Generosity: Gifts and Talents

The scripture reading today is found in Romans 12.

Please follow along in your bulletin.

I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,

to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,

holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,

that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,

what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you,

not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,

but to think with sober judgment,

each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

For us in one body we have many members,

and the members do not all have the same function.

So we, though many, are one body in Christ

and individually members one of another.

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,

let us use them.

If prophecy in proportion to our faith,

if service in our serving,

the one who teaches in his teaching,

the one who exhorts in his exhortation,

the one who contributes in generosity,

the one who leads with zeal,

the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness.

Let our love be genuine.

Abhor what is evil.

Hold fast to what is good.

Love one another with brotherly affection.

Outdo one another in showing honor.

Do not be slothful in zeal.

Be fervent in spirit.

Serve the Lord.

Rejoice in hope.

Be patient in tribulation.

Be constant in prayer.

Contribute to the needs of the saints

and seek to show hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you.

Bless and do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice.

Weep with those who weep.

Live in harmony with one another.

Do not be haughty,

but associate with the lowly.

Never be wise in your own sight.

Repay no one evil for evil,

but give thought to do what is honorable

in the sight of all.

If possible,

so far as it depends on you,

live peaceably with all.

Beloved,

never avenge yourselves,

but leave it to the wrath of God,

for it is written,

vengeance is mine,

I will repay,

says the Lord.

To the contrary,

if your enemy is hungry,

feed him.

If he is thirsty,

give him something to drink,

for by so doing,

you will heap burning coals on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil,

but overcome evil with good.

This is the reading of God's word.

If you don't know me,

my name is Chris.

I help oversee the community groups

here in Watermark.

And it's great to see you all.

And we're starting a three-part series,

having a short break from the Romans series

that we've been doing.

But we're going to come back to looking at Romans

at the end of the month.

But we're going to do a three-part series

looking at generosity.

Generosity is one of our values,

one of the principles that we want to be,

as a church,

characterized by generosity.

And I don't know what you think

when you hear that word generosity.

Maybe you're thinking,

oh no, they're going to ask me to do something.

Or, oh no, it's about money again.

Or something like that.

But over these next three weeks,

we want to see that actually

the gospel that we've been hearing about

in Romans

has to flow out into our lives

in an extravagant way.

which affects every part of our lives.

So we're going to look at,

today we're going to look at generosity

and gifts and talents that God has given us.

We're going to look at money

and we're going to look at time

over the next three weeks.

Now if you think about it,

generosity isn't just a Christian idea.

People in Hong Kong do generosity.

But I think in society,

there can be a number of different ways

that we do generosity.

One of the ways I think we can do generosity

is we do generosity for show.

You know, some very rich people in Hong Kong,

they donate money to build hospital buildings

and to build university buildings.

And then just to show you

how incredibly generous they are,

they write their name on the building

so that you know it was them who gave it.

Or what about when people fight for the bill

at a restaurant when you're paying?

I mean, what's that about?

Why?

Because we want to be shown to be generous.

I want people to see that I'm a generous person.

I think another way we can sometimes

do generosity in society

is we can do it out of guilt.

You know, if you're a parent

and you haven't spent a lot of time

with your kids recently,

and to kind of make up for it,

what do you do?

You buy an expensive present.

You have to do a fantastic day out

because you feel guilty.

And so you've got to be generous out of guilt.

Another way we can do it

is we can just do it

to make ourselves feel good about myself,

to prove that I'm okay.

Okay, my aunt,

she is one of the most sacrificial

serving people that I know.

She's not a Christian,

but she has dedicated the whole of her life

to serving people who are handicapped

and vulnerable in society.

And one day, just a couple of weeks ago,

my mom was talking to her.

And my mom said to her,

okay, how are you going to work

on improving your relationship?

They had a bad relationship

with your neighbors.

And my aunt's response was,

well, I don't have to

because it's their problem.

I'm perfect.

I have lived a perfect life.

You see, all the acts of generosity

that had done had made her feel

that she was good,

that she was okay,

that she was worth something in life.

Generosity can sometimes

be about making ourselves

feel good about ourselves.

