What are Gifts? // You are GIFTED | Ps. Matthew Francey

But today, my job is to bring this

message, part one of this series, you

are gifted, a series on spiritual gifts.

And maybe you're here and you know

nothing about spiritual gifts. You know

nothing about church. You know nothing

about the Bible. Well, my job today is

to just explain to you what they are and

hopefully you can leave this place

informed today. But over the next few

weeks, we're going to look at why and

how and what are the spiritual gifts.

But the purpose of this series as a

whole is to explain what spiritual gifts

are, why God gave them, and how they

work so that we can grow in our

extraordinary purpose in Christ. So, we

believe that they are tied with our

purpose. So, week one, today's message

is all about what are spiritual gifts?

And it's a great question to ask. I'm

glad you asked and I'm going to answer

that today for you. And one thing we all

have in common is most of us spend our

lives asking the question, why am I

here? Like what is my purpose? Why am I

here on earth? Is it just to work a job

and then die and that's it? And to

contribute or is it to just fill a

space? Is it to just suck air? Like what

is my role here on earth? And we ask

that question. Sometimes we try and

suppress the question. Sometimes we try

to deflect the question. But we all have

it in the back of our minds. We're

asking our question, this purpose

question, why um I here. And some of us,

we all look for our purpose in different

places. Some of us look for it in our

career and our achievement. If we get a

certain title, if we achieve a certain

amount, then that means we have

fulfilled our purpose. For some, it's

relationships. If we're married, have a

family, we've made it. If we have a

certain amount of money and we buy

certain things, that means we've

fulfilled our purpose here on earth. If

people know my name and I'm recognized

and I have status, well then is that my

purpose or is my purpose that I'm just

happy that I do whatever I need to do to

make sure that I am happy and I have a

good time? We all try and find our

purpose in different things. But what if

what if God has already placed something

in you that points directly to your

purpose? What if he's already given you

a gift that already gives you a hint and

an idea and a direction of what your

purpose could be? And maybe you're here

and your push back is in me. Like what

have I got to offer? Are you sure you're

talking to the right people? Like

there's something in me that points to

my purpose. Surely not because there's

people around me and maybe you say the

same thing as other people and you say,

"Well, they're talented. They can sing.

They're talented because they can draw.

They can lead people. They can play an

instrument. They can do this job well."

And we all look at other people and say,

"Well, they are talented." But I want to

make a distinction today because talent

does not equal spiritual gifts.

Because talents are learned and gifts

are given. Talent is something that if

we try time and time and time and time

and time again, we could do it. So

whether it's a skill, whether it's a

job, whether it's a role, we can learn

and become talented at it if we try and

if we learn. But gifts are given. The

gifts that we have aren't manufactured,

but you might feel like they come

naturally to you because they have been

gifted to you from God. Because God

doesn't choose the gifted. He doesn't

look for the perfect person. He doesn't

think oh who am I going to find? Who's

the most gifted? Who can do the best?

But actually he gifts the chosen. So

actually people who he has chosen, he

gives them their gifts. And I want to

share good news with you this morning

that you are chosen.

Anyone excited about being chosen? Like

maybe some of you have PTSD about being

in the school and they had two sides and

there was two captains and you got

chosen last

and you're hurt by it and it still

brings a tear to you. I want to let you

know today that you are chosen. God has

chosen you. And because he has chosen

you, he has given you these gifts. God

has not called you to sit on the

sidelines of his purpose. He has given

you a gift. He has given you a purpose.

And he doesn't want you to sit on the

sidelines. He doesn't want to sit on use

to sit on the bench and just watch

what's going on around you. He wants you

to be involved and in the middle of the

action because he has given you gifts

and talents to use. So the question I

want to ask today is what are the

spiritual gifts? What are these

spiritual gifts that God has given us

that we can use in our everyday lives?

So, we're going to look at a passage

found in Romans 12 3-11.

