Gifted to Give

♪♪ ♪ And as the Spirit was moving over the water, ♪ ♪ Spirit, come move over us. ♪ ♪ Come rest on us. Come rest on us. ♪ ♪ As the Spirit was moving over the water, ♪ ♪ Spirit, come move over us. Come rest on us. ♪ ♪ Come rest on us. Come down. ♪ ♪ Spirit, when you move, you make my heart pound. ♪ ♪ When you fill the room, you're here and I know you are moving. ♪ ♪ I'm here and I know you will fill me. ♪ ♪ Come down. Spirit, when you move, you make my heart pound. ♪ ♪ When you fill the room, you're here and I know you are moving. ♪ ♪ I'm here and I know you will fill me. ♪ ♪ Yeah. Come and fill this room. ♪ Come on, church, let praise fill this room. Come on, sing it out. ♪ As the Spirit was moving over the water, ♪ ♪ Spirit, come move over us. Come rest on us. ♪ ♪ Come rest on us. As the Spirit was moving over the waters, ♪ ♪ Spirit, come move over us. Come rest on us. ♪ ♪ Come rest, say fire and wind. Fire and wind, come and do it again. ♪ ♪ Open up the gates, let heaven on in. Come rest on us. ♪ ♪ Come rest, say fire and wind. Fire and wind, come and do it again. ♪ ♪ Open up the gates, let heaven on in. Come rest on us. Come rest on us. ♪ ♪ So come now, Spirit, when you fill the room, you're here and I know you are moving. ♪ ♪ I'm here and I know you will fill me. So come now, Spirit, when you fill my heart, come. ♪ ♪ When you fill me, you're here and I know I am here. ♪ Come on church, an apostle of receiving and surrender, just extend your hands and say, Lord, we know you're here. We're aware of your presence. We declare this with everything we have. Come on, raise your voice.

♪ Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit. ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. ♪ Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit, come rest on us. Holy Spirit, come rest on us. ♪ He's moving in this room, He fills your heart up ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the center of it all ♪ Amen, Holy Spirit, thank you because you are here, God. Thank you because you are moving. We don't wanna lose this moment in your presence, Lord. We're not here for anyone else but you, Jesus. You are the center of it all. We don't have to do anything extravagant or over the top or complicated. You wanna be with us. That's why you sang your son, Jesus. And our response is simply to say, we love you, God. We love you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Maybe we've made this complicated ♪ ♪ More than it was ever meant to be ♪ ♪ Hasn't it always been about the same things ♪ ♪ Lord, bring us back to simple things ♪ ♪ You are the center of it all ♪ ♪ My heart belongs to you, my Savior of it all ♪ ♪ You're the one I hold on to ♪

♪ Lord, the beauty of your name ♪ ♪ My soul will live to say, Jesus, I love you ♪ ♪ Teach us to discern the moment and to serve ♪ ♪ And to sit here at your feet ♪ ♪ Keep us awake to what's important ♪ ♪ Just like Mary chose the better thing ♪ ♪ You are the center of it all ♪ ♪ My heart belongs to you, my Savior of it all ♪ ♪ You're the one I hold on to ♪ ♪ Lord, the beauty of your name ♪ ♪ My soul will live to say, Jesus, I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love you, you, oh ♪ ♪ You are the center of it all ♪ ♪ My heart belongs to you, my Savior of it all ♪ ♪ You're the one I hold on to ♪ ♪ Lord, the beauty of your name ♪ ♪ My soul will live to say, Jesus, I love you ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you, oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love you, oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love you, oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love you, oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ My whole life for your glory, my whole world for you only ♪ ♪ Everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And if my days tell a story, let it be ♪ ♪ Of you only, everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ My whole life for your glory, my whole world for you only ♪ ♪ Everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And if my days tell a story, let it be ♪ ♪ Of you only, everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ My whole life for your glory, my whole world for you only ♪

♪ Everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And if my days tell a story, let it be ♪ ♪ Of you only, everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Be free for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ Oh God for the glory of your name ♪ ♪ For the honor of your name ♪ ♪ I pray that you have a soul within me ♪ ♪ For your honor every day ♪ ♪ For the honor of your name ♪ ♪ I hold the sky for your glory ♪ ♪ I hold the world for your honor every day ♪ ♪ For the honor of your name ♪ ♪ I pray that you have a soul within me ♪ ♪ For your honor every day ♪ ♪ For the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ You are the center of it all ♪ ♪ My heart belongs to you my savior all in all ♪ ♪ All in all you're the one I hold on to ♪

