Sermon Text:
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
The church is many things…but one of the most important is that it is filled with the Holy Spirit, enabling God’s people to serve Him and bring the Gospel to the world!
Sermon Transcript:
(transcribed with AI)
If you knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that you were placed on this planet for a very specific reason. I mean, if you knew that your life was not just some accident of nature, but part of a divine master plan. Would that affect how you looked at life? Would it influence how you used your time and your energy? Would you set off on a quest to discover your mission and your purpose and to do whatever it took to fulfill it. Because deep down inside you realized it's in fulfilling that divinely ordained mission, that your life is gonna find purpose. It's gonna find joy, it's gonna find meaning.
My name is Rich Kopanke. I'm a member, an elder here at Promontory. And I'm here this morning to tell you that God has indeed ordained a very specific mission and purpose for your life. You're not on this planet by accident. Your goal is not just to get through your years here on Earth with the least amount of pain and the most amount of pleasure.
King David, way back in Psalm 139, tells us that God knew every one of your days before one of them came into being. God has had his eye on you for a long, long time. The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 2, my favorite verses, that you were created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for you to do. Even before you came on the scene, God had already set in motion a plan that would allow you to make an eternal difference in your world. And in your heart and soul. You know what I'm talking about. You know that God's wired you to serve him and others. That's why you're here this morning. You could be out on the beach, you could be sleeping in, but you have a relationship with God. You've stepped across that line of faith, you put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and now you want to use your life well. And use it for him.
And the exciting thing that we're gonna discover this morning as we get into God's word is that one of the ways that this happens is through the church. It involves God giving us everything that we need to get the job done.
Now, last week, Pastor Jonathan began our new series, a series entitled The Church Is. And each week we fill in the blank, what is the church? The series itself wrestles with questions about what is church and even why should I even care about that question? Today we're going to discover that the church is filled with the Holy Spirit. And as we unpack that truth, we're going to see why this is so important for you and me. As well as why we as a church need this to accomplish what he has for us to do.
Now, we're gonna do this as we turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and if you're able, please stand. We're gonna honor God's word by doing that. We're gonna read first the first seven verses of chapter 12 in 1 Corinthians, and as we do that, I'm gonna encourage you to do something. Be on the lookout for what Paul is saying to us about the Holy Spirit and what the Holy Spirit does in our lives and in our church. Kind of be looking for that as we read though.
We begin in verse one:
"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the spirit of God ever says, Jesus is cursed, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit. And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord, and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good."
Please be seated. Thank you.
As God makes you aware of some of the details of his divine mission for your life. Maybe by opening doors for you to be able to share the gospel message with and bring his love into the lives of those that are around you or as God puts it on your heart to pray for others, your kids, your friends, your nation, conducting spiritual warfare on their behalf, standing in the gap for others. Or maybe as God challenges us as a church to do God-sized things in our community, caring and providing for those in need and presenting Jesus to those who have never had a chance to encounter him and reaching beyond our own means to bless families and strengthen marriages and present Jesus to our neighbors.
As that begins to happen in our lives, if that happens in our church, it doesn't take long for us to realize we don't have what it takes to pull all that off. That's true for us personally, as the Holy Spirit nudges your heart to show mercy and kindness to someone who doesn't deserve it. I mean, me, be kind to them? Please. Or as God challenges us to speak boldly about Jesus to a friend. I know he doesn't want to hear. He's gonna get mad at me if I say anything about Jesus. I can't. Or God puts on our hearts to be encouraging to someone that's struggling. And we really just want to tell them just pull yourself up by the bootstraps and get over it. I know that's not the right counsel. You know, we feel sometimes we just can't do it.
It's also true of our church. Here at Promontory, we don't have what it takes. We need the Holy Spirit if we're going to powerfully impact our community for Christ and help those that are growing to continue to grow in their faith. And that's why Paul begins here in verse one, and he says, "concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I might add, I do not want you to be uninformed." You know, despite what some people say, ignorance is not bliss. What you don't know can rob you of God's best for your life. And that's why the topic that Paul begins here in chapter 12 is of such vital importance for us and for the church. He devotes 3 whole chapters to teaching about it. Apostle Paul knows that our understanding and usage of spiritual gifts will mean the difference between success and failure in getting the job done in fulfilling his agenda for our lives in church.