Now, the one thing

all those ways have in common is this.

They're all about me.

They're all about me.

And what Paul is going to say

as we look into this passage

is that Christian generosity

has a totally different foundation.

So we're going to look at

just a few things.

We're going to look at

the heart of generosity.

We're going to look at

how grace and this generous gift

that God gives us

transforms the way we view

the gifts and talents we've got.

And then we're going to look at

how we know what our gifts are

and how we use them.

Okay, so that's where we're going.

We're thinking about generosity,

but particularly with gifts

and talents.

So let's start off

looking at the passage.

Verse 1 says,

I appeal to you, therefore, brothers,

by the mercies of God

to present your bodies

as a living sacrifice,

holy and acceptable to God,

which is your spiritual worship.

Paul says, I appeal to you.

I want you to get this.

This is what I really want you

to understand

at this particular moment.

And he says, by God's mercies.

I appeal to you by God's mercies.

Another translation says,

in view of God's mercies,

in view of everything

that I've been telling you

all about in the previous chapters

in Romans,

the fact that even though

we had turned away from God,

we'd rejected him,

we'd trampled on his children,

we'd abused his creation,

we were in the dock with God,

God comes down,

he takes our punishment,

he says,

not only do I declare you innocent

of what you have done against me,

I welcome you into my family

and I bless you

with so many gifts,

so many blessings,

that I just want you to know

how generous I am.

And in light,

in view of that incredible

generosity of God,

we've got to respond.

That's what Paul's saying.

We've got to respond.

And the way,

and the only way

that is a right way

to respond to the way

God has generously

given himself to us

is that we worship him.

We worship him.

Now the image that Paul uses here

is that of the temple

where worshipers

used to bring offerings,

maybe a bull or an animal,

and they used to sacrifice it

on the altar.

They used to burn it

and that was a way,

a sign of their worship to God,

their dedication to God.

They're saying to God,

thank you,

this is for who you are.

Now here,

Paul is not saying

you've got to bring an animal.

You've not got to bring

a few bits of chicken

or an orange

or some apples

like some people do

in Hong Kong

where you offer up

those things

to your ancestors

or whatever.

He's saying

there's a bigger offering

that you're to bring.

He's saying

the only appropriate response

to what God has done

is not partial

giving something else

but is actually

giving yourself

to God.

It's actually saying

in light of what God

has done for me,

God,

I'm at your disposal.

My life

is for you.

I'm so grateful

for what you've done

for me.

Out of gratitude

for your grace,

here I am.

Use me.

You see,

gratitude overflows

in worship to God

and then it says

putting everything

at God's disposal

and saying,

I want to be generous

with my life.

I want to be generous

with my life.

It's a bit like

the person

who meets

the person

who dived

into the water

and saved

their drowning kid

risking his life,

brings them back,

hands them to the parent

and the parent

says to them,

oh, well,

thanks so much

for what you did.

Here's a $20 coupon

for Park and Shop.

He's not,

that's not an appropriate

response

because you haven't

understood the cost.

No, he's saying

the appropriate response

is,

wow,

I can't,

I can't say

thank you enough.

I can't say

thank you enough.

What,

what can I do

to say thank you?

And so it's

that demonstration.

It's,

worship isn't just

about kind of

humming a nice

spiritual song

to God

or kind of

meditating in your heart

on just something,

contemplation.

That's,

that's,

it's about,

it's about the whole

of your life.

It's saying,

my hands,

my mind,

my body,

my mouth,

everything of your,

is yours.

Use me.

I'm at your disposal.

And,

the thing is,

we can sometimes

do generosity

with maybe

our money,

but we can be stingy

with our time.

We can be generous

with certain people,

but stingy

with other people.

And God is saying

generosity

is to flow

from a heart attitude

in all of our lives.

So let's have a think

about what that means

in relationship

to our gifts

and the talents

that God gives us.

So that's the second thing

we're going to look at.

So,

grace transforms

our view

of gifts and talents

because,

you see,

the word gift

in the New Testament

is actually

the same root word

as the word grace.

It's the word,

grace is charis,

gifts are charismata.

They're the same thing.

