WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.279 Morning, everyone. Morning. I wonder if, I'm sure you are all familiar with one of these. 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:15.919 ! This is a shape sorter that children use. Mind you, I find it quite good fun. And the idea 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:23.440 is that there are all these shapes in here and you have to put them into the right hole, 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:31.179 otherwise they won't actually fit on the bus. So for instance, I've got a star here and actually 00:00:31.179 --> 00:00:39.280 as much as I might try to fit it in to the circle shape, it won't actually go. I mean, 00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:43.960 you could cut some of the corners of the star off, it depends how far you want to go really 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:51.359 in trying to fit it in. But there is a star hole here and it just wonderfully slots in. 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:57.719 Isn't that great? Thank you, Simon. And we have a circle here and as much as I try to 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:06.519 ram it into the triangle shape on the top, the circle doesn't go. It won't fit in the square 00:01:06.519 --> 00:01:15.799 either, either, at all. But wonderfully, it goes in the circle hole. And I can remember we have one of 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:22.299 these for our children. My son is now 19. I'm not sure how much he'll appreciate me sharing this, 00:01:22.299 --> 00:01:29.299 but he's not here, so I'll go ahead. When he had one of these, he was fascinated with the triangle 00:01:29.299 --> 00:01:37.979 shape. And there was clearly a triangle on the sorter, but he tried all the other holes and he 00:01:37.979 --> 00:01:44.780 was desperate and got so stressed and so anxious. Now we're meant to, as parents with one of these, 00:01:44.780 --> 00:01:50.400 to let the child find their own way and get to it. But I had to give in. And in the end, 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:57.840 I helped him put the triangle in the triangle slot. And I could just see the relief on his face 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:04.920 as that happened. And really, in our reading that Margaret read for us, 00:02:05.939 --> 00:02:11.080 this is what Paul is trying to explain to the Romans. He says to them, 00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:18.640 we have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, 00:02:18.860 --> 00:02:26.319 then prophesy in accordance with your faith. If it is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:34.879 then teach. If it is to encourage, then give encouragement. If it is giving, then give generously. 00:02:35.739 --> 00:02:44.819 If it is to lead, do it diligently. If it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. And there are more 00:02:44.819 --> 00:02:51.819 gifts that Paul talks about, actually, in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Each of us has different 00:02:51.819 --> 00:02:58.439 gifts. And we're to use them to serve God and in order for our lives to be full and sacrificial. 00:02:59.579 --> 00:03:03.439 Now, we would have a problem in this church if I offered to help the tech team. 00:03:04.459 --> 00:03:11.539 That is so not my thing. Just talk to my husband. All the wrong buttons would be pressed and it would 00:03:11.539 --> 00:03:19.340 be mayhem. Also, if I perhaps offered to play an instrument in the worship group, Julian and the rest 00:03:19.340 --> 00:03:26.219 of the group might welcome me with open arms. But as soon as I started playing three blind mice on my 00:03:26.219 --> 00:03:32.939 recorder, which is all I can really remember, they would be asking me to leave very quickly. 00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:39.900 And I'd like to share with you this morning how I came to discover one of the gifts that God has given 00:03:39.900 --> 00:03:49.180 me in the hope that it encourages you to seek God and chat with your fellow Christian friends to 00:03:49.180 --> 00:03:57.540 discover the spiritual gifts that God has given you. Now, I've shared some of my testimony here. 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:05.040 And shortly after I came to faith in my late 20s, the vicar of the church that I settled in asked me to 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:11.359 share my testimony with the congregation. And afterwards, he told me that I had the gift of 00:04:11.359 --> 00:04:20.219 preaching and he'd like me to use the gift in the church. When we come to faith, God awakens new 00:04:20.219 --> 00:04:26.399 gifts within us. And this can be quite daunting and take a while, certainly for someone like me, 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:35.000 to accept and for that to use that that gift confidently that God has given us. For example, 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:40.959 prior to coming to faith, I trained in business studies and secretarial duties, which I loved. 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:49.060 And that became my default setting in the church. I always offered up my admin and secretarial gifts. 