♪ For the beauty of your name my soul will live to say ♪ ♪ Jesus I love you my soul will live to say ♪ ♪ Jesus I love you my soul will live to say ♪ ♪ My soul will live to say Jesus I love you yeah ♪ We love you. I know our words aren't always enough. Our life sometimes doesn't show you just how grateful we are for how good you are. But Lord, with all of who we are, as imperfect as we are, we say you are worthy. You are worthy. Lord Jesus, you are worthy. Church family, we're gonna continue on in worship. We're gonna move from worshiping with our songs of praise to worshiping through opening up his word and reading and responding to it. Before we do that, we're gonna tell him we love him through worshiping through our giving. Listen, if you're a guest here today, this part of our worship is so important. Let me share with everyone here why. We give to God because it grows our faith. This isn't just simply fund the things that the church does. We give because it grows our faith. It helps us to trust that he is our provider and no one else, amen? We give because it guards our heart because we live in a culture where it's saying, have more and more and more and generosity. It breaks the grip of greed in our lives.

And we also give because it gives other people an opportunity to experience Jesus. All the generosity of the people of God makes all of this possible. So if giving is part of your worship today, I wanna say thank you so much for your continued generosity. There's several ways that you can participate in that, our service guys are gonna be passing down some buckets, there's a giving box in the back and a kiosk in the lobby. Many of you automate what is important to you. As we remember that God says, don't give out of compulsion, don't give out of guilt, don't do that. No, give out of a cheerful heart. We must decide what we're gonna do. And let me give you one way that all of us can take a first step in our giving to God. On your way out, there's a box, it's always there. It says, change for a dollar. And we believe as a church, we're just foolish enough to believe. that if we just bring a dollar, that God can bring incredible change with that. And at the end of every month, we take that money that was given through Change for a Dollar, and a hundred percent of it goes to take care of a need of someone who's hurting, or someone who needs help, right here in our church familia. We got an email from someone who received this Change for a Dollar blessing. And I want to read it. It says, the Change for a Dollar may have seemed like a small thing, but to me it was so much more. It was a beautiful reminder that God sees every need, no matter how big or how small, and that He often answers our prayers through the faithfulness and the compassion of His

people, the church. She continues on, thank you for allowing the Lord to use you to bless my daughter and me during this difficult season. Your generosity has lifted a burden from my shoulders and strengthened my faith that Jehovah-Jireh, my provider, is always faithful. She says, I will never forget your kindness. Please know that I don't take your gift lightly. I'm praying that the Lord blesses you abundantly for your obedience, multiplies every seed that you sow, and continues to use you to be a blessing for so many others. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart. Church Familia, and that blessing she gave, I'm doubling down on. This is why we do what we do. To every person who has given or continues to give, thank you for your generosity. Now today we're actually gonna be talking about gifts. Gifts that God wants us to give away. But before we talk about the gifts that He's given to us and He wants us to give out, we have to remember what He's given to us. As you walked in today, you should have received the elements for the Lord's Supper. If you have that, would you just take it out right now? And if you don't, go ahead and raise your hand. Our service guides would love to put one of these in your hand. We're gonna be reading from 1 Corinthians chapter 12 today, but in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul reminds us of this Last Supper, this final meal with his friends. We have some hands up here in the front. They're coming. And on that day, moments before he would die on the cross for our sins, Jesus with His disciples and His friends, He held up unleavened bread. And He says, this represents my body. This isn't His body. It's a symbol of His body. He says, this represents my body that will be broken for you. He says, as often as you take of it, He says, do it in remembrance of me. Let's remember His body that was broken, that was pierced for our iniquities, that was bruised for our transgressions, that by His stripes, we are healed. Let's remember Him right now. And then Jesus, He held up the fruit of the vine. He says, this represents my blood. Again, we're not drinking the blood of Jesus. It represents, it's a symbol, He says, of my blood that will be spilled. The blood of a new covenant, of a new promise, of a new reality, that we are forgiven, that we are friends, that we

