The Purpose // You are GIFTED | Ps Alin Nedelca

Today we are continuing our series on

spiritual gifts and we have titled this

series you are gifted and if you haven't

been here last week let me do a bit of a

recap so we can all be on the same page

but last week pastor Matthew preached an

incredible message and he explained to

us in week one what are some of the

spiritual gifts and then here is a list

of some of them he talked about the gift

of prophecy, gift of serving, teaching,

encouraging. And another word for

encouraging is exhortation.

The gift of giving, leadership, mercy.

And then he mentioned something that

stuck with me personally. He said that

spiritual gifts are extraordinary

grace-given abilities to individuals. So

how do all these gifts come? By grace.

That means that we can develop these

gifts. We can grow in these gifts. We

can use them wisely. But we do not earn

these gifts. Why? Because God gives

them. So last week was a powerful

message. And if you want to see or hear

the full message, you can check out our

YouTube channel which is Lighthouse

Church. IE and we are on Spotify as

well. Now this week we take a next step

in our journey. Knowing what the gifts

are is important, but understanding why

has been given to us is just as

essential. So today in week two, we're

going to look at the purpose of

spiritual gifts. And we're going to do

that by attempting to answer some of

these questions. Why did God give

spiritual gifts? Why are they so

important? And why should the church

take them seriously? Now, before we

answer all of these questions, I want us

to think about something that affects

all of us. Whether you're a Christ

follower or not, deep down, we all think

at these similar questions.

Do I matter?

Do I have a purpose? Does my life make a

difference? Because if we're honest, we

all know what it feels like to be

ordinary.

Some of us feel inadequate. Some of us

feel overlooked.

Some of us might even feel disqualified

because of the past mistakes that we've

made. For some, life has left us broken,

disappointed, or stuck. And maybe you're

even here today wondering, could God

really use someone like me?

Is there something more to my life than

the person that I get to see in the

mirror every single day? Or perhaps if

you're not a Christ follower, the

version of your question might sound

like this. Could there be more to my

life than my successes or my failures?

Those are not small questions. These

questions right here represent some of

the deepest questions that the human

heart has to wrestle with. Now, the good

news, the good news is that God is not

silent about these questions. In fact,

every single one of us present here

today have been created with purpose and

significance.

You are not an accident. You're not an

accident. And your value is not defined

by your successes or failures or

limitations. God has placed something of

eternal value inside every single one of

us. And he calls us to walk into our

extraordinary

purpose. But to be able to walk into

your extraordinary purpose, it requires

something extraordinary.

And from here comes this truth that once

you open up your heart to Jesus and to

the gospel, the reality is that along

with Jesus, God is blessing us and

giving us spiritual gifts to be able to

fulfill our extraordinary purpose that

we have. And not only that, but his

desire is to use those spiritual gifts

to help others to encourage them and to

inspire them to fulfill their God-given

purpose for their lives. Now, here is

what I want you to do. Take a good look

around the room. Go ahead, do that. The

gifts are everywhere. There's different

gifts, but the same God.

In fact, even what's happening right now

today, it's possible that's because some

people decided to work out their gifts,

right? I mean, our band led us into the

presence of God and that's because they

have learned to develop those gifts and

to offer them and they have done a

pretty great job. Can we give it up for

them?

>> Yes. But here is what I know.

Right now there are people sitting in

these very seats with gifts that have

never been fully expressed. In fact, let

me get a bit more personal. You are

sitting maybe in this seat with some

gifts that have never been expressed.

And that's not because you do not have

them, but because you haven't recognized

them yet. And you know what? Not every

gift stands on a stage. Some gifts have

the ability to make people feel seen.

Some people have a way of lifting up the

atmosphere the minute they show up. Have

you met those people? I love those

people. But that's a gift. Some people

have a way of killing the atmosphere the

minute they show up. That's not a gift.

That's my lady from my post office. I

hope she doesn't watches this.

But coming back to this truth that God

has given us spiritual gifts once we

have placed our trust in Jesus. I want

to say this gifts that aren't

exercised eventually grow dormant. But

gifts that are stewarded can impact far

more people than we can ever imagine.

You know what's the tragedy of life? The

tragedy of life is not death, but rather

what we let die inside of us while we're

still alive. Let that sink in for a

minute. You know what's the wealthiest

place on earth? Some someone said that

the graveyard is the wealthiest place on

earth. Do you know why? Because over

there there are dreams that have been

buried and never fully expressed. There

are books in the graveyard that have

never been written. There are songs that

have never been sang. There are there

are callings that have never been fully

expressed and gifts that have never been

used. So the tragedy isn't that God

forgot to give someone a gift, but that

someone never used the gift. That's why

we meet here as a church. We believe

that every single person has an

extraordinary purpose in Christ.

