gave special honor to those parts that we
think are less honorable (23)
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Unity Among Diversity (3)
• God has combined the members (i.e. gifts) so
that
• there is no division in the body.
• the members have “equal concern for each other.”
• Diversity can cause friction in the Church.
• But diversity is a powerful witness to the world.
ICEL
Scripture text:
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
1 Corinthians 12:27-31 (1)1 Corinthians 12:27-31 (1)
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Scripture text:
30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
And now I will show you the most excellent way…
1 Corinthians 12:27-31 (2)1 Corinthians 12:27-31 (2)
ICEL
Making This Practical
• God have given each of us different spiritual
gifts.
• There is no one gift that every Christian must
have (e.g. tongues, evangelism, miracles)
• Paul makes that clear with the series of questions in
verses 29 and 30, where he uses the Greek particle
me rather than ou.
• This implies that the answer to each question is “No.”
ICEL
The Better Way
• Love
• “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does
not boast, it is not proud…” (1 Cor 13:4)
• Love is mentioned in the context of spiritual gifts in
the New Testament (Rom 12:4-13; Eph 4:1-16; 1
Peter 4:7-11).
• Each member cares for the other member; suffers
with them; rejoices with them.
ICEL
Assessing Your Gifts
• Are they effective?
• If a teacher is consistently wrong or a healer
can’t consistently heal, then you should
question if they have those gifts.
• Do they promote unity in the body?
• Do you receive joy while exercising that
gift?
ICEL
Why Do You Come to Church?
• Is your focus on receiving?
• Are you just a consumer?
• Or do you come to see what you can give
or do for others?
• Have you come to serve today?
ICEL
Scripture text:
28 “…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:28Matthew 20:28