have a home forever in heaven. He says, as often as you drink of it, He says, do it in remembrance of me. Let's remember the blood that Jesus spilled that makes us white as snow. What we just partook in. This is the precursor of everything we're going to be talking about today. Before we give anything to God or to others, we give because He first gave. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. We can love Him because He first loved us. And God who so loved us and gave His Son, His Son gave us His Spirit. Before we give anything to God, He gave Himself. Before we open up our hands and saying, here's what I have Lord, use me. He opened up His hands, willingly and died and rose again for the forgiveness of our sin, for eternal life. Today, He wants us to remember that. Father, we're so grateful for all that You've done for us, for what that means for us and our future and our eternity, and also what it means as we're walking here on earth. As we open up Your Word, I pray You would open up our minds, that our hearts would be open to be fertile soil so that whatever it is that You want for us to hear and to move upon, God, that You would put faith through our feet and confidence in our heart, Lord, that You are here. that You are for us, that You never leave us, Lord, and that You want to work through our lives. Let Your will be done in this place, in our lives, in our family, in this church on earth, as it is in heaven. In Jesus' name, we thank You, and we pray, and all the people of God who love them said, you may have a seat. You may have a seat. I'm Eric. I'm one of the pastors here. It is my privilege to be able to teach today. The scripture we're going to be reading from is 1 Corinthians chapter 12. You can follow along on the screen or in your Bibles. This is the Word of God. It says, Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 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 and everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. This is what we're going to be talking about today. When my daughter Emma, when she was a little girl, there came a moment where she came to me in the kitchen and said, Dad, can I help you cook? Here's what she meant by help. She meant stand on a stool and hold a whisk while she just repeats

all the things that I'm doing. You're chopping the onion right now. Yes, babe, that's what I'm doing. Okay, now you're putting butter in the pan. Yeah, that's what I'm doing. Now you put it in the pan. That's what I'm... Thank you, babe. Thank you. Now if you've ever had a kid cook with you, you know that you can cook a whole lot faster if they're not helping, right? You know that you could cook a whole lot cleaner if they're not there by your sides. But my goal wasn't efficiency. My goal was family. To be next to my daughter and to show her how to do something. I think a lot of us, we think of God in the wrong way and we misunderstand His church because of that. For a lot of people, our idea is that God primarily uses certain people, the pastors, the preachers, the paid staff, the singers on the stage, that God uses those people to do the real work while the rest of the people just stand on a stool holding a whisk watching everything happen. And Paul, Paul dismantles that in the passage we just read. Paul paints this picture that God did not create His church where only a select few people do the work. No, God created His church as a family where the Holy Spirit works through everyone. Today we're continuing this teaching series we've titled Overflow. And last week we learned that the Holy Spirit, He isn't an experience for us to chase. He's a person to know. He lives with us. He lives in us. And we painted this picture that overflow, the overflow of the Spirit of God is that our life is so full of His goodness, so full of the things of God and the Spirit of God that it begins to spill out and pour over to the people around us, to the places that we are in. This is what God wants for us. And today Paul shows us one of the primary ways that God does it through us, through spiritual gifts. As we talk about the Holy Spirit today, I want to remind you that He lives in you, but church, He also wants to work through you. He doesn't just comfort you. Thank God He comforts us, but He also calls you. His presence is personal, but His presence is also very powerful. He strengthens you and He sends you. The Holy Spirit didn't move into your life just so you can experience more of God. Yes, that's why He moved into your life. Praise God that we can experience the fullness of God because the Spirit of God lives inside of us. Amen. But He didn't move in just so we can experience more of God. Listen to this. He, He lives within us so other people can experience God through us. That's what we're going to talk about today. Paul, he's writing to a church in Corinth. They've gotten this completely backwards. They had taken the spiritual gifts that the Spirit gave, and from that they created spiritual status. Certain gifts were celebrated and, and, and, and praised, while others were overlooked. And church, listen. If we're not careful, we can walk in the same