Seeing lives change through the power of God's love and forgiveness simply is not gonna happen. Our family and friends will not become believers. Baby Christians will not grow up. Struggling marriages will not become restored. Discouraged, broken down people will not be lifted up. All these dreams, all these desires that are in our hearts simply will not become reality if we do not understand and do not act on the reason why God has given us spiritual gifts and told us how to use them.
"Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed." Maybe we need to pause for a minute. Maybe answer questions some of you might be asking right now in your heads. I mean, what is Paul talking about here? I mean, spiritual gifts. What are those? I never got one of those under my Christmas tree.
And we're gonna discover that spiritual gifts are abilities which are given to us by the Holy Spirit because of his love for us. You know, there's over 20 of them listed at various places in the New Testament of the Bible. Here in 1 Corinthians 12, we're gonna talk later about wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, interpretation. You flip over to Romans 12 and you read about serving and teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership, mercy. You go to Ephesians chapter 4 and you read about apostles, pastors, evangelists. And none of these are exhaustive lists. Give us a hint that there are many different ways that God's spirit gives his children to help them to accomplish his agenda.
And all these are given to us by the Holy Spirit because God wants us to succeed in life. To be everything that he has put us on this planet to be. Spiritual gifts are given to equip and to enable us to fulfill God's purposes for our lives and for our church, and as such they are more than natural abilities and talents, the kind of things that you learn at school or you just that's who you were since you were a little kid. You could put things together with your eyes closed, whatever. They enable us to go beyond what's possible in just our own abilities. As we serve God, one person likens spiritual gifts to power tools instead of hand tools.
I took up carpentry when I was younger and I went for the power tools. I know how much more work it is to try to saw with a saw and all that, the drill with one of those things and all that type of thing. Spiritual gifts help us to accomplish things in a greater way.
You know, let me explain why that's important. Here at Promontory, we believe that God has a purpose for us. He's called us as a church. He's called us as individual believers to do things which honestly are gonna go way beyond what we can do by ourselves and in our own strength. And the reason that's okay is because God not only tells us to do these things. He gives us the resources. He gives us the abilities necessary to get the job done. And part of those resources and abilities are spiritual gifts, gifts given by God only to Christians by the Holy Spirit.
One pastor likened spiritual gifts to the sweet spot that some athletes talk about with golf or tennis or baseball. It's that special spot on the club or the racket or the bat that maximizes the effect that you have when you hit the ball. Sports pros know how to use that sweet spot, and to their benefit, it raises their level of play above that of other players. And that's the same when we function in the area of spiritual gifts. Our service to God and others is that much more effective. We are able to do more and be better at what we do than when we do things in our own strength, trying it all by ourselves.
Are you starting to see why Paul doesn't want his friends to be ignorant about this powerful source of divine help? Well let's go on. Let's learn more about spiritual gifts and how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. Read verses 2 and 3:
"You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the spirit of God ever says Jesus is accursed. And no one can say Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit."
Friends, the purpose of God's spirit working in our lives is to bring glory to God. You will never hear someone speak against God while under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Everything the Holy Spirit does in our world and through us will point people to Jesus. Will help your kids, your neighbors, your spouse, whomever, to see how great God is, that he is Lord, that he is king, that he's in control.
It's the same here at the church. In fact, here's the test whether our ministry here at Promontory is really blessed and empowered by the Holy Spirit, or whether it's just the result of all of our own frantic human efforts. Growing attendance. The popularity of the preacher, the great musical skills of our worship team. Those are not the way you determine whether we're using spiritual gifts because any or all of those things could happen for other reasons. God doesn't even have to be in the picture for them to happen.
The measure of whether we are in step with God's spirit, whether you and I are serving in the realm of His power and gifting in our lives, that measure is found in answering questions. Is Jesus Christ Lord of everything that we say and do. Does the preaching that we hear here on Sundays point us to him? Do the songs that we sing reflect his glory and remind us of His love. Do people walk out of here at the end of the service, talking about how great God is? Are our kids learning to love and trust their Savior? When we get together to pray, do our prayers reflect confidence in God's power and faithfulness? When our church leaders meet, do they actively seek to discern God's will about what we're trying to do?