00:04:49.060 --> 00:04:56.579 As you all know, I went to live and work in India with the Oasis Trust. And after that, 00:04:56.839 --> 00:05:03.519 I went to Bible college and studied for a degree in theology. And as part of the training, we had a 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:12.620 six-week placement each year working in a Christian setting to develop our spiritual gifts and experience 00:05:12.620 --> 00:05:19.000 Christian mission. For my second year placement, the college said that I should go on a placement 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:25.319 where I could develop and practice my gift of preaching. That seemed quite daunting to me. I still 00:05:25.319 --> 00:05:31.279 wasn't feeling confident about that gift, despite the college encouraging me and affirming me in it. 00:05:31.819 --> 00:05:39.839 But I soon found out that God's ways are not our ways and his thoughts not our thoughts, as it says 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:50.419 in Isaiah chapter 55 verses 8 and 9. My placement was set up for me to go to Uganda and visit a couple 00:05:50.419 --> 00:05:56.159 from my home church who were working out there. And they were going to link me up with a church leader. 00:05:57.219 --> 00:06:04.679 Soon after I arrived in the wonderful south part of Uganda, we drove to a remote village where the 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:13.019 church leader lived. He was called Stanley Matejka and he was an Anglican archdeacon for the Church of 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:21.300 South Uganda. He was a lovely, godly, spirit-filled man. He was married to a lady called Jolly and they 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:31.000 had 13 children and they all loved the Lord passionately. I was to stay nearby to them in their guest hut. 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:37.199 There was no running water and no electricity. Now, neither of those things really bothered me, 00:06:37.339 --> 00:06:42.800 having lived and worked in India, but I had hoped there might be electricity and I had packed my 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:50.459 hairdryer in the hope I'd be able to use it. But anyway, some of Stanley's children were going to 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:56.939 collect water for me from the well at the bottom of the hill each day for me to use for my washing and 00:06:56.939 --> 00:07:02.680 cooking and bathing. And I joined them because I was so determined that they didn't wait on me. 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:10.100 Now, this was a much harder task than I thought. They filled the big water carriers and very serenely 00:07:10.100 --> 00:07:16.860 walked back up the hill calmly and beautifully, not dropping any of the water. And of course, 00:07:16.939 --> 00:07:22.560 I couldn't carry one of the carriers on my head. So I was carrying it and staggering along, 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:27.560 spilling water everywhere. It was clearly something else that was not my gifting. 00:07:29.220 --> 00:07:35.480 Shortly after I arrived, Stanley asked me to share my testimony of coming to faith with him. 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:42.480 And after I had done that, he asked what I would like to do on this placement. I didn't mention 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:49.699 preaching at all. I said that as he was a busy archdeacon with many churches and clergy to oversee, 00:07:49.699 --> 00:07:57.339 that I'm sure it created a lot of admin. And perhaps I could do admin for him as I was very 00:07:57.339 --> 00:08:05.860 well trained in that area. He paused for quite a while and smiled and said, Emma, whilst I'm sure 00:08:05.860 --> 00:08:13.099 you are a very good secretary, I do actually have one. Her name is Lois and you will get on very well 00:08:13.100 --> 00:08:19.720 with her. So I don't need you to do admin for me. And I knew what was coming. My heart sank. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:25.160 Tomorrow, I would like you to preach and share your testimony with one of my churches. 00:08:25.939 --> 00:08:31.700 The college has told me that God has given you the gift of preaching. So I'd like to see you use 00:08:31.700 --> 00:08:40.340 that gift. And outwardly, I smiled and agreed. Inwardly, oh, I just felt awful. I was to preach 00:08:40.340 --> 00:08:48.660 the next day. I just had my NIV study Bible, no commentaries, none of my wonderful Bible college 00:08:48.660 --> 00:08:57.259 friends. It was just me, God and his Holy Spirit, which as I prayed in my little hut, came upon me 00:08:57.259 --> 00:09:06.200 powerfully and inspired me with Bible verses to share with my testimony. I was reminded that when God 00:09:06.200 --> 00:09:16.660 calls, he equips, it says in Exodus chapter four, verses 10, when Moses protested that he was slow 00:09:16.660 --> 00:09:25.200 of speech to deliver his message, God told him to go promising, I will be with your mouth and teach you 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:34.220 what to say. I realized I just needed to put my faith and trust in God afresh and believe he would do for 00:09:34.220 --> 00:09:42.779 me what he did for Moses. The next day came and we were walking to the church for the Sunday service. 