>> You are made for more.

>> You are made for more. And you know

what? Whether you follow Jesus or not,

we all know this that we're made for

more. There's something that we all long

for. We long to belong

and to know that our lives matter. We

long to belong and to know that our

lives matter.

Now the problem with this is that our

culture today tries to tell us that we

should be self-made. Right? This is the

what the culture tries to instill in us.

Be self-made.

Don't depend on anyone. Follow your own

path.

Leave your truth.

If there is a holy trinity, which is God

the Father, God the Son, and God the

Holy Spirit, you know what's the unholy

trinity? Me, myself, and I.

>> This is what the culture is trying to

tell us. Live for yourself. Don't bother

get relationships and get connected with

other people. No, just live your life

for yourself. Live your own truth. So

while the while the culture is trying to

impose this on us, God on the other

side, he created us for relationship.

He created us for community

and for purpose. You're never meant to

live this life alone. That's why your

gifts matter.

Why do our individual gifts matter so

much? That's because God never intended

for us to function in isolation.

God designed his church to be a living

body where every single person it's

unique and has an indispensable role.

And the apostle Paul talks about this in

scripture in a letter that he wrote to a

church in the city of Corinth. And

Corinth was an ancient city in the

ancient Greece which was a very

important city. And from here we're

going to have our main passage for today

from the letter of first Corinthians

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12. And to get a bit of a

context of this, the main point of this

passage, but really the main point of

this message is this. You are gifted for

God's glory. So if there's anything that

you remember from today's message,

please remember this. You are gifted for

God's glory. Now the problem or the

tension I should say with the church in

Corenth is that this church was gifted

but divided and that's because some

people were comparing gifts. Some people

thought that some gifts are more

important than others. Other people felt

insignificant.

That's because their gifts weren't as

visible as others. So the apostle Paul

is trying to portray to us how should

the healthy church look like when it

comes to spiritual gifts. So in our

generation a healthy church should be a

church where this is the definition of

it. A church where every believer

discovers and uses their god-given gifts

for his glory. And there is a diversity

of age, culture, personality, and

gifting is celebrated rather than

tolerated. Now, for those of you who

don't know this, for some of us here,

church starts when Sunday is over. That

means that a a big group of us, we meet

every Monday morning for our staff

meetings, right? To organize and pray

and have a devotional together. And we

do that in Navan in our office. And if

you didn't know that we are one church

in four locations every Sunday we meet

here in West Dublin, the Blanch area. We

meet in North Dublin which is the Santry

area and then we meet in Navvern and

Dundok. But every Monday that we get to

meet for our staff meetings in the

office. We have a long table and which

is by the way the office is out of

capacity. So pray for us. But we are I

think close to 40 people most of the

Mondays together as the core team. And

when I look at this table there is a

diversity of age. I mean, there's people

who are 17, which probably would be our

interns who just graduated last month.

And then there's people who are 20, 25,

30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, and 60 plus

year. Imagine all these people at the

same table. And they're not only a

diversity of age, but different culture,

different countries, different

personalities.

And somehow

we have found a way, even though we're

so different and unique, we have found a

way to work together for the same

purpose and the same vision. Isn't that

powerful? So this is how a healthy

church should look like. And let me just

say this, the church isn't a collection

of Christians. That's right.

>> The church is a body. And from here, the

apostle Paul is starting to teach this

church in Corinth and us because pretty

like more or less our church and any

other church in this generation looks

the same as that church. So he says in

verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 12 he says

just as a body though one has many parts

but all its many parts form one body so

it is with Christ.

So the apostle Paul begins with

something that everyone understands,

right? The human body. There's one body.

There's many parts. And this is not six

seven. It's just different functions,

one life, right? Unity doesn't require

uniformity.

>> I mean, imagine your whole body being

one gigantic eye. I mean, you could see

pretty well, right? But you couldn't

walk, you couldn't talk, you couldn't

hug, you couldn't eat.

And I'm like, couldn't eat? I could

handle no walking but eating. As you can

see, I love food.

So difference isn't a problem in God's

eyes. Difference actually, it's his

design. Right? Next verse, it says, "For

we were all," everybody say all. One

more time. All

>> baptized by one spirit so as to form one

body. Notice what he doesn't say. He

doesn't say people who look alike, think

alike, vote alike, or come from the same

background. No, he says whether Jews or

Gentiles, which is another word for

Greek people or Irish or English or

Romanians or Brazilians or Nigerians or

people from South Africa or Spanish or

slaves or free. This is the beauty of

the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross.