error as this church in Corinth did. If we're not careful, we can pay more attention to how, how good the singer sang, and wow, that singer's so gifted, and we forget that there's people in the back praying right now for every person in this room. We can pay more attention. Pay attention to the preacher. Oh wow, what a good message they spoke today. And we overlook the person who's serving and local kids right now. So mom and dad can can hear the Word of God. Three things that I want us to understand. Three truths from Scripture. Three things that I believe the Holy Spirit, like he did in Corinth, wants to correct in us. The first one is this. Write this down. The Holy Spirit gives a variety of spiritual gifts. That's the truth I want us to understand. He gives a variety of spiritual gifts. Listen how Paul begins again. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. Varieties of service, but the same Lord. Varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all and everyone. Three different verses, three different times. Paul essentially says different, different, different, different gifts, different ways that God works through people different ways of serving. But three times he also says it's the same God. It's the same Spirit. It's the same Lord working all of it together through his people. First Corinthians 12 11 continues, All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills. So notice, who gives the gifts? Who gives the gifts? The Holy Spirit is the one who gives the gifts away. So if the Holy Spirit is the one who chooses who gets what gifts, here's what that means. Are differences?

They're not deficiencies. We all have been gifted. Differently. Why? Because God is trying to build up something bigger than any one person could build on their own. Write down this truth. God didn't make his church a factory. He made it a family. This isn't a factory. A factory runs well. Why? Because of efficiency. Because it is standardized. The thing that comes out looks just like the thing before. It'll be just like the thing that comes after it. Everything is standardized. That's not how a family works, right? Two different parents, two different personalities, two different likes. Sometimes it makes for conflict, but it always makes for a beautiful marriage because these differences are now coming together to build a new family. Three different kids, three different personalities. That's what a family looks like. It's not standardized. Think about Thanksgiving. If everyone brought the same dish on Thanksgiving, would you say that's unity? Praise God, we're all on the same page. Everyone brought collard greens. No, that would be a terrible Thanksgiving, right?

What happens on Thanksgiving? Someone brings the turkey. Someone brings the stuffing. Someone brings the mac and cheese. Someone brings the dessert. You always have one person who brings something that makes no sense. Why did you bring tacos for Thanksgiving? We're Irish. We talk. What? But what happens? Everybody brings something. So now everyone has something. There's enough for everyone. When we talk about spiritual gifts today, there are four primary lists in the New Testament. They're not in your notes. So I want you to write them down. I want you to research them yourself. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Romans chapter 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4. I'll say it again. You can write them down. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Romans chapter 12, two twelves, 1 Peter chapter 4, and Ephesians chapter 4, two fours. The reason I give that to you is because we're not going to do an exhaustive study of all the gifts that the Spirit gives in the New Testament. That would take an entire sermon series.

But in fact, two years ago, we did a series titled Renew All where we actually went in detail about many of the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives. And so if you're interested in that, read those passages. Go look back about two years on our app or our website. The title is Renew All. You can find it on YouTube as well. Today, what I simply want to do is paint a picture. Show us that God uses us in ways that many of us don't expect, that don't realize yet. Now before we define what spiritual gifts are, I want to do some correction. Because I think a lot of us, especially those of us who've grown up in the church, we have these ideas about spiritual gifts that the Bible does not say. And so I want to bring some correction. The first one is this. Write this down. Spiritual gifts are not simply natural talents. They're not simply natural talents. You can be... Be naturally talented at something that doesn't necessarily, or automatically, make it a spiritual gift. Now God can absolutely take your natural talents and use them, but that's not what a spiritual gift is. A spiritual gift is what God does through you. Take for instance, you may know somebody who sings really well. That doesn't mean that they can lead people into worship, right? We've all met someone who's very persuasive in their speech. Maybe a salesman of some sort. Maybe they can articulate their ideas and communicate very efficiently. That doesn't mean that they can teach God's Word to the understanding of God's people.

Talents impress people, but spiritual gifts, they build people up. They're not simply natural talents. Second thing I want you to get is that spiritual gifts, they're not reserved for special Christians. Maybe you grew up with this idea that God has a select few that He especially uses, and the other people, no, they're just spectators. No, God does not give spiritual gifts only reserved to special Christians. 1 Corinthians 12, 7 continues. It says, To each, say each, each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 1 Peter 4, 10 mirrors this. It says, As each, say each, has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. God gives a variety of these spiritual gifts. To who? To the pastors? The platform people? The people who pray the loudest or have been Christian the longest? Who does He give these gifts to? Each. Each of us. Turn to your neighbor. Look them in the eyes. Look them in the eyes with love. Tell them, you're gifted. To each of us, we're all gifted. Now you may not know what your gift is yet. That's understandable. We'll talk about that. You may not have developed your gifts quite yet. I get that. But undiscovered does not mean ungifted. We are all gifted. Third thing I want you to write down is this. Spiritual gifts are not evidence that somebody is spiritually mature. This one's important because a lot of times we can see someone operating in a very visual gift. And automatically assume they must be real close to God. No.