And we're going to look at who, when,

and why. Who wrote this book? Well, his

name was Paul. And originally, he hated

Christians. He hated anything to do with

church and rel religiosity and nothing

to do with it. And then he had a moment

with Jesus and everything changed. He

went from someone who hated it to

actually someone who wanted to plant

brand new churches, someone who

encouraged Christians, and someone who

wrote letters to teach all these

different churches. And this book that

we're going to read, Romans, was written

by Paul in AD57, while Paul was in

Corinth. And if you're familiar with the

Bible, you will see two books, 1 and 2

Corinthians. And he wrote to those

people there. But while he was in

Corinth, he wrote this letter to the

people of Rome. And why did he write

this book? Well, it was to explain the

gospel clearly. The gospel is the good

news of Jesus. People had heard this

message about Jesus. So Paul was trying

to explain to them this message clearly

so that they would understand it more,

but also to help people understand

Jesus, deal with problems, grow in their

faith, and learn how to live together as

God's people. And this is not just a

historical document. This is not just

something that we find in the Bible, but

actually it's something that we can use

today that it's helpful for us because

as Christ followers, we want to

understand Jesus more. As everybody in

this room, we deal with problems and the

problem might have followed you to

church. The problem might be sitting

beside you in church. But whatever

problem you're going through, the Bible

can help you deal with those problems.

We grow in our faith and we learn how to

live together. So this is what Paul says

in verse three. He says, "For by the

grace given to me, I say to every one of

you, do not think of yourself more

highly than you ought." So he starts

here, he's saying, "This is the grace

given to me." So he starts by saying,

"It's a grace thing. It's not something

that I earned or deserve, but it's

grace." And we shouldn't think more

highly of ourselves. As we begin this

idea of asking the question, what are

spiritual gifts? We can see that gifts

are given by grace.

They're given freely. This idea of grace

is unmmerited favor. It's something that

we do not deserve. They are received,

not achieved. We don't need to achieve

anything. We don't need to know

anything. All we need to do to receive

this gift is to accept Jesus into our

lives. And because these gifts are given

by grace, that changes how we see

ourselves. because we don't become

proud. We don't become insecure and we

don't compare because these gifts have

been given by grace. We don't need to be

proud because we didn't earn it. Just

because we were brilliant didn't mean

that we were given a gift. It was

because of grace. We don't need to be

insecure and think, is this worth it? Is

this a good one? Should I use it? It has

been given by grace. And we don't need

to compare with other people because

it's a gift that God has given each and

every one of us. So we see that these

are given by grace and it changes how we

think. So we don't think more highly of

each other. And then Paul uses this

analogy of the body. So he says in verse

four, but just as each of us has one

body with many members and these members

do not all have the same function, so in

Christ we though many form one body and

each member belongs to the others. We

know this analogy of the body that if

every body part was a foot, we wouldn't

be able to smell. If every body part was

the ears, we wouldn't be able to see.

So, we need every part of the body to

function because we might think, well,

the heart's important and the lungs are

important and the liver is important and

the kidneys important. So, what's the

most important? If I take the heart out,

well, then that's the most important

because I'm going to die without the

heart. But then if I take the lungs out,

I'm going to die, too.

What Paul is trying to illustrate is

that every part has a function and every

part has a role and it's all important

to have every function covered so that

we would be healthy. And he uses this

same idea when it comes to the spiritual

gifts. One body, many members and we all

have different functions. And this idea

is the mission that Jesus gives us that

we are one body but we are many members

but we still have one mission. Like our

church, we are one church. We have

different teams that have different

functions, but we have one mission. And

can you imagine? We all have different

teams in church. And you have different

roles in your organization as well. Can

you imagine the people who are quiet and

introverted? They mostly find themselves

and they drift into our production team

because they're in their black t-shirts.

They're hidden. You can't see them. You

don't know where they are. You don't

know what they're doing. But we see the

results of our production team and

that's exactly the way they like it.

They like hiding in the shadows and just

pushing their buttons and getting on

with what they need to do. But then we

also have a team in church called our

next steps team and they love connecting

with new people and they love chatting

and they love welcoming people in. Can

you imagine if we made our production

team do that role that when you were

coming into church today and our fulture

team and our next steps team are like,

"Hey, how's it going? Nice to see you."

Like chatting to you. Can you imagine

our quiet introverted production team

trying to do that? That is not their

gifting. Their gifting is in production

and then our production team want to

stay where their gifting is. or should

we put them outside?

They didn't say anything. So, I think

they should welcome people next week.