Spiritual gifts are given in order to bring glory to God. They're meant to help us and help others see how great and how good God is, that he is Lord and that we can trust and serve Him.
So I guess let's have a reality check. Is that happening? Do you see that in our church? Do you see that in your life?
And then we go on. The Holy Spirit is the one who orchestrates the giving of spiritual gifts. Look at verses 4 to 6:
"There are many different kinds of gifts, but the same spirit distributes them. There are many different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are many different kinds of working, but in all of them and in every one, it is the same God at work."
And then jumping down to verse 11:
"All these are empowered by one and the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills."
Do you notice who takes front and center here? The Holy Spirit, the third person in the Trinity. He knows what needs to happen for us to accomplish God's agenda for our lives. What we need in order to get the job done. The Holy Spirit, God Himself knows the kind of needs that we're going to encounter in our church, in our family, at work, at school. He knows about that parent that we're gonna come across who is looking for help in keeping his kids from going off the deep end and needs someone to come alongside him and pray for him. He knows that senior that you're gonna meet this week who's facing life alone after the death of their spouse and needs someone to bring encouragement to their life. He knows those refugees who are looking for friendship in a new country and who need the hospitality of being invited into our homes. Or those teens and twenty-somethings who are trying to make sense out of this world and need to find some wise counsel, or that young man who's struggling with depression and needs a listening ear and a caring heart. With a young mom who doesn't know how much longer she can balance all the demands of her life and needs compassion and understanding.
The Holy Spirit knows the kind of needs that you will face. The Holy Spirit, God Himself knows the dreams that he's put in your heart to serve him and others. He knows all this. And he is the one who gives you the gifts and abilities that you need to accomplish these things, to take advantage of these opportunities.
And friends, the reason that's true is because our God is not a god of frustration. God doesn't open doors of opportunities for us as a church. God doesn't bring people into our lives, a new neighbor, a new kid at school, whatever with needs and give us dreams about how we can help that person. And then say, well, good luck, buddy. I mean, I hope you can do something about that because you're on your own. No. When God gives us dreams and opportunities. He also gives us what it takes to accomplish it. That's true for us as individual Christ followers. That's also true for us as Promontory church. The Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts so we can be the church that he's called us to be.
Look at verse 7:
"Now to each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good."
Let's break that down. Three things we need to see. First, spiritual gifts are a display of God working in your life. That word manifestation talks about showing God's presence in your life and how he's enabling you to do something. When you're using your spiritual gifts to teach a Sunday school class or counsel a discouraged person or show hospitality to a lonely neighbor or serve on the worship team or give generously to the work of the church, you are actually exhibiting God's spirit working through you. This is why spiritual gifts allow us to do more and better than we could have done by ourselves. It's not just us trying to do it all. It's God's spirit working through us. And that's also why God gets the credit when good things happen as a result. To each is given the manifestation of the spirit, God showing himself through us.
Second, We have all been given at least one spiritual gift. Did you notice that in that verse? Paul says to each one. If you are a Christian believer this morning. Then you need to realize God has gifted you. I mean, now whether you understand what that gift is, whether you unwrap that gift and are using it in your life and here at the church, that's another story. In fact, many churches suffer because God's people aren't aware or aren't using their spiritual gifts. The gifts that God has given his kids, the abilities that we have can be wasted through neglect or unwillingness to serve. And that we all lose out.
And then 3rd, these abilities are given to us for the common good. In other words, the Holy Spirit doesn't empower us in order to bring us glory or make us feel important or place us above other people. These abilities are given so that we can help and bless others. And we all benefit when each person uses those gifts.
Let's maybe just take a breath. We've come a long way and thank you for hanging in there on this. But now we've got to ask the question, and it's just a two-word question really. It's a question, so what? We've talked about spiritual gifts. We've seen Paul writing about it here, telling us these things about how the Holy Spirit works in our lives and in our church. But what are we supposed to do? What are we supposed to do with this?
And the answer is that we must prayerfully consider what our spiritual gifts are and how God wants to use them. We gotta make this personal in our lives, not just talk about this thing out there, the spiritual gifts, but talk about what God is doing in our lives and what we're supposed to do as a result. I mean, to start talking about that, let's look at these gifts.
Look at verse 8:
"For to one is given through the spirit, the utterance of wisdom. To another the utterance of knowledge through the same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one spirit to another the working of miracles to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues."
