Dear readers,
Many of my blogs are made up of sermons outlines and quick thoughts.
These are here to accompany the video of the sermon link below.
1 Corinthians 12:1-4,11
Now, concerning the gifts from the Holy Spirit.I want you to know the truth about them, my friends. 2 You know that while you were still heathen, you were led astray in many ways to the worship of lifeless idols. 3 I want you to know that no one who is led by God’s Spirit can say “A curse on Jesus!” and no one can confess “Jesus is Lord,” without being guided by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them…..(Vs 11) But it is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person. (31) 31 Set your hearts, then, on the more important gifts.
cha·ris·ma
kəˈrizmə/ – “Gift” – charisma: a gift of grace, a free gift
My Gifted Little Child
Matthew 18:3 3: And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
It’s like Jesus is saying ….the first years of your life as a believer are some of the most important ones.
GOD IS CALLING US TO BE CHILDLIKE … NOT CHILDISH.
Has you get older, the opportunities to learn new things gets harder and become fewer.
IF WE DON’T HAVE TIME TO DO IT RIGHT, WHEN WILL WE HAVE TIME TO DO IT OVER?
You will only be a CHILD for a certain amount of TIME
Time cannot be STOPPED. STRETCHED. STORED.
God gives us some insights about TIME.
Eph. 5:15,16 make the most of it. – Col. 4:5 redeem it. – Matt. 6:33 prioritize it.
I Samuel 3-4:1….The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.
I. God Is Crazy About Children and people that are childlike.
When it comes to gifts….”Become like little children.” – Matthew 18:3
THE GIFTS
A. DISCOVER THEM
B. DEVELOP THEM
C. DISTRIBUTE THEM
D. OR THEY WILL REMAIN DORMANT.
Illustration – NO RUNS, NO HITS, NO ERRORS
In one little Midwestern town, Miss Jones had the distinction of being the oldest resident in town. So when she died, the editor of the local paper wanted to print a little article remembering this dear old lady, except he couldn’t think of anything to say when he sat down to write the article. Miss Jones had never done anything terribly wrong. She had never spent a night in jail or had ever been drunk. On the other hand, she had never done anything significant.
With this still on his mind, the editor went down to the local café, and there, ran into the local funeral director. He too was having the same trouble. He wanted to put something on Miss Jones’ tombstone besides “Miss Nancy Jones, born such-and-such a date and died such-and-such a date,” but he couldn’t think of anything to write either.
The editor decided to go back to his office and assign the job of writing up a small article for both the paper and the tombstone to the first reporter he saw. When he got to the office, he ran into the sports editor, who got the assignment. So somewhere in some little community in the Midwest there is a tombstone which reads:
Here lie the bones of Nancy Jones,
For her life held no terrors.
She lived an old maid. She died an old maid.
No hits, no runs, no errors. (C. C. Mitchell, Let’s Live!)
I’m afraid to say, “That’s the way many Christians live their lives.” They’ve never done anything terribly wrong, but they never accomplish anything significant for the Lord.
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2. The Gift Giving Heart Of God.
“Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God.” – James 1:17
“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them” – 1 Corinthians 12:4
“ as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person.” 1 Corinthians 12:11
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3. God Loves the CHILD Inside You!
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
We will have all of eternity to talk about our victories….but only today to win them and share them.
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THE OTHER GIFT
Eu·cha·rist
ˈyo͞ok(ə)rəst/ The good gift/thanksgiving/the good grace
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat;[b] this is My body which is broken[c] for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-25
The last supper is about the Christ story.
“My body is broken and my blood is spilled out”.
Its is about giving out and taking back in.
The FATIGUE Of and the RHYTHM of Jesus.
Communion and the table is all about staying in a sustainable rhythm of giving and receiving.
Your life is also a EUCHARIST TO ALL OF US – LEARN THE ART OF THE EUCHARIST RHYTHM.
BODY BROKEN-CUP POURED OUR – BODY RESTORED – FILLED UP.
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