00:09:42.779 --> 00:09:51.660 And I presumed as one who drives everywhere, that this would be about a 20 minute walk. Two hours later, 00:09:51.899 --> 00:10:00.040 we arrived at the church. It was a packed, vibrant church and they were all Anglican. So it was a bit 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:07.279 like home from home, except although the service had the same content as my home church, it was about 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:15.620 three times longer, the service, with people coming and going throughout. When it came for me to preach, 00:10:15.740 --> 00:10:21.599 I was incredibly nervous. I could feel my legs shaking and thought that people could see that 00:10:21.599 --> 00:10:28.919 happening. But as soon as I stood at the lectern at the front of the church, I felt God's presence in a 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:36.479 very real and tangible way. And I preached my sermon with Stanley translating it into their language. 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:45.000 We had lunch after the service and then walked the two hour journey back. But this proved a wonderful 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:53.439 time of conversation and fellowship. In my little hut that evening, I was full of thanks and praise to 00:10:53.440 --> 00:11:00.200 God for his equipping and his presence with me. And the next day, Stanley was very affirming and 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:06.900 encouraging and said, God has clearly gifted you in preaching, Emma. I want you to visit all my churches. 00:11:09.040 --> 00:11:17.440 I want you to visit all my churches and preach in them. And I was dying to say, how far away are they? 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:27.620 But I didn't say that. How could I say no? It was clear I couldn't offer to do any typing. He had a 00:11:27.620 --> 00:11:35.500 secretary. I agreed. And this is what I did for the six weeks. We spent each week walking to various 00:11:35.500 --> 00:11:43.140 churches with me preaching, Stanley translating, and then eating and walking back. To be honest, 00:11:43.139 --> 00:11:50.120 the preaching wasn't a problem. God was so faithful in equipping me and giving me messages to share that 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:57.779 seemed to be so well received. It was the walking that became a problem. I started to get really bad 00:11:57.779 --> 00:12:05.819 aches and pains in my legs. And I shared this with Stanley's wife, Jolly. And I wondered if it was all 00:12:05.819 --> 00:12:12.120 the walking. And she looked horrifying and said, no. She said, Emma, I think you have malaria. 00:12:13.139 --> 00:12:19.519 And you need to see the doctor urgently. I was really taken aback. I'd taken all my anti-malaria 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:26.539 pills. I had a wonderful mosquito net over my bed. And I didn't realize that one of the symptoms 00:12:26.539 --> 00:12:34.740 of malaria was aching legs. I went to the doctor and he laughed. It wasn't malaria at all. My legs 00:12:34.740 --> 00:12:41.399 were just adjusting to all the walking. Sometimes, he said, in the village where I was staying, 00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:52.059 the default illness is, oh, that's malaria. Thankfully, my legs adjusted. I just needed to rest them and put 00:12:52.059 --> 00:13:00.039 them up whenever I could. I really enjoyed preaching in all the different churches. And God faithfully 00:13:00.039 --> 00:13:07.939 equipped me in my preparation and in my delivery at the lectern. Despite my nerves in between, 00:13:07.940 --> 00:13:15.720 I really had to rely on him completely. And in doing so, he didn't let me down. And my faith grew. 00:13:17.140 --> 00:13:23.320 I could see that whilst he had gifted me in administration and secretarial work, 00:13:23.540 --> 00:13:28.180 he was now giving me a new gift that he wanted me to use to serve him. 00:13:28.179 --> 00:13:36.519 And this is what Paul, again, was trying to explain to the Romans all those years ago. And this is what 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:43.759 God wants us all to hear afresh here at Christ Church. Imagine it's Paul's letter to the church 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:52.439 in Clevedon, the Clevedonians. God has gifted each and every one of us to serve him and further his 00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:59.820 kingdom. But we need to step out of our comfort zone and use those gifts for his glory. 00:14:01.160 --> 00:14:06.560 But Paul also reminds us to not let our gifts go to our heads. He says, 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:13.719 For by the grace given me, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of 00:14:13.719 --> 00:14:20.439 yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 00:14:21.199 --> 00:14:28.500 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:38.120 same function. So in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:47.259 There's the story of an athlete sitting tall in his seat on an aeroplane as he prepared to fly to 00:14:47.259 --> 00:14:53.379 a championship which he knew he was going to win. A flight attendant walked by and said, 00:14:53.379 --> 00:15:00.439 Sir, please fasten your seat belt. The man smiled and said, Superman doesn't need a seat belt. 