Gifts are given to every believer. Just because you have been gifted doesn't mean you are mature. If gifts were the sign of maturity, then this church in Corinth would have been the healthiest church in the New Testament. Because Paul says, there's gifts galore! But you know what Paul also says to them in this letter? He says, you're immature. You're immature. Hear this. You can be gifted and you are gifted, Christian. And still be immature. You can be gifted and you are gifted, Christian. And still need correction. Amen? This one's important. You can be gifted and you are gifted, child of God. And still be a mean jerk. Trust me. Anyone know a Christian that is a mean jerk? I didn't say raise your hand. Oh, you're so quick. There is no special Christians. All of us are gifted. And if you are a mean jerk, doesn't mean you're mature. Don't confuse spiritual gifts. With spiritual fruit. We'll talk more about this in upcoming weeks. But spiritual gifts is what the Spirit of God works through you. Spiritual gifts is what the Spirit of God works in you. Here's what I want you to understand today though. God, God wants both.

God wants spiritual fruit and God wants spiritual gifts. I want his power working in me and I want his power working through my life. I want my character to be formed and I want to be used by him. And I don't want to be impressive in public, but in private, I'm immature. We need both. Amen? So here's what a spiritual gift is. I wrote this down, this definition, the simplest way I can to explain it comprehensively. Write this down. Spiritual gift is a... Supernatural way the Holy Spirit works through you to help someone else. That's what it is. A spiritual gift is a supernatural way the Holy Spirit works through you. Why? To help somebody else. That's what it is. The source is the Spirit. The Spirit works through your life supernaturally and the goal is to help somebody else. Now, when I say supernaturally, I see some of your faces, you get a little bit scared. What kind of a church is this? Why are we talking about supernatural things? Supernatural doesn't have to mean strange. Supernaturally, just simply defined, I am operating from a source of power that is not natural to me. It is not my own. Oftentimes, supernatural things, they look dramatic,

but I'm telling you, far more times, the supernatural is actually quite ordinary. Some of us, when we hear spiritual gifts and we hear supernatural, we think of these gifts like prophecy, speaking in tongues, healing the sick, miracles. Those are supernatural gifts. But those same gifts are listed beside gifts like mercy, generosity, leadership, hospitality. And what you need to know is all of them are supernatural. He's a source, the Spirit is a source. Therefore, they're supernatural. Again, we have the tendency to think that like, healing is supernatural, but mercy, mercy's ordinary. Prophecy, prophecy is supernatural, but encouragement, that's just someone being nice. Speaking in tongues, that is supernatural. But generosity, that's just writing a check. If the Spirit is the source, all of it is supernatural. If the Holy Spirit gives someone compassion beyond their own ability and experience in a season where not everything is working out, but gives them compassion to help somebody else, that is supernatural, amen? If the Holy Spirit convicts somebody to write a check in the right amount to a person with the exact need, that is supernatural. You know what else is supernatural? Someone who works 50 hours a week and then wakes up early on a Sunday morning

to go serve children and local kids, to teach them about Jesus on their level. You can't tell me that serving little kids early on a Sunday morning is not supernatural. I don't have the strength to do that, amen? If the Spirit is the source, then our ordinary obedience becomes supernatural ministry. Different gifts don't mean different levels of God's gifting, it just simply means different expressions of God through your life. The Holy Spirit, He created a variety of gifts and what we've done is we've created a hierarchy of these gifts, but I wanna make it clear, that's not who we are, church. There is no varsity Holy Spirit and JV Holy Spirit. This isn't only a select few get the real gift, this is a select few get the real gifts and the rest of them, they get the leftovers. We're all gifted, we're all gifted. Write this down, visibility doesn't determine the value of your gift. Don't believe that lie that if people don't see it, God isn't behind it. Some gifts happen on stage, sure. A lot more gifts happen in the hallway. A lot more gifts happen in a text message that no one else will see. Our obedience that seems ordinary is supernatural ministry when we surrender what we have to the Holy Spirit.