So what we're saying here

is that the gifts

and abilities

that God has given you

are gifts

of his grace

to you.

They're an evidence

of his generosity

to you.

But they're given

so that

you can be

generous to others,

so you can extend

that grace

to other people.

Now,

when you consider

gifts,

some people get confused

with their spiritual gifts.

You know,

there's a list of gifts

that are mentioned

later on in this passage

and we all have

natural talents as well

and sometimes we get

a bit confused with them.

But there is a difference

between natural talents

and the gifts

that are mentioned

in the Bible.

But actually,

you see,

the spiritual gifts

are really about

edifying and building up

other people

within the body

and outside

for God's kingdom

and for his purposes.

Your natural talents

can also be that as well.

So there's a lot

of overlap

between your spiritual gifts

and your natural talents.

So you don't have

to get wrapped up

in, oh,

is it a gift

or is it a talent?

Everything that God

has given you

is to be used

by him,

for him.

So now,

as we think about this,

I think Paul says

there are a couple of ways

you can think about

the things that God

has given you.

Those gifts,

those talents,

that God has given you.

One is,

you can conform.

He says,

do not be conformed

to this world

but be transformed

by the renewal

of your mind.

You see,

one way you can do,

you think about your gifts

is conforming.

How do we conform?

Well,

we conform

when we fit

into the mold

or the pattern

of the way

that the rest

of society

does things.

it's the form

that's kind of

fixed for you.

Now,

remember what we said

earlier about generosity

and the way society

often does generosity.

And the German reformer,

Martin Luther,

once said,

sin

is man

curled in

on himself.

And you know,

when you're curled in

on yourself,

you actually can't see

anybody else

because you're

wrapped up in yourself.

Now,

I think in Hong Kong,

we can sometimes

do this a bit like this.

And you know

how annoying it is

when somebody's

in front of you

trying to do that

and you want to

get past them.

But the thing is,

when you're wrapped up,

you're distracted.

We're so distracted

in Hong Kong.

We've got so many things

that even if I'm

using my gifts,

they're all about me.

I'm just so wrapped up

in it that I can't

see anybody else.

I can't see

anybody else.

And I can't see

how I can use

the gifts and talents

to serve other people

other than myself.

You see,

for example,

for me,

if I was to

invite somebody

over for food,

hospitality,

and you know,

I'm cooking some fish

and the fish is

burning in the corner,

at that moment,

I'm beginning to panic.

Now,

as I'm panicking,

I am not thinking,

it's so sad

that the people

that I've invited,

they're going to have

to taste burnt fish.

I'm thinking,

what are they going

to think about me?

They're going to think

I'm a terrible cook,

they're going to tell

everybody else,

and nobody's ever

going to want to come.

Now,

just by way of warning,

if I ever invite you

to my house,

bring McDonald's

or something else

with you,

because you just want to,

you never know

what's going to happen.

So we can be wrapped up

in ourselves in that way,

or you can sometimes

be wrapped up in yourself

when, you know,

I actually think

I'm good at something.

You know,

maybe people come to me

for advice,

and you know,

lots of people come

for advice,

and you know,

after a while,

you begin to think,

well,

you know,

if you want to come

to advice,

just come to me,

because I'm Dr. Wise,

you know,

just give me a call.

I'll sort you out,

no problems.

You see,

when I get to that point

where it's actually

become all about me,

if somebody actually

gives me any criticism

or suggestions

on ways I could do it better,

I feel they're attacking me

because my worth

and my value

is wrapped up

in me thinking

that I'm good about it.

or if someone

doesn't appreciate me

and say,

thank you for what

you did there,

then I feel hurt

and I feel neglected

because I've made it

all about me.

And you know,

sometimes I make

being a good teacher,

being a good leader,

giving good advice,

not about the people

I'm serving,

but actually about me.

And Paul says,

if you're a Christian,

don't be conformed

to the way

that everybody else

does it.

I want you to be

transformed.

Transformed.

That word transformed,

it's the word metamorpho,

where we get metamorphosis from.

You know,

where like a caterpillar

changes into a butterfly.

And you know,

a caterpillar was never meant

to stay as a caterpillar.