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:09.580 She replied without hesitation, Superman doesn't need a plane. And the man fastened his seat belt. 00:15:11.019 --> 00:15:18.080 Success in our gifts can easily swell our heads. We don't need a seat belt or a flight attendant 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:24.920 telling us what to do. We don't need anyone telling us what to do. We can take care of ourselves. 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:33.820 Paul reminds us we all have different gifts, but we are all reliant on God and reliant on each other. 00:15:34.840 --> 00:15:42.100 Every part of the body of Christ is needed for each member of that body to flourish and in turn for 00:15:42.100 --> 00:15:47.120 the church to flourish and be ineffective in reaching out to others. 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:57.600 So I ask you all, how has God gifted you? What is the new gift that he is wanting you to use to serve him 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:04.200 for your faith to grow and flourish and for you to be a help here at Christ Church? 00:16:05.340 --> 00:16:12.379 What is God showing you to give up so that you can make time, make space to use this new gift? 00:16:12.379 --> 00:16:19.980 There are lots and lots of different areas of ministry to get involved in in this church. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:27.399 And God does have a part for each and every one of you, each and every one of us to play. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:33.059 But we need to take some responsibility and step up and get involved. 00:16:33.059 --> 00:16:44.379 Let's just spend a moment in quiet. Perhaps could we put the passage back up on the screen, Terry? 00:16:44.379 --> 00:16:50.419 Thank you. Can you just move it on? 00:16:55.899 --> 00:17:03.059 That's it, where it says about the gifts. Yeah, around there. That's fine. Just thinking as a prompt. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:08.019 These are some of the gifts that Paul mentions. But, you know, be thinking. 00:17:08.019 --> 00:17:12.680 Let's just spend a bit of time thinking and reflecting on this. 00:17:12.859 --> 00:17:22.539 What is the Holy Spirit showing you and saying to you about the gift he's wanting you to step up and use at this time? 00:17:23.019 --> 00:17:32.599 I sense that some of us are here, as God gave me, very clearly put on my heart to share this shape sorter here. 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:44.539 That actually, some of us are sometimes doing, trying to do the thing that actually God's not really called us to do. 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:54.259 And we're trying to fit into a slot or an area or an area of ministry that actually isn't really what God's calling you to do. 00:17:54.259 --> 00:18:03.299 And he wants us to be in the right place for us to flourish and the church to flourish. 00:18:03.819 --> 00:18:06.259 So let's be thinking about that. 00:18:06.660 --> 00:18:15.559 And I just encourage you that as God's speaking to you, that you share with your friends around you or friends in your life group. 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:25.740 Because often, as it was for me with my gift of preaching, that God puts people around us who see that gift in us. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:29.240 And it takes others affirming that in us. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:32.980 And talk to me or Alex or Simon. 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:37.619 And, you know, we can really help you discover your gifts. 00:18:38.279 --> 00:18:42.220 Let's just have a moment's quiet and then I'll pray. 00:18:45.559 --> 00:19:15.539 Let's just have a moment's quiet and then I'll pray. 00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:27.440 Lord, please continue to speak to us as we continue to worship this morning and go out into the week ahead. 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:33.579 Show us the gift you have given each of us to serve you here at Christ Church. 00:19:34.099 --> 00:19:41.619 Help us to be courageous and bold and not daunted by where you're calling us to serve. 00:19:41.619 --> 00:19:47.619 Help us to remember that when you call, you equip. 00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:58.399 And it's part of your purpose and plan for our lives to be involved in furthering your kingdom in the place that we worship. 00:19:59.399 --> 00:20:03.079 Keep us from complacency and comfort. 00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:14.079 Give us a holy disturbance and a fresh passion to share you with those whom we meet. 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:21.279 We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:22.439 Amen.