Second big idea, big truth I want you to write down is the Holy Spirit empowers every believer. He doesn't just fill you, he doesn't just gift you, he empowers you, he empowers every believer. Paul continues in verse six, and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them, empowers them all and everyone. That word empowers is a word energeo and it gives this idea. The idea of actively working, he's not just stagnant, he's actively working within you, actively empowering you in every moment. The point is, the Holy Spirit doesn't say, hey, here's a gift, good luck. Debbie, I've gifted you, figure out how to use it. No instruction manual included, sorry. The same spirit that gifts you, gives you the ability and the empowerment to operate in that gift. I think back to my daughter in that kitchen. I didn't ask her to be with me because she had a Michelin star, right? I didn't ask her to be with me because she understood what we were about to cook better than I did. No, I invited her to be with me because I love her. I want her to be beside me, and then I showed her and I gave her something to do. A lot of us, we've been thinking about this backwards. We've been saying, God, when I'm ready, you can use me.

God, when I get it right, when I'm no longer afraid, when I have the time, then you can use me. And God keeps on speaking to us, I never asked you to be enough to figure it all out. No, I simply asked you to be available. Moses, Moses did the same thing. He struggled with this. You remember the burning bush? He sees this bush that's on fire, but not burnt down, and the Spirit of the Lord speaks through it. Moses, I'm calling you to set my people free. What does Moses do when he hears this calling from God? He gives him this resume of all his inadequacies. They don't know who I am. What if they don't listen to me? I'm not wise in my speech, I don't know who I am. I'm not wise in my speech. I have a stutter, I'm slow in my talk. He eventually gets to the place where he tells God, use somebody else, send somebody else, not me. And what does God do? I love what God does. God doesn't try to magically convince him and encourage him. Hey, Moses, you know what, man? You're too hard on yourself. I've heard you talk. You're better than you actually think. No, no, God doesn't do that. God does something better. Exodus 3.12, God says, but I will be with you.

Moses says, I'm not enough, I can't do it. God says, I know, I know you can't, but I will be with you. And if I'm with you, there's nothing you can't do, amen? Some of us, we've confused insecurity and we've called it humility. And we're giving God all these excuses of why we can't do what he's asked us to do. God, I'm not ready. God, I'm not experienced enough. God, I don't have the resources. If God only used people that were ready, the Bible would be 12 pages long. You know, it'd probably be more. It'd be about Jesus, but that's it. He's the only one. God's not waiting for us to be ready. He's waiting for us to be available. Paul learned this personally. Paul begged, said, God, take away this thorn in my side. Take away this thing that I struggle with. God, if you would just free me of this and I can do anything. How does God respond? 2 Corinthians 12, nine. Paul, my grace is sufficient for you. It's all you need. For my power is made perfect in weakness. That's good. I'm still weak, but God's power is perfected in my life. Listen, your weakness doesn't have to be the place

where ministry stops in your life. Surrender to God. Your weakness can be the place where people see the goodness and the power of God greater than any other part of your life. God is not looking for your adequacy. He's simply looking for your availability. He's gifted you. He wants to use you and work through you. So how do we discover how we're gifted? Again, start with Scripture. Read those four lists. 1 Corinthians 12, Romans chapter 12, Ephesians chapter four, 1 Peter chapter four. And as you read those lists, find the things that stick out to you. The thing that makes your heart swell up. Oh, I like this. Oh, I think I have this. Start asking the Holy Spirit, how have you gifted me? Show me what you've placed inside of me. Start paying attention when people that love you. When love the Lord, start saying, hey, when you did that, man, this is what happened to me. This is what I saw in other people's lives. Start trying to pay attention to when you put your hands to something, you feel the breath of God on that, you feel the joy of the Lord in your heart. That may be how he gifted you.

But here's the part that many of us skip over. When you read his word, and you read about those gifts, you ask the Holy Spirit, how have you gifted me? And you get some sort of direction in your heart. Do something with it. Don't just sit on the information. Do something. Serve somewhere. Pray for somebody. Encourage someone. Lead, help, meet a need. Gotta do something. Once a month, we have a class that we call Connect Track. It's the fourth Sunday of every month. And in that, we have a spiritual gifts assessment. You take a little test. You're not graded on it. At the end of it, you see the gifting that God has given you. And it's a great way to help discover the gifts that God has put inside of you. If you've never taken Connect Track, I would encourage you to do so. You learn about who God is, who his spirit is, who Jesus is, what baptism is. Then you discover how God made you and the gifts that he's given you and where that fits and how you can use those gifts to grow his kingdom right here in this church