A caterpillar was meant

to spread their wings

and fly.

And you see,

God wants to change us

from being like caterpillars

in a process of metamorphosis.

He wants to transform us.

It's not instantaneous,

it's a process.

But he wants to

metamorphosize us

into those butterflies

where we can fly

to be everything

God has called us to be

and has given us

the gifts and talents

to be

with generous hearts

because that's what

God made us to be.

How does it happen?

How do you get transformed?

Well,

through the renewal

of your mind.

Through God's word

constantly changing

your perspective

of yourself,

your perspective

of others

and the situations

around you.

And it's a journey.

Step by step,

it's a journey.

So let me read

the next part.

It says,

For by the grace

given to me,

I said every one of you

not to think of himself

more highly

than he ought to think,

but with sober judgment,

each according

to the measure of faith

that God has assigned.

You see,

here's how transformation

works in this situation.

He says,

God has assigned

a measure of faith.

Now,

there's two possible

interpretations of that.

One is,

he gives each person

their own kind of

bit of faith

connected to their gifts.

But the other,

what I think Paul

is saying is here

that in the context

of Romans,

there is a standard

of faith,

the gospel,

the word of God

that God has put forward

and you are to judge

yourself,

your gifts,

your talents

in line

with God's word

and what he says

about you.

You know,

the gospel says,

you are more sinful

and broken

than you could possibly

imagine,

but you are more loved

than you could possibly

dare to believe.

You are sinful

yet forgiven,

broken yet accepted.

And when you see

that the gifts

that you've given

are not because

you're any better

or any worse,

it's just grace,

undeserved,

that he's given you

these talents

and gifts,

it transforms

the way you view

yourself.

Because sometimes

you can,

and I can,

overvalue myself.

I often do this.

You know,

I think the world

won't revolve.

You know,

the solar system

will come to an end

if I'm not involved

in this situation.

You know,

I think I'm so essential

at times

that I become over busy.

Do you know that kind of,

I've got to lead this,

I've got to do this,

I've got to lead the Bible,

so I've got to sort

everybody else's problems

and I'm running around

like a headless chicken

thinking I've got to

save the world

because I've actually

overvalued myself,

I've made me

the center of it

and I've not got

right perspective.

Or,

you can undervalue yourself

and you look at

everybody else

and you think,

wow,

they're so much

better than me.

Look at all the gifts

they've got.

Listen,

I can't speak

like he can,

I can't sing

like Jeremy

or Wing can.

I've got nothing

to offer.

Or we become jealous

of the people

who've got other things

that we really want

but we don't have.

You know,

it's,

when you're transformed,

you see that you

have been given grace.

It's undeserved gift.

You don't have to be

like everybody else.

God's given you grace,

so it's not about you,

it's about how you serve

generously with what

you have been given

to others.

Because being transformed

as well,

it's another thing,

it means you also

see others differently.

You see yourself

as part of a body.

You're not just

an individual

by yourself,

you're part of a body.

And your gifts

are given

for the benefit

of the people around you.

What that means is

you value

difference in people.

Everybody doesn't have

to be exactly like you.

Some people have

upfront gifts,

some people have

backstage gifts,

some people are just

great at getting

alongside people,

going for coffee

with people.

And we don't seem

to notice them,

we don't seem to

plug them on stage,

but actually those

are precious,

valuable gifts.

Everybody has got

something to give.

Everybody.

Now imagine,

you see,

Paul's using this

body image,

imagine if the nose

says to your finger,

man,

you know,

one day,

you could become

like me.

You could become

a nose.

I mean,

it's ridiculous.

Or imagine if the teeth

suddenly think,

oh,

the eyes,

you are so beautiful.

I wish I could be an eye.

I think I'm just

rubbish as teeth,

I'm just going to

stop being teeth.

You know,

I've even got a filling.

You know?

Because,

it's ridiculous.

Each of us

has immense value

in the body.

And each of us,

God has graced you

with something

which the body

will lack

if you don't use it.

Imagine,

it's Christmas

and someone

gives a present

to the whole

of your family.

And you are told

that you have

the responsibility

of opening

that present.