But then we have people who are gifted

in communicating and they love talking

to new people and that's why they are on

that team. We know it in our workplaces

too. There's people who do admin and

there's people that struggle to open an

email. If they swapped roles, it would

just be a mess. We need the admin people

to do their role so that everyone else

can do their role. And we all have

different strengths. We all have

different functions, but we need

everyone playing their part. It's one

body. It's many members, but it's one

mission. And we need you to play your

part. Because if you don't play your

part, well, then the organization isn't

healthy. Our church isn't healthy.

Wherever you go isn't healthy because

you're not giving your function. You're

not giving your best. You're not serving

with your gift. But what if the gift

that God has placed in your life is the

answer to somebody else's need?

What if someone has a need and the

answer is within you? What if that your

company to get to the next level that

it's your gift and talent that's going

to take them there? What if there's

something in our church that hasn't been

unlocked yet because you haven't given

your gifts and abilities? What if our

community has a need and the answer is

in your life?

What if it's just lying there dormant

and the world doesn't get to see what

God has placed in you? Because God's

gifts are not for me.

They're through me. They're not just to

build my life. They're not just to build

my status, but they're for those around

me. It works through me. to the church,

to our community, to our nation, to our

jobs, to our families. They're not for

me, but they work through me. And John

Stodd, who's a British pastor and

theologian, says the Holy Spirit equips

God's people to do God's work. So, we

have a role to do, but God equips us to

do that. But see how he says he equips

God's people. It's not just the pastor.

It's not just the perfect people. It's

not just the people you see on stage.

It's not just the loud people. But God

through his Holy Spirit has equipped all

people. All people have been equipped by

God so that we can live out our purpose.

And Paul goes on to start explaining

these gifts. He's going to give us a

list of these gifts. And we're going to

go quickly through these lists. And

we're not going to dwell on the list

today, but over the next few weeks,

we're going to look at what they mean,

how we operate in them, and why we are

given them. So Paul goes on in verse six

and says, "We have different gifts

according to the grace given to each of

us." If your gift is to prophesy, then

prophesy in accordance with your faith.

It is to serve, then serve. If it's to

teach, then teach. If it is to

encourage, then give encouragement. If

it's giving, then give generously. If

it's to lead, do it diligently. If it's

to show mercy, do it cheerfully. And

that was a quick list of some of the

gifts that some of us have been given.

But to summarize what Paul is trying to

say here is this. He says, if you have

it, use it. If God has given you a gift,

use it. If God has given you a talent,

use it. And there's nothing worse than

seeing someone with loads of potential

and them not filling that potential.

>> Like whether it's in your company,

whether it's in your family, wherever it

is, when you see someone with potential

and you dream about, if they just keep

going, if they keep building into their

lives, if they keep healthy, what could

their life look like? And then we see

people just throw away their talent.

They don't use it. They get lazy.

They're not healthy. And they miss out

on the potential that they had. We don't

want any of you here to miss out on your

potential because God has put a purpose

and a gift in each and every one of our

lives. So if you have it, use it.

>> And here's a more robust definition of

spiritual gifts after we've read this

passage. So spiritual gifts are

extraordinary

grace-given abilities or supernatural

graces given to individuals. In

Christian theology, they're distributed

by the Holy Spirit not for personal

status, but to serve others, build up

the community, and to fulfill the

mission of the church. These gifts

aren't ordinary for you. They might just

feel natural. It might feel ordinary,

but actually a supernatural

gift has been given to you that makes it

feel natural for you. Because there's

some things that feel natural to me that

don't feel natural to you. But because

they're natural to me, it's because

they've been given to me supernaturally

by God. They're gracegiven. They're

undeserved. They're a gift from God. And

they're not for me. They're not for

personal status. They're not to build my

platform. not to build my name but to

serve others, build up the community and

to fulfill the mission of the church.

And in the New Testament, it gives us

several lists. It gives us lists in

Romans 12 that we just read, 1

Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4, all of

which are letters written by Paul to

these different churches explaining some

of the spiritual gifts that God gifts us

with. And he gives us all these lists

because the Holy Spirit equipss God's

people in many different ways. Each and

every one of us are unique. And maybe

you're here and you're not a Christ

follower. And you think as soon as

someone becomes a Christian, they lose

their personality. They lose who they

are. They lose some fun in their life.

You think it's just cookie cutter.

They're the same. They're boring now. I

don't want anything to do with that. But

actually, the Holy Spirit equips us in

many different ways. Meaning, we are all

very different. We're not cookie cutter.