and in the community that God has placed you in. I encourage you to sign up for Connect Track. But hear this, don't confuse an assessment with the Holy Spirit. Information is helpful. But you eventually have to do something with that information, amen? Information can show you how you're made, but how you're developed is when you do it. That's how we're developed. At some point, we have to pick up the whisk and start stirring it and start doing something. And here's what happens. When you start doing something with what the spirit has given to you, somewhere along the way, you start to realize, wow, I like doing this. Wow, when I do this, other people are affected positively. When I do this, I feel a sense of purpose in and through my life. We have to develop it. Write this down. You don't discover your gifts by staring at yourself. You know what, this big idea can be a Mad Libs. You can fill it in with something else. You don't discover your gift by sitting by yourself. You discover your gift by serving somebody else. You do something to someone, which leads to our last big truth. Write this down.

The Holy Spirit's gifts are for the common good. For the common good. After all this, Paul gives the reason why, verse seven. To each is given the manifestation, the visible expression of the spirit. Why? For the common good. That sentence in itself should shift the way that we think about spiritual gifts. Little spoiler for upcoming weeks. You have the spirit of God. You were baptized in the spirit. God gave you his gift of his spirit when you surrendered your life to him. And if you have the gift of the spirit, you are gifted. Every believer has the spirit of God. And everyone who has the spirit of God has a spiritual gift. But hear this. That gift isn't for you. That's the key. He wrapped up a gift, and he put someone else's name on it, and he says, here. That gift isn't for you. This is why Paul moves immediately from gifts to family. 2 Corinthians 14, he says, for the body doesn't consist of one member, but of many. Verse 21, the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you.

Nor the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nobody gets everything because God designed us to need one another. If I have every gift, I don't need you. If you have every gift, you don't need me. But God. Different gifts to different people in his family, in the body that makes up the church, so that no one person can say, I can do this all on my own. If you're a guest today, I'm so glad that you're here. What I'm about to say is not to you. And if you are familiar here, please hear this. Please say this out of love. If you have been coming to this church for some time, and you've received from this church, and you've been strengthened by this church, and blessed by this church, and you haven't matured past only receiving to giving, something's out of order. I don't say that to guilt people in the serving. No, no, that's not the goal. The goal is to call you to discipleship. I get it. Listen, every person in this room at some point is in a position of need. I came because I was desperate. I came because I didn't know what to do. Everyone in this church at some point in life, we will go through that where we need something,

where we're desperate for God. But a healthy body doesn't have parts that all they do is receive, receive, receive. If you're in that season, I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to the perfect place for imperfect people to experience the presence of God. But God wants to grow you. Not for you to get older, but for you to grow up. And a healthy body is not just consuming spiritual goods. A healthy body is contributing. Everyone is doing their part. And when one person can't do their part, the body compensates for that. But if one part will never do their part, that compensation can lead to exhaustion. And this is where people get frustrated. This is where people give up. This is where people don't operate in how God created them. You know what else contributes to that? Comparison. If I'm constantly looking at the gift that God has given you and say, how come I don't have that? I'm gonna miss what God wants to do through the gift he's given me. If I'm constantly looking at what's in your hands and don't look at what God's placed in my hands, I'll never grow up. He's gifted you. He wants to work through you. And the purpose of that is to give it away. It's to give it away.

My daughter eventually, she didn't just grow up. She got older. She matured. She eventually got to the place where she can cook for herself now. So much so that this past summer, she was baking for the family and making lunch. So much so that she showed her little brother, Everett, how to cook grilled cheese one day and the smoke alarms didn't go off and the house didn't burn down. Amen? You know what that is? That's discipleship. You start somewhere. Someone shows you and then eventually you start doing it yourself. Now you're going to mess up. 100%. It's going to be a little bit messy. But eventually, the more that you do it, the more comfortable you feel in what you feel called to do, eventually it'll get to a place where now you're teaching somebody else what someone taught you. It's discipleship. And that's what the Lord wants for us as church. Again, I say this out of love. Some of you, you're still holding that whisk and standing on a stool. You're a grown adult. Because you're waiting for everything to get right. Waiting for the timing and the resources.