And you say,

I'm not going

to open it

because everybody

else has got

better presents

than me.

I'm going to hide it.

I don't want you

to have it.

I'm going to have it

for me.

What's the problem?

It's actually

all become about me.

I haven't seen

that we're part

of a family.

But imagine

the joy

of the family

if you open it

and you share it

with the other people

because it's meant

to be for the family

and you rejoice

in the gifts

that other people

have got.

If you can't sing,

rejoice in the people

who can.

Okay?

And maybe don't sing

as loudly as them.

Okay?

That's a joke.

Okay?

Being conformed

means we make it

all about ourselves.

Being transformed

means we change

perspective.

It's not all about us.

We're part of a body.

We've been given gifts.

We can use them

to bless and serve

other people.

The last thing

I want to look at

and I'm going to just

spend a few minutes

on this

is you may be saying,

okay,

you say we've got gifts,

you say we've got

these things,

but I don't know

what my gifts are.

How do I find out

what my gifts are

and how do I use them?

In verse 6 to 8,

Paul says this,

having gifts that differ,

okay,

so you have gifts

that differ,

you're not all the same.

According to the grace

given to us,

let us use them.

If prophecy

in proportion

to our faith

is service

in our serving,

the one who teaches

in his teaching,

the one who exhorts

in his exhortation,

the one who contributes

in generosity,

the one who leads

with zeal,

the one who does

acts of mercy

with cheerfulness.

See,

Paul's giving,

this is not an exhaustive

list of all the gifts

and you're looking

and saying,

oh,

I don't think

I've got any of those.

This is an example list

of what Paul is saying

that each of us

have things

which we can use.

How do you know

what those gifts are?

Look around you

at the people

who are around you.

Look at the community

and the needs

of people around you.

Think about

what opportunities

there are to serve

and think about

what are your interests?

What are your passions?

What things do you enjoy?

What things are you good at?

Because those might be clues

to actually the way

you can serve

people around you

in the body.

You see,

sometimes you won't find

your spiritual gift

if you're thinking,

okay,

I need to find

my spiritual gift.

Okay,

let me just meditate

for a while

and then I'll have

enlightenment

on my spiritual gift.

You won't actually

find your spiritual gift

if you just fill in

a spiritual gifts questionnaire.

Those can be helpful

but they rely

on past experience.

Okay,

Jesus with his disciples,

I don't think

right at the beginning

he said,

okay,

I'm going to call you

to myself

and then he sat them

down and think,

I don't know

what to do with you.

Okay,

let's do a spiritual

gift questionnaire

to find out

what you're going to be.

Okay,

no,

he just got on

with doing things

and as they did things,

people,

they discover

what you're good at,

what you're not good at.

You discover

what are areas

where you can serve

and bless things.

If you don't know

what your gifts are,

try something.

Many of us

don't know

what our gifts are

because we haven't

tried enough things.

because maybe

we're worried

we can't do it

well enough

or all those

kind of things

but as you try things,

what you find is

you find what

you're interested in.

You find what

you resonate with.

You find what

you enjoy doing

and then you get on

and do it.

And I don't know

if you noticed

that a lot of the gifts

that are mentioned here

are actually things

that every Christian

should be doing.

Did you notice that?

I mean,

serving,

exhorting,

showing acts of mercy,

all those kind of things

every Christian should do.

So what's the difference

between a spiritual gift

and just doing those things?

Well, I think it's that

if you have a spiritual gift

you are wired in a way

where you resonate with it.

It's a passion of yours.

You enjoy it.

It's got something

where you get

a sense of fulfillment

and satisfaction

after you've done it.

You know,

if you're in your community group

and you think

you see that somebody else

is on their own,

somebody else hasn't been

able to contribute

and you're thinking

why doesn't anybody else

notice them?

Listen,

maybe it's because

it's your spiritual gift

and you're the one

who's meant to do

something about it.

Or maybe you think

why is everyone

so disorganized here?

Or maybe

it's because you're the one

who's meant to start helping,

to organize us.

If it was down to me,

I dread to think

what would happen.

You see,

I lived in my flat

for two years

and we always had

a problem with fruit flies

in the rubbish bin.