We're not the same as everybody else.

But God has gifted us in many different

ways. And looking at all these lists, I

want to give you the lists today. And

over the next few weeks, we'll look into

those more. But my job is to lay the

foundation for this series by informing

you and giving you these lists to let

you know what spiritual gifts are

available for us. So the first type of

list, and there's three different types

of these gifts, is manifestational

gifts. And sometimes this is what we

think of when we think of gifts. So if

you have a church background, if you've

ever grown up in church, this is

probably what you think when you think

of spiritual gifts. These gifts reveal

the supernatural power of the Holy

Spirit at work. We see them outlived in

our services. We see them outlived and

outworked in our lives. But maybe you've

grown up in church and maybe you've

experienced these in a weird way. I want

to let you know that the spiritual gifts

are not weird.

What's weird is the people operating the

gifts. And they don't have to be weird.

They can be normal. I can operate in my

gift today and it be normal. And I hope

I'm normal. If I'm not, keep it to

yourself. Don't let me know. I'm happy

thinking that I am normal. But if you've

ever thought about, oh, why do

Christians do that? Why do Christians do

that? That is not the Holy Spirit. That

is not these gifts. It's individual

people and how they react and respond to

the power of the Holy Spirit. But this

is how we sometimes put our spiritual

gifts in a box and think these are the

only gifts available. But these are the

ones that reveal the supernatural power

of the Holy Spirit at work. And this is

just one type. So we see words of wisdom

and we see words of knowledge. Words of

wisdom, the ability to understand and

apply biblical truth to specific

situations. Word of knowledge is

supernatural insight or revelation into

circumstances or God's will. This wisdom

is, have you ever met someone and they

just know how what to do? Like how did

you get that answer from this situation?

Because they're able to take God's

wisdom and apply it to the situation

that they are in. And it might not make

sense to us, but through the wisdom that

God has given them, they're able to give

us wisdom and speak truth to that

specific situation. or words of

knowledge. God gives us these specific

words of knowledge and insight into

situations where it's like, "How could

they have possibly known that? How did

they know I was thinking that? How do

they know I said that? How do they know

I'm going through that?" It's because

God has given that person a word of

knowledge. We see the gifts of faith and

we see the gifts of healing as well.

Faith is an extraordinary unwavering

confidence in God and his promises. the

gifts of healing or supernatural

restoration of health or wholeness to

others. This idea of faith is maybe not

one that's loud and proud and it's out

there, but actually it's more subtle

than others. And I think I have this

gift of faith because whatever happens,

I have this unwavering confidence. I

can't explain it. I don't know why, but

anything that happens, I'm just like,

God's got it. I'm good. Life's going to

be okay because God has got this. And

it's an unwavering. It's a supernatural

confidence in God. And gifts of healing.

We see people who are prayed for and

they receive their healing. Other gifts

are miraculous powers and prophecy.

Miraculous powers is the ability to

perform extraordinary acts that defy

natural laws. Prophecy is proclaiming

God's truth boldly and fearlessly to

encourage, edify, and comfort.

Miraculous powers. Some people think

it's like Matilda and you point your

finger and things start spinning and

things start moving and things start

happening and we think that's what this

means when we talk about miracles. But

we've heard of stories and testimonies

in this room where God has performed a

miracle and these people have been given

gifts that they're able to pray for a

certain situation and speak life into it

and we see a miracle happen. Prophecy is

those that proclaim God's truth boldly

in many situations. Discernment is

distinguishing between spirits, the

ability to recognize whether behavior or

teaching is from God, human or deceitful

source. Sometimes we're trying to figure

out, okay, is this what God is saying to

us? Is this what our idea is, or is this

just something completely off? And we

need people with that gift who can

discern, okay, I don't think this is the

right way we should go. I don't think

this is what God has said to us, or I

think God is saying this. And they allow

us to take steps of faith and steps of

boldness because they're able to

distinguish between spirits. Few more.