Pretty impressive list, isn't it? By the way, later on in chapter 12, Paul's gonna make note that not everybody has all the gifts. And I admit some of these gifts that we just read, they might sound a little strange to you. Maybe you're kinda scratching your head at this point and you've never seen this kind of stuff in action. So let's think about some scenarios where these spiritual gifts and others that Paul lists elsewhere, could be used by God to help individuals in the church.
Let's talk first about wisdom. That word wisdom talks about a whole lot more than just knowing facts and figures. Wisdom involves maturity. It involves insight, discernment, understanding. And my experience has been that in every church that I have served over the past 40 years, that there are those that God has gifted within the church with great wisdom. I mean, they may not have a university degree. But I've seen other people seek those folks out when they're wrestling with some issue or a struggle or when they're trying to understand what God is doing or when trying to just make sense out of our world. And they're sought out for their advice and insight because others see this gift that God has given them. Has God given you that gift?
Or maybe God has given you a message of knowledge, and what in the world is that? And now we're getting this in the area of spiritual gifts that for some people, we are way out there. Knowledge here isn't referring to being smart or getting straight A's at school. The spiritual gift of knowledge often involves God giving a person a supernatural insight about some situation. Often involving facts that aren't known by others. In fact, a common question would be how do they know that? And the answer is God told them. You want examples of that? Just turn to the Bible. Acts chapter 5. Ananias and his wife Sapphira are trying to pull a fast one over on the church. The Holy Spirit shows Peter what's really going on behind the scenes.
Then we read:
"to another is given faith by the same spirit."
You know, guys, every one of us needs to have faith in God. Scripture tells us that it's through faith that we're saved from our sin in the first place. But there are some people whom God has gifted with an extra abundance, taking faith to the next level. And we need men and women who can exercise great faith in claiming God's promises and following his leading even when the situation seems hopeless. Your faith in that point becomes encouragement to the rest of us to continue clinging to God's promises. You know, I thank God for those of you who had the faith to start this church in 2017. Believing that God would bless your work as you were obedient to Him.
The next gift that Paul talks about raises eyebrows and comes along with a lot of hype and misunderstanding.
"To another gifts of healing by the one spirit."
You know, God heals. God still heals supernaturally in our world today. Sure, oftentimes he uses doctors and medicine, nothing wrong with going to see your doctor. And yet at times God does it in ways that leaves doctors dumbfounded with no scientific explanation for what just happened. And sometimes God chooses to work in supernatural healing through the ministry of a person. I mean, that person is not the healer, but rather the means by which God brings healing.
And then we read of the gift of miraculous powers. I mean, sounds like we're really going off the wagon here. The word in the Greek here for power speaks in English of dynamite. What we're talking about is God's power at work, upending the normal laws of physics and nature. Want some examples? Think back to Scripture where the Red Sea was split wide open. Or Lazarus was raised from the dead. Or 5000 people had an awesome lunch from one boy's lunch. And again, Sometimes God chooses to do these things through a person. Throughout the centuries, healings and other miracles have been used by God to open the doors in totally closed areas, so they can, people can respond to God's love. These gifts, these miracles, these healings serve as a sign to give credibility to the gospel's message.
Now, let's again pause for a minute. I realize that some of what we just talked about, I mean, really seems so out there. That maybe your inclination is to just write it off. Me? Do miracles? I mean, me to be used to heal people. Miraculous powers. I doubt that's ever gonna happen in my life. Forget it, buddy. But you know, there are also many spiritual gifts that align quite naturally with our daily lives. And sometimes we don't even realize that God has gifted us.
Maybe God has gifted you with a special sensitivity. You have an insight, you have a concern for other people. I mean, I know we all need to care for others, I mean that's just part of being a Christian is that we care and love our neighbor. But you seem to have an extraordinary ability to reach out to those who are discouraged, to those who are struggling and hurting, and it's like you've got this radar that picks up on their feelings and you know what to say, what to do, and you find real joy in doing it. And people tend to tell you afterwards how much you help them. You know, in Romans 12, we're told that encouragement is a spiritual gift. And as a spiritual gift that goes beyond our normal responsibility, we all have to encourage others. Many of you have been helped by someone along the way who used this gift and reached into your life when you were struggling. And if this is one of the gifts that God has given you. Then use it. Look for ways that you can put that into practice.