You know,

we put food waste

in the bin

and then,

I mean,

they were breeding

so quickly

they were overtaking

the population of China.

You know,

and every day

I had to empty

the rubbish bin.

And it was just

so frustrating

I didn't know

what to do.

Fiona moves into

her flat

after we got married

and she says,

why don't you put

your food waste

in a separate bag

and just throw it outside

so you don't have to

put it in the rubbish bin?

And I thought,

wow.

I'd never thought of that.

That's genius.

You see,

she's so much more practical

than I am

because she solves the issue

and she's wired in that way.

You see,

if everybody in this church

had the same gifts as me,

it would be chaos.

This place would be

full of fruit flies

everywhere.

But you see,

you're different.

Things you notice,

you will notice

different things.

Those are things

you can use.

Get on and serve.

Use them.

Let me give you a scenario

to think how this can

actually look like

practically.

Someone in the church

says maybe,

okay,

I'd love to get people together

and we could learn

how to cook some dishes,

for example.

And so they invite

some different people

and one of those people

says,

oh,

I know what,

I'll invite Chris

because

I've heard how bad

his cooking is

and you know,

they might die

if he's continued

to allow cooking

the way he does.

Someone else says,

you know,

I've got a friend

who's not a Christian.

It would be great to see

so they could come

and see our community.

Somebody else says,

I'll organize

a WhatsApp group

so we can communicate

together

and we can organize

each other.

Someone else says,

you know,

I can babysit

for you guys

so you can get out

and do it.

What's happening?

You know,

someone's taking

a natural talent

and there are now

gifts of leading,

taking the initiative,

showing mercy

to me,

evangelism,

thinking about those

outside,

organization,

okay,

can you see

how the body

works all together?

It's very normal.

But we often don't think.

We're thinking,

my gift has got to be

something spectacular.

No.

You imagine if you are not

using your gift in that,

if you're the organized one

and you're not helping organize,

imagine the chaos.

You've all got something

to contribute.

It's not rocket science.

So don't focus on

finding my gift.

Focus on,

how can I serve?

How can I try something?

Where are the opportunities?

There are opportunities

in the children's ministry

this summer.

If you've never worked

in the children's,

you're thinking,

I could never do that.

Why don't you try it?

Try it.

There's prayer team.

If you have a passion

for praying,

go and join the prayer team.

There's,

in your community groups,

maybe there are people there

who don't connect outside.

Maybe you could be the one

who just sends a text,

says,

hey,

do you want to meet up

for coffee?

Very simple,

normal things,

but that's how the body works.

Some of us don't know

our gifting,

because we're so afraid

to try things out,

which we don't feel

so competent in,

because we're afraid

we might fail.

But you know,

in view of God's mercies,

your identity is not bound up

in whether you succeed

or you fail.

Your identity is found

in Christ.

So you can be free

to try things.

If we're waiting

for the perfect opportunity

where I can be competent,

you know,

you're an investor,

you're great at investing,

and you're waiting

for Watermark

to have $200 million

for you to invest,

you're going to be waiting

a very long time.

So don't wait

for something perfect

to come along

that's just for you.

Just get on

and look around you,

see who the people

are around you,

see where the needs are,

and just try something.

That also means

that sometimes

we also need to operate

outside of the area

where we're gifted in.

You don't always do things

you're gifted in.

For example,

if someone comes to me

and, you know,

they're crying,

they're struggling

with their problem,

and I say to them,

stop right there.

I don't have a gift of mercy.

You need to go

to the lady three doors

down over there.

She's the mercy one.

Okay?

It's ridiculous.

Sometimes we just have to,

because you see,

it's not about me.

It's not about me

just having to do

everything that suits me.

It's actually about us.

How can I serve others?

So what have we said?

We've said

that the heart

of a generous person

is not making it about me,

but it's realizing

the amazing generosity of God

God.

And in light of that,

responding by saying,

God, just use me

where you can.

Use me with the people around.

Show me,

open my eyes

so I'm not so wrapped up

in myself

that I can look around

and I can see beyond

my sense of pride,

my identity,

the things that I want

so I can see

the people around me.