Speaking in tongues and interpretation

of tongues. The supernatural ability to

speak in languages a person has never

learned. Interpretation of tongues is

translating the spoken messages in

tonesues. So the entire congregation can

understand. This idea of tonesues is a

supernatural language that God has

gifted to certain people. a heavenly

language that communicates straight from

God to God. And the interpretation of

tongues is translating that so all of us

can understand the message that they

have been given. And maybe you've

experienced some of those. Maybe as we

look through some of those you were

like, I've had that one and I've

experienced this one and I've seen that

one displayed in a weird way, but I've

seen that one. And maybe you're here and

you're like, I've never heard of any of

these. Like what is this all about? God

gives us gifts and these gifts that God

has given us point people to Jesus.

These gifts that as we operate in them

shouldn't point people to us, shouldn't

distract people, but actually they

should point people to Jesus because God

wants us to use these gifts to prove

that he is a supernatural

God. Because life is complicated, life

is crazy. Life can be messy. But God

wants to let us know that we have a

supernatural power

that we can attain to live out our

everyday life. As as we go through the

mess, as we go through the difficulty,

we have a supernatural God on our side.

So these gifts, if used properly, point

people to Jesus. So Christ followers,

the question I want to ask you is, what

do your gifts point to? Are they

pointing to you? Are you trying to get

the attention and show how spiritual you

are and how you've got life together and

how great you are? Do they point to your

laziness that you're not living them

out? You're not putting them into use.

Where do your gifts point to? Or maybe

you're here and you're not a Christ

follower and you haven't accepted Jesus

yet. And we believe that as when you

accept Jesus, you're given these gifts.

And these gifts are for Christ

followers. But again, you could be here

and you could have a talent because

talents are learned. You've got a talent

and you're good at something. So, how

can you use your talent to point people

in the right direction? How can you use

what you've learned that you've grown in

your ability to help other people? Maybe

it's in your family. Maybe it's in the

community in a sports club with your

children and pointing them in the right

direction using what you have learned.

But instead of just using your talent,

we would love for you to experience

everything God has for you. The gift

that God has for you. Second type of

gift list that we see is the ministry

gifts. These gifts are focused on

serving and practical ministry. We see

the gift of administration and the gift

of service. Administration organizing

people and resources to accomplish the

mission of the church effectively. We

see the gift of service providing

practical behindthe-scenes assistance to

meet the needs of other people. I love

admins. I love administration because

they're behind the scenes. They get to

do all this stuff. They pull everything

together so that we can fulfill the

mission effectively. It may not be

upfront and loud, but they get allow us

to do what we do effectively. People who

have the gift of service provide

practical behind-the-scenes assistance

to help the needs of others. They don't

get the glory. They don't get their name

in lights. But God sees how they serve

behind the scenes. We see the gifts of

mercy and giving. Mercy is demonstrating

extraordinary empathy and care for those

who are suffering or vulnerable. We see

the gift of giving, contributing

resources, finances, or time generously

and joyfully. Maybe you're like, I

definitely don't have this cuz it's so

hard to give away what you have earned.

But there's some people that naturally

find it easy to just give. There's a

need, I'll give. Oh, there's an a want,

I'll serve. And they just give so

easily. And when it's mercy, we

demonstrate an extraordinary empathy.

They take the hurts of other people and

they feel it so personally. And because

they feel it so personally for those who

are suffering and vulnerable, that's

when they can show the best love and

care. We also see the gift of

encouragement or exhortation,

comforting, motivating, counseling

others to live faithfully. They they use

their words and their lives to uplift

and encourage other people so that they

they would live out God's plan

faithfully. So Christ follower, if

you've looked at these gifts, are you

using your gifts to build up the church?

God has given us all these different

gifts to build up the church. That is

the purpose of them. You can use it in

the workplace. You can use it out there.

But the primary goal is to fulfill the

mission of the church.

Are you fulfilling the mission of the

church by putting your gifts into the

mix so that we can plant more churches

that we can love on our community more?

That we can not just us that we can do

more, but once you experience your gift,

you'll step into your purpose. You'll

step into your extraordinary

purpose. So, you will receive this gift.

You will live out your purpose, but also

we get the benefit. Our community gets

the benefit. Your family gets the

benefit. But you get the benefit knowing

you're living out your purpose. And as

you use your gift to build up the

church, this becomes your church.

You sew your life into this place and

God will use that to reach many more

people. If you're not a Christ follower

in this place, are you using your

talents to help our community and

others? The talents that you have in

your life, are you keeping them to

yourself? Oh, I used to do that back in

the day. I used to help people in this

way and I used to serve in this way. But

what has God allowed you to work in your

life that's given you this talent to

help our community? Because our

community is in need. There's a lot of

needs in our community and you may have

the answer to that need in your life.

