WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.279 Good morning everyone. Oh that's enthusiastic. Good morning everyone. That's great to see you, 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:15.280 it's great to be here and welcome to our new sermon series on God's gifts. We've already 00:00:15.280 --> 00:00:22.059 celebrated that amazing gift of Jesus who came, probably some of you have already packed your 00:00:22.059 --> 00:00:27.900 Christmas decorations away, but we're here to celebrate also that amazing gift that we were 00:00:27.899 --> 00:00:35.159 given at Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit and all the gifts that God brings for us and being 00:00:35.159 --> 00:00:43.339 open maybe in ourselves, being vulnerable is to receiving that all God has for us because often 00:00:43.339 --> 00:00:51.899 we remain a bit closed to this amazing gift that God gives us to say it's for you, it's for each and 00:00:51.899 --> 00:00:58.299 every one of us and sometimes we need to grasp that because we think it's all for somebody else 00:00:58.299 --> 00:01:04.579 and that it's not for us. We're going to explore that this morning but first I'm going to tell you 00:01:04.579 --> 00:01:11.079 a little story about a friend of mine called Steve. Steve is a plumber, I've known Steve for a little 00:01:11.079 --> 00:01:17.700 while, he was a neighbour for ages and I don't know about you, I love decorating and if I come round to 00:01:17.700 --> 00:01:24.500 your house I promise I will look down the back of your radiators to see whether you have decorated 00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:31.980 properly. I have struggled for years with decorating down the back of radiators, you know it's that 00:01:31.980 --> 00:01:37.340 thing isn't it, do you bleed the whole system, do you take it down, what do you do with it? Well there I 00:01:37.340 --> 00:01:43.600 am one day looking at what I'm going to do in my hallway when Steve knocks on my door and he says 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:50.339 what you're doing and I said Steve I'm trying to get this roller down the back of a radiator. He said 00:01:50.339 --> 00:01:57.500 God Clive goes back over to his house and as they do plumbers with a white van, not all plumbers have 00:01:57.500 --> 00:02:06.259 white vans but Steve has a white van, at the back of his white van he produces this. It's a bit of 00:02:06.260 --> 00:02:13.819 plastic with a bolt through it. All you do apparently is you attach it to your radiator, you 00:02:13.819 --> 00:02:19.599 took that down, you bleed it on the other side, you either lift it forward or lift it off, you do your 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:27.819 decorating behind it and put it back on. Job done. Why hadn't anybody told me in all the houses that I 00:02:27.819 --> 00:02:39.840 have lived in about this gift? It is so easy. Which made me think in my early days as a Christian 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:48.159 nobody had told me about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, about everything that the Holy Spirit had 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:56.819 for me, to share with me, to give with me. This great gift that makes life so much easier and gives it so 00:02:56.819 --> 00:03:05.239 much more purpose, to bring unity, gifts for everybody to use in that right time and I want to 00:03:05.239 --> 00:03:12.219 encourage us this morning that we should earnestly seek the gifts because that's what we're told to do. 00:03:12.780 --> 00:03:20.819 It is that easy just to be open and to get the job done. So we're going to look at those this morning 00:03:20.819 --> 00:03:28.180 and other people might not recognize them but we recognize them and others will then recognize them 00:03:28.180 --> 00:03:35.780 through us as to how we use them. I can't believe that for years and years I went on. It was a bit 00:03:35.780 --> 00:03:42.500 like church, you know, I went to church for years. I could process with the best, I knew liturgy but 00:03:42.500 --> 00:03:49.479 why had nobody told me about these gifts that were available to me which now are so freely available 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:56.979 to use for each and every one of us? If only we would do that. So here are some of the gifts. First of all 00:03:57.900 --> 00:04:07.580 is wisdom and wise counsel. Wisdom and wise counsel. It's, it isn't just giving somebody your opinion. 00:04:07.580 --> 00:04:12.900 You know, we're all ready to give somebody our opinion, aren't we at the moment? Or do you want 00:04:12.900 --> 00:04:18.240 to have, do you want a slice of my opinion? This is much different. This is from God. This is God's 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:25.780 wise wisdom and counsel. A special gift that speaks into people's lives and decisions. We pray for them. 00:04:25.860 --> 00:04:30.759 We think about what, what do you want for this person or what do you want for me? Maybe you're in a 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:36.139 position at the moment where you're having to make a decision about a life change, career change, 00:04:36.139 --> 00:04:45.259 whatever that might be. Ask the Lord to bring you wisdom and wide counsel. And then there's word of 00:04:45.259 --> 00:04:51.899 knowledge and clear understanding. A word of knowledge is something in that moment