Now,

every one of us

is at a different place.

Every one of us

has different capacities.

Every one of us

has different energy levels.

That's okay.

God has given

each of you grace

for something.

God has given

each of you grace

for something.

And His grace is given

so you can extend it

to others.

Listen,

if you know

that you're one

of those people

who are so wrapped up

in yourself,

in your work,

in your family,

that you never notice

anybody else,

here's a suggestion.

When you're next

on the MTR,

the meeting,

going to the bathroom,

and you're tempted

just to get out

your phone

and you know

you're going to play

your next Flappy Bird game

or you're going to create

your mega mind,

metrocity,

on your phone,

this amazing city

or whatever,

or you're going to go

on Facebook

and connect

with everybody else,

stop.

Get into the discipline

and say,

okay,

for one minute,

one minute every day

I'm going to stop

and I'm going to think,

who can I serve

in the community?

Who can I pray for?

Who can I reach out

to this week?

Maybe it's,

I just send them a text.

Maybe that's my capacity.

I just say,

I can pray for you.

And you think,

what are they going

to think about me

if I've never texted

them before?

Are they going to think

I'm strange?

Maybe.

Who cares?

Because you can extend

grace to people.

It's not about you.

Make it a regular discipline

if you're that busy.

Have disciplines

where you stop

for one minute

and you say,

who can I serve?

Who can I think?

If you're one of those people

who rush into church

and if your own experience

and you're Christian

and your own experience

of church communities

that you come in,

you go out,

you come to CG,

you go out

and you have no interaction,

nothing else

throughout the week,

maybe you're conforming

to being wrapped up

in yourself

and maybe God's call

is stop for a minute,

look at someone around you,

go up to someone

who's on their own,

talk to the person

next to you

for two minutes

because that may be

extending grace

to them

and you may never know

the impact

that that one thing did.

some of you though

are serving,

some of you though

are serving

in lots of different ways

and some of you

may be serving

out of duty,

you know,

you've been doing it

for a long time now

and you've just grown tired,

some of you

may have grown discouraged

because when you've been serving

everyone else

has responded

not necessarily

the way you wanted to,

they didn't take up

the suggestions

you gave them,

they didn't answer

your emails

when you try

to organize something

and you're tearing

your hair out

and you're getting frustrated,

why isn't anybody else

interested in

what I'm interested in?

You see,

Paul says,

and it's very challenging,

he says,

if you lead,

lead with zeal,

if you show acts of mercy,

do it with cheerfulness,

how can you

use your gifts

with that kind of attitude?

It's only when you stop

and you remember

the generosity of God

towards you.

In view of his mercies,

I will persevere

with my gifts

because Jesus

persevered with me.

I was ungrateful,

I was unresponsive

and yet Jesus

went to the cross,

poured out his life

for me.

Let his grace

capture your heart again

so that actually

you have that sense

of thankfulness.

It's not about me,

it's not about how

people respond to me,

it's just about

I want to worship you

with my life,

with my service,

with how I can do

these things.

God's given us gifts,

talents,

every single one of us.

He's given us

people around us,

he's given us opportunities,

he's given us needs.

So in view of God's mercies,

let us get on

and use them

and let us build

each other up

in being his body.

Let's pray.

Father,

I confess that

I do often

forget about

your mercies

and I so naturally

have that tendency

to make it all about me.

Forgive me for that.

I pray that you would

open our eyes

to see increasingly,

day by day,

reminding ourselves

of just what you have done,

just how generous

you have been to us.

Help that not just

to become an idea

in my head,

but let that be

something in my heart.

Pray for us

as a congregation

that that would

become real to us.

If we've been

using our gifts

or if we haven't,

Lord,

I pray that your mercy

would just excite us again,

that we realize

that the gifts

that you've given us

are another evidence

of your grace

towards us.

Please help us

to be a body

where we encourage

each other,

where we build

each other up,

where we look out

for each other,

where we be the people

transformed

into those

beautiful butterflies,

into those

beautiful creations

that we were meant to be.

Thank you for what you're doing.

Thank you that you're

taking us on this journey.

I praise you

for what you're doing.

Amen.