Are you using your talent to help others

or is it to build your own platform? Is

it to get recognition? Is it to help

your brand? Is it to help your family or

is it to help others? Cuz our gifts are

not for us, but they're through us. So,

the gifts God's given us as Christ

followers are for other people, but your

talents as well are for other people.

The third type of list is leadership

gifts.

These gifts are given to equip the

church and lead its members. So, we've

been given this to not just go on this

mission, but actually use these people

to do it more effectively. So we've got

apostilhip and pastoring. Apostles

pioneer and establish new ministries or

churches. Pastors or shepherds new

nurture, protect and guide a community

of believers. We need all this within a

church so that we are healthy. We need

people to pioneer and establish new

ministries and churches. And I love

being a part of Lighthouse because we

get to see new lifegiving churches

birthed not just in Lighthouse but from

Lighthouse that we have four locations

in Navern, Dublin West, Dublin North and

also in Dundok and we want to see many

more across Ireland but we partner with

organizations like Ark and we see many

lifegiving churches planted all over

Europe. So we need this to build a

church. We need pastors to build a

church because people need nurtured,

protected, and guided. But we also need

evangelists and teachers. Evangelists

effectively and passionately share the

gospel to lead others to faith. And we

need teachers to clearly and accurately

communicate biblical truths to help

others grow. God has given us all these

roles. And we also read about the

prophets and it's tied into prophecy.

But we need all these roles to fulfill

the mission of the church. And if you

are one of these roles, our church needs

you. We have people in these roles

because if we had someone to teach but

not someone to reach, well then our

church is lopsided and we're good at

teaching but we're not good at reaching.

We have people that I would honestly

just pay for their bus fair and they

could just get on a bus around Dublin

because they are so good at just sharing

the message, sharing what God has done

for them. But we also have incredible

teachers who can teach us so that we can

grow stronger in our faith. But we need

all of them. And because we have all of

them, we can make an impact.

So I want to ask, are you making an

impact? Are you using your gift to make

an impact? Or is it just staying with

you? If it stays within you,

it dies with you.

But if you use it, you're able to make

an impact. So, Christ follower, are you

going to use your gift to make an

impact, not just in our church, but in

our community? A non-Christ follower,

are you using your talents and who you

are to make an impact in the world

around you?

These gifts aren't just for us to feel

better. Francis Chan puts it this way.

He's a Christian author and speaker. He

says, "The Holy Spirit was never given

merely to make us feel better, but to

empower us to live differently." We are

called to live differently. People

should see that our lives are different

than those around us if we carry the

Holy Spirit within us. And that's what

these gifts are. They are God's grace at

work.

through ordinary people just like me and

you

for an extraordinary

purpose.

>> It's God's grace that we don't deserve.

We haven't earned. We haven't achieved

through us ordinary people not having to

make a standard. Not having to be

brilliant, not having to have all the

knowledge and wisdom.

But as we live out our gifts, as we use

these gifts, we will walk in our

extraordinary

purpose. Maybe you're here, you're new,

and this is all like new to you. I don't

want you to get overwhelmed by the lists

because there's a lot of gifts that we

can have. And it could be overwhelming

hearing all the gifts that we just went

through. And I know we didn't go through

it in detail, but we've got another few

weeks of the series. But what I would

love for you to ask is this question.

Holy Spirit, where have you gifted me?

Maybe as you were going through the

lists that one high was highlighted to

you, one stood out to you, one you

thought maybe maybe that's what I have.

Maybe you could ask how can I use what

you've given me

that okay I think I've got this gift or

someone else has confirmed it in me and

someone has told me that oh maybe you

have this gift well how can I use what

I've been given

what team in church

what opportunity in our community

how can I use it in my workplace how can

I use it in the with the people around

me. How can you use the gift that God

has given you

in your everyday life? Or maybe ask, who

can I serve?

Who can I not just keep this for myself,

but who can I serve using my gift? And

if you're not sure about your gift, if

you're here and you're a Christ follower

and you haven't thought about your gift,

you haven't looked into it, we would

love for you to see our ne our prayer

team. They would love to pray for you

after service that God would speak to

you and let you know what gift you have.