Jesus accomplished at the cross what

culture never could. Yes, that's worth

celebrating.

Would you believe that? Even right now

as we're sitting right here in this

auditorium, there are over 40

nationalities here. And in our four

locations, there are over 60

nationalities. Jesus has the power to

create a family of people who maybe

would not even sit at the same table.

Does that mean that we need to all be

the same or think the same? Oh no. What

actually unites us as Jesus followers is

not our preferences

but it is Christ. Now, as we move with

the passage, the apostle Paul gets a

shift in his teaching and that's because

some believers felt inferior. So, in

verse 14, he says, "Even so, the body is

not made up of one part, but many

one part of of many, but but of many."

Now if the foot should say because I'm

not a hand I do not belong to the body

it would not for that reason stop being

part of the body. So what's happening

here? The foot starts to complain to the

hand, right? A less visible part, it's

becoming jealous of a more visible part.

Now think about this for a second. For

most men, I'm talking to the man, right?

What happens every morning? The foot

gets covered with a sock, right? Then it

gets stuffed into a shoe and then it

stays hidden all day long. Meanwhile,

the hand, it's on display all day long.

Now, if the foot could talk, it might

say, "Look at the hand.

Everyone sees it." He even bought the

hand a watch. He put a ring on his hand,

right? But not only that, but he trims

his fingernails most of the time. My

toenails only when they're about to cut

through the socks. So the foot might

say, "Can't he see? I get to carry the

weight of all this body all day long."

The hand doesn't do that. Yet everyone

notices the hand.

So the point isn't really about the

feet. It's about comparison.

Comparison.

Now, let me ask you this. Would you

rather lose your hand or lose your foot?

Come on. What would you answer?

>> Could it be neither? Right? Why? Because

both are equally valuable.

>> That's exactly the way God sees us when

he looks at us. We might be different

and unique, different roles, different

callings, different giftings, but when

God looks at us, we are all valuable and

precious in his sight. Right? That's a

good news. It goes on to say in verse

16, now the ear complains to the eye.

Right? And if the ear shall say, because

I'm not the eye, I am not of the body.

Now, if the ear could talk, it might

complain. Would you look at her? She

puts makeup around the eyes, mascara,

eyeliner.

I'm married. I have a wife. I know this

stuff. I see them. She puts eye shadow,

right?

But for me, once in a while, she gives

me a pair of earrings, which by the way,

they get covered by her hair. Anyway,

the ear might say, "Poetry is written

about the eyes." People say that the eye

is the window to the soul. When is the

last time somebody said that the ear is

the window to the soul? So because I'm

not the eye, I must not matter. Right?

Let me ask you again. Would you rather

lose your hearing or your sight?

Why would you answer?

Is there a third option? Right? Why?

Because even though they're so

different, they're equally essential.

Now when it comes to comparison, here is

the issue with comparison. Comparison

always distorts value

and believe it or not this is true of

most churches. Not this church, right?

Because this is perfect. Not but any

other church out there. And this is true

of any organization or company that has

multiple teams. But when it comes to

church in particular, there are people

that everyone sees, right? There's the

band, there's the host, there's the

pastor, then there are people almost no

one sees, the kids volunteers,

people setting things up, which in fact

the people who set up this place today,

it's part of our production team. And

would you believe that these people come

in as early at 7 a.m. in the morning,

they push fly cases. They're the first

to come in and the last to go out only

to set this room for us distractionfree

so we can engage and find the message of

hope that is found in Jesus. Come on,

can we give it up for our production

team?

We love you guys. We see you and we

appreciate you so much. Now, while this

is amazing, right, some people

volunteering in the other room, right,

in the kids church might think, I wonder

if anyone noticed that I showed up today

on time. Does anyone knows that I'm

here? I wish I was there in the main

auditorium.

So as pastors and leaders who lead this

church, we need to ask ourselves again

and again. Do our kids volunteers

matter? Are they valuable? Absolutely.

If they don't show up, the whole church

feels it right now. Paul moves in in

verse 17 and he says, "If the whole body

were an eye, where would the sense of

hearing be? If the whole body were near,

where would the sense of smell be? Verse

18. But in fact, God has placed the

parts in the body, every one of them,

just as he wanted them to be. Look at

this line. Just as he wanted them to be.

Notice who does the placing? God. Not

people, not popularity, not platform,

not gifting, but God has placed every

member where he wants them to be. Now

again, for us as pastors and leaders, we

need to make sure that we're hearing

from God before we put people into

certain roles. Right? Verse 19, it says,

"If they were all one part, verse 19,

please."