Or what about the gift of leadership? Influence is what some people call it. What you say goes a long way. People respect your thoughts and opinions. You're able to walk into a situation, see what needs to be done. You know how to organize and motivate people. In Romans 12, Paul tells us if a man's gift is leadership, let him govern diligently. We as a church need gifted leaders, people who can discern issues who know how to wrestle through problems, men and women who can set the pace for the rest of us, teens who can influence their friends to go the right way. If God has given you that gift. If it's been recognized in you and affirmed by others, don't shirk that responsibility. God has equipped you in this area for a reason.
And then we read about a gift. It doesn't really sound like much of a gift. It's called serving. Romans 12, Paul says, of a man's gift of serving, let him serve. I mean, maybe you're a person that doesn't like to be up front and center. I mean, you cringe, your knees shake at the thought of standing up in front of people. But when it comes to driving a senior citizen to a doctor's appointment, or babysitting for a tired young mom, or helping to set up and take down all the chairs and the platform each Sunday morning. That's where you really shine. You don't mind it, you don't have to be forced to do it. It's not drudgery, it's a joy for you to serve. Let me tell you, God is using you. And very likely he has given you a special gift in that area to see what needs to be done and just jump in there and do it. You have the gift of helping, of serving. And as you use it, you become mature in your faith. And we as a church become stronger.
And then, we read about a gift called mercy. And again, we all should be merciful to others, forgiving, patient, going the second mile and overlooking failures and encouraging the best in people. And yet I've encountered and you probably have encountered as well. There are some people who seem to be able to go the 3rd mile, not just the 2nd or even the 4th mile, giving somebody a chance and another chance in a seemingly hopeless situation where they don't deserve another chance. And if that's you, You are probably exhibiting a gift of mercy. Paul instructs us in Romans 12, if your gift is showing mercy, do it cheerfully.
You know, we could go on discussing that whole list of twenty-something spiritual gifts and how to use them to help others and build the church. I mean, it's vital we understand this. The Holy Spirit is giving us tools that we need to accomplish the purposes that he has put within our hearts and to help us to be the church that he has called us to be. So my question: Are you using the tools?
Bud Wilkinson was a former football coach for the University of Oklahoma. And one day he was asked. What is the contribution of modern football to physical fitness? His answer surprised many. He said absolutely nothing. In football, you've got 22 men on the field desperately in need of rest, and 40,000 people in the bleachers who desperately need exercise.
Guys, Here at Promontory, we don't wanna be like that. God has some god-sized plans for our lives and our church. God has gifted you and you and you, each one of us, so we can serve others and accomplish his agenda. But now it's our job to figure out what those gifts are and to put them in practice here at Promontory and as well as in the world that we live in every day.
I encourage you to start exploring what your spiritual gifts might be and how you can use them. I encourage you to read about what Paul has to say in 1 Corinthians 12-14 and Romans 12. Spend some time praying about it, inviting God to show you how he's wired you and what you can do with that. Now, I'll be traveling this next while, but when Pastor Jonathan gets back in a little over a week, I encourage you if you're searching in this area and you need some guidance, give him a shout. Talk with him about this.
We were meant for so much more than just to get by as Christians and wait for heaven. God has a purpose for each one of our lives as well as for our church. He has given us the tools that we need to accomplish it. But now we've got to ask the question or answer the question, what are we gonna do about it?
Let's pray about that. Lord I thank you for how you are at work in our lives. I thank you first of all, that we didn't come into this world a surprise, that you have a purpose and a plan for us. You have an agenda, good works that you've prepared in advance for us to do. And Lord, within our hearts as your children, it's our desire that we understand that, that we do it. That's why we're here, we want to accomplish things of lasting worth. Lord, part of that is taking advantage of the abilities, the gifts, the spiritual gifts that you've given us. Lord, help us understand this. Help us to begin a quest today that will result in us understanding how you have wired us and what that means for the ways that we can serve others, serve this church and serve you. Lord, go before us in this. Give us wisdom and discernment. Open your scriptures to us. Open our eyes to what is written and help us to be able to take that and respond to it. Thank you, Father, I ask this in Jesus' name.