Our next steps team also have resources

to help you out in that. And week three

will help you discover what your gift

is.

Maybe you're here and you're not a

Christ follower and you're like, I want

to experience these gifts in my life.

Our prayer team would love to pray for

you so that they can show you who Jesus

is and the gifts that he has for you and

you can accept Jesus today and receive a

gift from him because the gift of every

gift, the purpose of these gifts is not

self-promotion.

It's love and action.

It's not about how it will affect us.

It's not about what we can gain from it,

but it's love in action.

So because that's the reason Paul

doesn't just finish Romans 12 and he

just doesn't stop with this list and

move on. But actually he gives us the

motive. He says this in verse 9. He says

love must be sincere. Hate what is evil.

Cling to what is good. Be devoted to one

another in love. Honor one another above

yourselves. Never be lacking in seal.

But keep your spiritual fervor. Serving

the Lord

with these gifts. Love is the motive.

Service is the purpose and Jesus is the

goal. Christ follower. If we're

operating in our gifts and love is not

the motive, well then we're using it

wrong. If service is not its purpose,

then we're using it wrong. If Jesus is

not your goal, then we're using it

wrong. But if you're a Christ follower

in here and have a spiritual gift that

you know of or if you're here and you

haven't discovered your gift, I want you

to know today that the motive is love.

Service is the purpose. Jesus is the

goal. And if you're here today and you

haven't experienced Jesus and you

haven't yet experienced the gift that he

has given you, he gave you this because

love was his motive. that he came down

to earth to give his life for you so

that you could receive this gift from

him.

Love was his motive. He came to serve.

His purpose was to serve. He came to

love.

He came to help. Came to give you hope.

So love was his motive. And service was

his purpose. And maybe today you can get

to know him. Here's three responses that

we can take today as we close. First is

come to Jesus. Maybe you're here and you

haven't decided to follow Jesus. I would

love for you to consider

giving your life to Jesus today because

he loves you. He cares for you and he

has gifts available for you. He's such a

great heavenly father that he has gifts

that he wants to give to you so that you

would step into your extraordinary

purpose. And today discover why you are

here. Answer that question. Why am I

here?

Jesus can answer that for you today.

Second thing we can do is connect to the

body today. You can partner with

Lighthouse Church and say I want to

connect to the body. I want to put down

roots here. I want to call this my

church and get connected. As you get

connected, you bring your gift. You

bring your personality. You bring you to

the body and you make us stronger.

And as you make us stronger, then we can

fulfill our mission in this nation. To

let everyone know about Jesus, to plant

new churches, to reach lost people.

We would love for you to connect with

the body. If you're not, if you're here

and you don't follow Jesus, we would

love for you to connect with us. Get to

know some people around the place. hang

out, get to know more about who Jesus is

because you don't need to believe before

you belong. You can belong here before

you believe. So this is a place for

people who know Jesus, who are

questioning Jesus, who are sitting on

the fence, who had a relationship with

Jesus and decided not to follow him.

This is for everybody. We would love for

everyone to connect to the body. And the

third thing we can do is contribute

what God has given you. Use your gifts.

Use what God has given you and serve

others.

Join one of our teams. We just had a

Kids Fun week and it wouldn't be

possible without people contributing

their gifts. We have people at Kids Fun

week who were welcoming people,

connecting with people, working with

kids, doing crafts, doing the technology

side. We had people doing everything

because people have different gifts to

contribute. So where can you contribute

today? Because God has given you a gift.

I want each and every one of you to know

today that you are gifted.

If you accept Jesus in your life today,

you are gifted.

But there's an opportunity to receive

this gift today if you accept Jesus into

your life. As we stand and as we close

today, can you imagine

as the band play one more song and as we

stand to our feet, can you imagine what

God could do in our church if every

believer understood this? If you're a

Christ follower and you have a gift,

imagine what our church could do if we

understood this.

Not everyone doing the same thing but

every person doing their part.

Christian theologian Awtoer

says this. God is looking for people

through whom he can do the impossible.

Lighthouse church what if that person is

you? What if God wants to do the

impossible through you? Through the gift

that he's already given you. Or if you

haven't accepted Jesus, the gift that he

can give you today,

that as you accept this gift, as you

live out this gift,

we will all walk in our extraordinary

purpose.