There you go. Goes again. That happens

in the first service. But if there they

were all one part, where would be the

diversity? Right? If every believer had

the same gift, role or function, the

church could not operate the way that

God intended for it to operate. Right?

Verse 21 says that the eye cannot say to

the hand, "I don't need you." And the

head cannot say to the feet, I don't

need you. On the contrary, those parts

of the body that seem to be weaker are

indispensable.

Verse 23. And the parts that we think

that are less honorable, we treat with

special honor, and the parts that are

unpresentable

are treated with special modesty. Now,

the Apostle Paul talks to the opposite

group of people, right? Those who think

they're indispensable.

Let me just say this in the most loving,

caring, compassionate way. There are no

celebrities in heaven except for God,

right? Does that mean that Messi or

Ronaldo cannot make it to heaven? No.

I'm talking that if you are a Christ

follower, we see you. We see your

gifting. We see your creativiveness. You

know, we value you. But you don't need

to keep on talking about that, right? As

we notice you. Success has a way of

convincing us that we don't need people.

So the apostle Paul, what is he doing?

He destroys that illusion. The most

gifted people still depend on others.

Now, in the church world, no ministry

succeeds because of one superstar.

Healthy churches aren't built around

gifted individuals.

They're built around interconnected

people. And again, this is what I love

the most about being part of Lighthouse

Church and volunteering here. I mean,

when I think about Pastor Matthew, which

is my pastor, and Pastor Jamie, who's

our lead pastor, they are so empowering.

They give people opportunities to grow,

to develop, to work their giftings. How

cool is that? It's not about control.

It's not about even though Pastor Jamie

worked so hard to plant this church 20

years ago. And even though he's so

capable and so gifted that he could

probably lead this church alone, he's so

empowering.

In fact, look at this quote. It says

that church works better when you give

it away. Do you know who said that?

Pastor Jamie, our lead pastor.

What you see here, it's not a one-man

show.

The moment you think you don't need

others, you're becoming unhealthy.

And this is true not only in the church

world, but it's true in the workplace as

well. I mean, come on. Have you ever

noticed that leader that stops listening

because he believes he has all the

answers?

Have you ever met that top performer

that refuses feedback because he thinks

he's indispensable?

Or have you met a manager who refuses to

develop his team because he believes

that people can do the job as good as he

can? God might be speaking to some

managers even here in our church. But

are you a leader in the workplace

outside the church? Are you a top

performer? Are you man a manager leading

people? Do you want a piece of advice?

Here it is. Pride says I don't need

anyone. Wisdom says I can't succeed

alone.

>> Moving on in verse 24, it says that God

has put the body together, giving

greater honor to the part that lacked

it, so that there should be no division

in the body, but that each part should

have equal concern for each other. Verse

26 says that if one part suffer, every

part suffers with it. If one part is

honored, every part rejoices with it.

That means that weaker parts deserve

greater honor. Why? Because that's what

healthy bodies naturally do. If one

member suffers, everyone responds.

When one rejoices,

everyone celebrates. And for those of

you who don't know, I like playing

tennis outside of church. That's my

spiritual therapy, right? So when I go

there, all I focus on is to hit the ball

properly and get it over the net. So for

some reason after I'm playing tennis, go

back home and I feel more lighter,

right? I feel that all the worries, all

the stress disappeared. So I like

playing tennis.

I I say I like because I love God more

than tennis. Right? But what happened a

while ago? I've twisted I've torn the

ligaments on my knees three times

actually. Right? So when that happens,

what happened? The whole body suffered.

Not only my knee, my left knee, but the

other leg. Why? because the balance was

affected and not only my other body

suffered but my mind was affected as

well right now when my knee got

recovered and then I started to play

again and then I realized that actually

I can still move pretty good I can hit

the ball right then the whole body

started to rejoice right I felt the

energy and then my mind actually

starting to speak to me I say, "Do you

know what Ali, you might be 40, but I

think you can still have this." Right?

So, one when one member suffers,

everyone responds. When one rejoices,

everyone celebrates.

Why am I saying this? Because healthy

churches don't compete.

>> They care.

And we as Lighthouse Church, we need to

ask our ask ourselves this question

again and again and again. And the

question is what kind of church we want

to be? What do we want to be known for?

Because the reality is that people don't

drift towards community, right? People

drift towards isolation. So as

Lighthouse Church, we have decided that

because of that that's happening, we

want to be a church who's in the

community

for the community.