You're waiting when you figured it out to your more confidence. Maybe you're waiting for somebody to ask you wherever you are, maybe the Holy Spirit brought you here today so you can hear. Start somewhere. Do something. Start somewhere. I'm not saying here, somewhere. Your work, your school. Do something. I'm not going to tell you what. Ask the Lord and obey. And when we obey, obedience brings overflow. When you say yes to when God asks you to take a step of faith, when you offer what He's placed in your hands up for somebody else, you do something, you start somewhere to somebody, when you are faithful with what He's given to you, when you are obedient to what He's asked you to do, supernaturally, it spills over into all the places you step into. It blesses the people around you. Obedience brings overflow. Would you stand to your feet right now? Now's not the time to pack your stuff and to sneak out. We're going to continue to worship God, but this worshiping God is not preparing our hearts for what He's going to say. This is in response to what He said. He's put something in you for someone else. For your one.

So they would come to know that He is love, come to be set free. It's time for us to respond. We ask two questions at the end of every teaching. What's the Holy Spirit teaching me? You know what that is? That's His revelation. He's speaking, and I listen to it. It's still a small voice, but the second question is, what am I going to do about it? That is obedience. Obedience leads to overflow. So right now we're going to respond. And what that means for some of you, it may mean just standing there with palms open, being open-handed and saying, God, I've held on to this for so long. It wasn't what they have. I wasn't sure of it. But God, what you've given me, I'm going to give away. I'm going to do something. I'm going to start somewhere. For some of you to respond to Him, that may mean literally taking a step forward in faith. We're going to have our prayer partners up here right now. And maybe there's something so significant that you can't shake, that you feel like, I can't do it because of this. Whatever that is, it's not too big for God. You have a church family that loves you, that wants to pray with you, that wants to fight for you.

Maybe for you it's taking a step of faith forward and asking somebody to pray with you to surrender. But all of us, our response, if we're ready for overflow, is here I am, Lord. Use me. Father, I thank you so much. Not only do you love us as imperfect people, that you filled us with your spirit, that you call us to things bigger than ourselves, but you actually empower us to be used by you, God. So we stand with arms wide open, hands open wide, saying, here I am, Lord. Use me. If there's a burden or a barrier between us and taking this step of faith, help us to take a step forward and receive prayer, God. But our desire is to be used by you. Here I am, Lord. Use me. In Jesus' name, amen. Here we are, Lord. Use me, Lord. ♪ I'm at the altar, dying again ♪ ♪ Crushed for your purpose, oiled within it ♪ ♪ In my life, living on for you ♪ ♪ You are the potter, I am the clay ♪ ♪ Hold me and make me, Lord, have your way ♪ ♪ And my heart surrender to your hand ♪ ♪ You can use me, Lord ♪ ♪ You can use me, Lord ♪

♪ I won't believe a frantic claim ♪ ♪ Living is Christ, dying is gain ♪ ♪ My God, I'd do it all again ♪ ♪ Oh, you can use me, Lord ♪ ♪ You can use me, Lord ♪ ♪ You can use me, Lord ♪ ♪ You can use me, Lord ♪ ♪ Use me, Lord, use me, Lord ♪ ♪ You can use me, Lord ♪ ♪ You can use me, Lord ♪ ♪ Use me, Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Right here, right here ♪ Churches, surrender your life and say, Lord, I'm here. Use me, Father. I'm ready. Send us, Lord. Come on, sing this out. Jesus, I surrender. My life is yours forever. Here I am, Lord, send me. Jesus, I surrender. My life is yours forever. Here I am, Lord, send me. Jesus, I surrender. My life is yours forever. Here I am, Lord, send me. Jesus, I surrender. My life is yours forever. Here I am, Lord, send me.

Jesus, I surrender. My life is yours forever. Here I am, Lord. Jesus, I surrender. My life is yours forever. Here I am, Lord. You can use me, Lord. You can use me, Lord. You can use me, Lord. I've been yours. I've been yours. Oh. You can use me, Lord. You can use me, Lord. You can use me, Lord. Jesus, I surrender. Jesus, I surrender. My life is yours forever. Here I am, Lord, send me. Jesus, I surrender. My life is yours forever. Here I am, Lord, send me. Jesus, I surrender. My life is yours forever. Here I am, Lord, send me. Jesus, I surrender. My life is yours forever. Here I am, Lord, send me.