God’s Imprint on Our LivesFearfully & Wonderfully

Made

Fearfully & Wonderfully

Made

…we were made for God’s glory, pleasure & purpose

“For you created my inmost being;    you knit me together in my

mother’s womb.I praise you because I am fearfully

and wonderfully made;    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.”Psalm 139:13-14

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good….All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as He wills. ” 1 Corinthians 12:7,11

Review

We have taken a closer look at the following spiritual gifts

Pastoring/Shepherding

Teaching

Prophesy

The Gift of Hospitality

The spiritual gift of hospitality is the ability to welcome strangers and entertain guests, often in your home, with great joy and kindness so that they become friends.

The Greek word for “hospitality is: “philoxenos” - love of strangers; ‘philos’ = love; ‘xenos’ = stranger)

"Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless – cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you." 1 Peter 4:8-10

Open Home – Open Heart

Importantly, hospitality is NOT to be extended to false teachers and the like, who are a danger (2 John 10-11). Practicing Christian hospitality isn't about glittering, glamorous table settings or platters of picture-perfect food (although it can be); it's about practicing servant-hood to those who need a friendly smile, an encouraging word, a place to rest, a meal of refreshment, a soul to talk to. More important, it's about loving others through Christ and making people feel special.

These people tend to have an "open home" where others are welcome to visit. This gift is often combined with the natural talents of interior design, cooking, and event planning.

Touching Lives for Christ

For those who practice true hospitality, they play a significant part in changing our corner of the world. After all, we are living miracles and have so much to share. God can use people with hospitality in their hearts. It doesn't matter if we rent or own a house or an apartment; our homes are an extension of ourselves. When we practice hospitality, we have the opportunity to touch lives in an intimate, personal way.

Many people choose to focus on what they don't have instead of focusing on sharing the blessings of God. So give it a try. Somewhere along the way, you'll realize that people are not in your home for the unlimited entertaining budget. Rather, they sense loving-kindness and genuine concern. That's the moment when your home becomes a sanctuary for those God sends your way.

Do you have the gift of Hospitality?

Do you enjoy having people in your home?

Do you enjoy watching people meet and have fun at parties and events you helped to plan and host?

Is your home the kind that most people feel comfortable in and drop by to visit unannounced?

Do you feel that something is really missing in your life when you cannot have guests into your home?

When you think of your home do you view it from the perspective of guests who will visit?

Do you consider your home as a place of ministry?

Those in Scripture gifted with Giving: Elders and pastors are commanded to exercise

hospitality Peter enjoyed the hospitality of Simon and Cornelius Paul enjoyed the hospitality of Lydia and the Philippian

jailer

The Gift of Tongues The gift of tongues is given by the Holy Spirit to those

who are called to speak in a language not previously learned so that believers may be encouraged or unbelievers can hear God's message in their own language for the edification of the body of Christ.

The gift of Tongues has three purposes within the assembly of Christ Followers: 1. To be used during periods of prayer, allowing the holy

Spirit to pray through the Christ Follower when he/she does not know how to pray (Romans 6:26, 27);

2. To receive divine messages from God for the benefit of the assembly of Christ Followers understanding that someone with the gift of Interpretation of Tongues must be present to interpret (1 Corinthians 12:10, 28 and 1 Corinthians 14:13-19); 3. The final purpose of tongues is to enable a person to speak an unlearned language for the purposes of evangelism (Acts 2:1-13).

Un-Learned Languages to Edify & Glorify

The Greek word translated tongues literally means “languages.” Therefore, the gift of tongues is speaking in a language a person does not know in order to minister to someone who does speak or can interpret that language. Tongues is still a viable Gift of the Holy Spirit. Scripture does not conclusively assert that the gift of speaking in tongues has ceased.

The first occurrence of speaking in tongues occurred on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4. The apostles went out and shared the gospel with the crowds, speaking to them in their own languages: “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:11).

Edify the Body! In 1 Corinthians chapters 12–14, Paul discusses

miraculous gifts, saying, “Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?” (1 Corinthians 14:6). According to the apostle Paul, and in agreement with the tongues described in Acts, speaking in tongues is valuable to the one hearing God’s message in his or her own language, but in the context of the assembled body of Christ, it must be interpreted/translated to edify (build up, encourage, instruct) the Church.

Intelligible Communication with Order & Purpose

Tongues is a real and intelligible language (1 Corinthians 14:10). It would be for the purpose of communicating God's Word with a person of another language (Acts 2:6-12). It would be in agreement with the command God gave through the apostle Paul, “If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God” (1 Corinthians 14:27-28). It would also be in accordance with 1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues Along with the gift of speaking in tongues, another

spiritual gift mentioned in the list found in 1 Corinthians 12:10 is the gift of interpreting tongues. The gift of interpretation of tongues is given by the Holy Spirit to translate the message of someone who has spoken in tongues. The gift of interpreting tongues is always alongside the gift of speaking in tongues. It is a separate gift, but it is always used in conjunction with the gift of speaking in tongues.

Everyone should not be speaking in tongues at one time.Speaking in tongues must be for edification.If tongues are exercised there must be two to three interpreters.

1 Corinthians 14:

Interpret that All May Understand A person with the gift of interpreting tongues could

understand what a tongues-speaker was saying even though he did not know the language that was being spoken. This is what distinguishes the spiritual gift from the natural gift of being able to understand and speak a variety of languages. The tongues interpreter would then communicate the message of the tongues speaker to everyone else, so all could understand and benefit from the truth being spoken.

Spiritual Gifts For Building Up God’s Church

Romans 12exhortation

givingleadership

mercyprophecyservice

teachinghospitality

Ephesians 4apostle

evangelismpastor

prophecyteaching

1 Peter 4serving

teaching

1 Corinthians 12administration

apostlediscernment

faithhealinghelps

knowledgemiraclesprophecyteachingtongues

wisdom

interpretation

of tongues

What is God telling us?There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.(1 Cor. 12:4-7)Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. (1 Pet. 4:10)

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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. (Romans 12:4-6a)

What is greater? 1 Cor. 13

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

The Lighter Side of Spiritual Gifts