And now as we close this passage, the

last verse, verse 27, it says, "Now you

are the body of Christ and each one of

you is part of it. You are the body of

Christ. Not you attend church, not you

believe certain doctrines. You are the

body. This is what Jesus is speaking to

you if you follow him." Notice the

identity. Before the Apostle Paul tells

them what to do, he reminds them of who

they are. Behavior flows from your

identity.

So as I read this passage again and

again, for me personally, here is the

challenge.

The grass is never greener on the other

side.

The grass is not never greener on the

other side. That's the challenge for me

personally. What do I mean by that? God

never asked me to be somebody else,

right? He asked me to faithfully steward

the calling and the gifts that he has

already placed in me. And now, yeah,

some people identify with that. I mean,

I I've tried it for nine years. Being a

Christ follower, following Jesus, being

on a platform like this, preaching every

second week, went home, felt miserable.

That's why I'm so grateful for a church

like Lighthouse Church and for Pastor

Jamie again who modeled to me what it

means to be authentic and real and not

being afraid to talk about your

weaknesses. Don't just present your

strengths because people might feel

inspired by your strengths, but they

connect with your weaknesses,

>> right? That's why we we might not be the

most perfect church, but for sure we are

a church that's real and authentic.

So if you are a Christ follower in the

room, here is the bottom line for us who

represent the church, the body of

Christ. The bottom line is this. Our

identity as Christ followers isn't

something we just believe. It's

something that we get to live.

>> And what it should look like to be the

body of Christ in everyday life. You

might ask yourself, well, as we land

this message, here are three practical

takeaways that I want us to remember.

Number one, encourage one another.

encourage one another. As healthy bodies

don't ignore pain,

healthy churches, they don't ignore

people.

The greatest barrier to encouragement,

it's comparison.

But comparison eidas make us feel proud

or insecure, but neither builds anyone.

Right? Comparison divides. Encouragement

builds.

Would you believe that someone sitting

right next to you right now might

actually be carrying a burden that you

know nothing about?

A simple kind word can become God's

encouragement

and someone's darkest moment.

And the church should be the safest

place for hurting people. And that's

because we remind one another that we

don't walk alone.

So ask yourself whether you're a Christ

follower or not, you can ask yourself

who needs encouragement this week.

If you're married, when is the last time

you have encouraged your spouse?

If you have children, when is the last

time you have encouraged them? When is

the last time you have encouraged your

boss?

Think about this. to number one,

encourage one another. Number two, in

light of the fact that we opened up our

hearts to Jesus and we have received

spiritual gifts, this is what we're

called to do, to equip the church. Eip

the church as a Christ follower. That's

your purpose. And guess what? The good

news is that your gift has a place here.

God did didn't just saved you to simply

attend church. He saved you to build the

church. And if you're coming for a while

and you like what's happening here,

maybe the question isn't anymore, what

can I get from this? Maybe the question

is, what has God placed inside of me for

the benefit of others? So ask yourself,

have I found my place

or I am just sitting on a gift that God

intended me to use. So you keep the

church and number three empower the body

in light again that of the fact that we

have received spiritual gifts. When we

open up our heart to Jesus, God calls us

to empower the body. God doesn't just

give us gifts for personal status. It's

like, look at me. I know how to

communicate or preach, whatever that

means, but he gave us gifts for the

common good.

Your gift isn't about making your name

known. It's about making Jesus known.

>> But empowerment only happens when we

stay connected, right? God designed us

to grow together,

serve, and depend on one another.

And guess what? When we are empowered by

God and we're willing to express that

empowerment and the gifts we have

received through service, the impossible

becomes possible. People find hope.

Families are restored.

Children get to hear about Jesus and the

lonely find community and the lost hear

the gospel. So as we close, imagine a

church where everyone believed they

matter.

Imagine a church like that. Imagine a

church where no one compared gifts.

Imagine a church that's so loving, so

caring, so compassionate,

so empowering.

That kind of church the world cannot

ignore.

So, let's stand as we go into our

response time.

And I hope you've been encouraged and

inspired today. But as we are about to

go yes

into two more songs,

I want to just say this. If you're here

and you haven't decided yet to follow

Jesus and maybe today you're wondering

where do you belong in all of this,

there's a place for you here.

>> And the good news for you is this.

Before God invites you to serve in his

family, he first invites you into his

family. Jesus died and rose again so you

could be forgiven,

made new, have a personal relationship

with him, and become part of his body,

which is the church. So maybe for you

today, the greatest gift that you can

receive is accepting Christ into your

heart. And today the invitation, it's

simple. It's not rocket science. Jesus

might actually be saying to you, come to

me.

Come to me. Find forgiveness.

Find your purpose. Find your place. Find

your people. Don't just attend church,

but belong to it.