where somebody 00:04:51.899 --> 00:04:57.819 gives you a word that suddenly you think, gosh, yes, I needed that. Mandy's amazing at it. She'll just 00:04:57.819 --> 00:05:03.399 like come out with a Bible verse in the right place for the right person at the right time. She's got an 00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:09.279 amazing gift of bringing a word of knowledge at that right time. And it helps people not only in 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:17.899 teaching, but growing in faith. It builds us up. It helps us. It brings clarity and is often associated 00:05:17.899 --> 00:05:27.879 with prophecy, with godly discernment. And then there is faith. Faith. I don't know about you, 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:36.019 I've met people who have made faith for me so complicated. Why does it have to be make people 00:05:36.019 --> 00:05:43.800 so complicated? You know, faith, this gift of faith that we have to share and that is given to us 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:51.959 produces results in a passionate belief that turns our whole life into seeking God in so many different 00:05:51.959 --> 00:06:00.219 ways. And yet focuses us afresh. You look at life differently when you have faith. Somebody said to 00:06:00.219 --> 00:06:05.079 me the other day, you know, my goodness, I'm finding it really complicated. I said, I'm not. My faith is 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:10.560 quite simple. And I love that little thing over Christmas, those things you look and says, I believe. 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:19.799 And I think that's just where I am really. I believe. Ask for that gift of faith. Then there's healing. 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:26.920 Paul is talking about healing. And in the early church, healing was a large part of what went on. 00:06:27.780 --> 00:06:33.759 And yet so often we think, gosh, you know, we don't pray for healing. We don't ask for healing. 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:40.060 We don't seek out healing. John Wimber, the great John Wimber once said, when we pray, 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:45.960 some people get healed. When we don't pray, nobody gets healed. Let's just pray. 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:53.259 And maybe people are looking for healing around you in their relationships, maybe in their jobs, 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:59.859 in their circumstances, as well as physical healing. You know, ask for that gift of healing. 00:07:01.579 --> 00:07:07.879 Then comes miraculous acts and wonderful deeds. And I don't think we talk about these enough. 00:07:08.659 --> 00:07:12.819 You know, things that we have talked about that have happened and we say, my goodness, 00:07:12.819 --> 00:07:17.519 yes, that we didn't, we didn't see that coming. That was really unexpected. That was fantastic. 00:07:18.139 --> 00:07:22.819 And yet we don't share that. We don't tell each other that we've been asking for that and praying 00:07:22.819 --> 00:07:30.480 for that. Miraculous acts that we should be sharing. And I've heard of lives changed. I'm humbled by the 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:37.379 stories that I hear. I'm humbled by the stories in my own life of where I have seen miraculous acts. 00:07:37.379 --> 00:07:42.939 We need to share that more because they come from God and ask for them more. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:47.019 And indeed, it's a power that are given to change people's lives. 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:53.480 And Matt Redmond sings a great song. It says, every blessing you pour out, I'll turn back to praise. 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:59.500 And we should be praising God and thanking him for these gifts that he wants to give us, 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:03.120 if only we ask for them and share them with each other. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:12.800 Proclamation and prophecy. Proclamation and prophecy. We proclaim Jesus in all we do and say, 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:19.220 not just what we say, but how we live our lives. Ask for that gift about how do I do that? When 00:08:19.220 --> 00:08:25.519 somebody at the Tesco's checkout says to you, oh, I saw you at church and you might have that. 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:32.240 Rather than just say, hmm, yeah, carry on. Talk about your faith. It's a great opportunity. Say to 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:36.240 the Lord, give me the words, give me the words because I haven't got them. And the Lord will give 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:42.319 you words to say. In the Old Testament, Paul says to the church in Corinth, as it came from 00:08:42.319 --> 00:08:48.879 proclamation and prophecy from ages gone by, he gives us this opportunity, as Paul says, 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:54.679 power to proclaim with courage and boldness when we need it. 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:14.500 The next one is distinguishing between spirits. It's very important. You can't have God on one side 00:09:14.500 --> 00:09:20.320 and nothing on the other. There is always a tug of war because we haven't come to that great day yet 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:27.639 when Jesus has come again. The great deceiver, the evil one, will try to deceive us and pull us away. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:35.340 Asking for this gift of distinguishing between spirits. We know what's right and wrong, but often 00:09:35.340 --> 00:09:41.500 there's a blur in the middle. And often we need to know that of distinguishing. I always say in a 00:09:41.500 --> 00:09:48.580 thing, if it doesn't feel right, I can get a whiff of sulfur around. I know when the devil is prowling 00:09:48.580 --> 00:09:55.159 around trying to get in the way of good things, trying to get in the way of life, living it to the 00:09:55.159 --> 00:10:01.899 full. And God will give us the gift to be able to distinguish between that. What is right? What is wrong? 00:10:02.100 --> 00:10:08.320 Does this feel right? Where do I need to speak into that as well? And then there is the gift of tongues. 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:16.180 This is a great stumbling block for many Christians because people, when we speak in tongues, 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:23.460 we speak as a form of praise to God, but also speak in tongues so that people can understand. 00:10:24.020 --> 00:10:27.760 In this building, we speak a language called Christianese. 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:34.620 Christianese language that a lot of people outside these walls don't even understand 00:10:34.620 --> 00:10:40.899 and probably frankly switches them off. Maybe speaking in tongues for us is speaking in a 00:10:40.899 --> 00:10:47.060 language that people understand, where we can connect with people in the everyday. And God will 00:10:47.060 --> 00:10:53.560 help us to do that in lots of different ways. And then there is the interpretation of tongues. 00:10:54.980 --> 00:11:02.100 Spring harvest, 15 years ago, they have a thing called the big top. And on their praising, 00:11:02.100 --> 00:11:08.040 away having a great time. And a row behind me is a lady who breaks out and sings in a language that 00:11:08.040 --> 00:11:13.659 I've never heard before. And I thought, that sounds beautiful. That sounds absolutely wonderful. 00:11:14.680 --> 00:11:23.440 Two rows in front, there's a lady who screams, turns around and said, you have just called me by name 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:26.900 and told me that God loves me in Lithuanian. 00:11:30.020 --> 00:11:34.860 The lady behind us from Birmingham, she's never spoken Lithuanian in her life. 00:11:36.380 --> 00:11:41.560 This lady in front shared afterwards that she needed to hear that because her friend had brought 00:11:41.560 --> 00:11:46.900 her to spring harvest and she had lost her faith in God about four years before. And that was restored 00:11:46.899 --> 00:11:53.699 that day. Interpretation of tongues is really important. We can interpret what people have to 00:11:53.699 --> 00:12:03.299 say and what they need to say in us and through us. And it is, these gifts are for each and every one of 00:12:03.299 --> 00:12:12.139 us. And the thing that gets in the way is we think we are not worthy. God gave us these gifts to use, 00:12:12.139 --> 00:12:17.759 each and every one of us in the right time. Not everybody will have these gifts at the same time. 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:24.120 Maybe you do, but there are different things there to build up the body of Christ for us together, 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:33.039 to see God's gifts as a church that is vivid and alive. You know, not everybody knew about a bolt, 00:12:33.740 --> 00:12:38.179 a piece of plastic with a bolt through. I bet you're going to go home now and think, 00:12:38.179 --> 00:12:43.059 when I do more decorating, I'm going to go and get a piece of plastic with a bolt through it. 00:12:43.059 --> 00:12:51.359 It's going to make life easier. Today, life will be easier as we receive everything that God has for 00:12:51.359 --> 00:12:58.419 us. What gifts are we as a body of Christ seeking? Are we open to them? Are we ready to open the box? 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:05.240 Are we ready to receive everything that God has for us? Because the reason is, it's for you. 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:11.620 It's for you. It's for you. It's for you. It's for all of us. And you see, when we open the gift 00:13:11.620 --> 00:13:18.600 of love, that's what he shares for us, to share with other people. Because it is that simple. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:27.360 It is about releasing the gifts. And the gift of love that God gives for us is used through these 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:34.620 gifts. I just want to say today, we have been given these gifts to show God's heart to a waiting world. 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:41.539 And at the beginning of this year, as we enter into this series, let's use the gifts. Let's be ready 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:49.700 to receive them. Let's open the box. Let's be vulnerable because we are worthy. We are worthy. 00:13:50.700 --> 00:13:57.120 We are worthy. And don't let the evil one tell you otherwise. We are worthy. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:27.100 We are worthy.