Spiritual Gifts and Community1 Corinthians 12

Session IPastor’s Bible Study

St. Peter’s AMECSeptember 21, 2010

Lesson OverviewSession I – Spiritual Gifts and CommunityI Corinthians 12

A. The Language of GiftsB. Accepting Our GiftsC. Honoring the Gifts of Others

Why Study Spiritual GiftsLife of church is grounded in spiritual gifts;

therefore, church must explore and become acquainted with text that focus on spiritual gifts.

Helps people of faith understand spiritual resources available to help one do ministry.

Help congregation offer more effective mission to the world.

MOST PASTORS AND LAY PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT

THERE ARE DIVISIONS IN CONGREGATIONS

But often pastors and lay people look to resources beyond the church to help to deal with the

problem of division.

Resources Pastor’s and Lay Turn to Outside Church

Meditation Conflict Resolution Policy and Procedure Manuals of

Other Denominations

NoteGod uses all of the above resources in the life

of the church, but it is also true that authentic unity Occurs as a result of the Holy Spirit.

Objective of Tonight's Study:

Demonstrate how Spiritual Gifts moves us beyond division in the direction of

worldwide/global mission

I Corinthians 12:1-3 (Message)

1-3 What I want to talk about now is the various ways God's Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often mis-understood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable. Remember how you were when you didn't know God, led from one phony god to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It's different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can. For instance, by using your heads, you know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to say "Jesus be damned!" Nor would anyone be inclined to say "Jesus is Master!" without the insight of the Holy Spirit

What I Corinthians 12:1-3 Tell Us

Paul is writing to Church at Corinth about “various ways God's Spirit gets worked into our lives.”

Paul informs church at Corinth that subject of spiritual gifts is “complex and often mis-understood.”

Paul informs Corinthians that his role is to help the Corinthians to “be informed and knowledgeable” (Role of church).

What I Corinthians 12:1-3 Tell UsCont.

There were people saying "Jesus be damned!“ Per scholars, sects against Christianity repeated this slogan during initiation.

Also, there appear to be people saying "Jesus is Master.” This for Paul came from people with Spirit.

So, what Paul is saying is he is saying that the folk with the spiritual gifts would not be saying “Jesus is damned” but folk with the Spirit would be saying “Jesus is Master.”

QuestionWhy is it that the church some times look like

the church is more mis-informed than informed?

I Corinthians 12:4-11  4-11God's various gifts are handed out everywhere; but

they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful:  wise counsel   clear understanding  simple trust     healing the sick miraculous acts proclamation distinguishing between spirits tongues interpretation of tongues.

What I Corinthians 12:4-11 Tell Us:

“God's various gifts are handed out everywhere.” Wisdom (wise counsel)- insight born out of maturity Knowledge (clear understanding) – inner

apprehension of the truth Faith (simple trust) – trust and confidence in

miraculous work of God Healing (healing sick) – wholeness of body, mind

and spirit Miracles (miraculous acts) – capacity to do mighty

works

What I Corinthians 12:4-11 Tell Us:

Prophecy (proclamation) – practice of building up community by proclaiming the story of God

Discernment of spirits (distinguishing between spirits) – clarity about what is true and what is false

Various kinds of tongues (tongues) – private prayer language

Interpretation of Tongues – communal interpretation of someone’s private prayer language. See verses 27-31

All This Happen as a Result of “The Spirit”

  wise counsel   clear understanding

 simple trust     healing the sick

miraculous acts proclamation distinguishing between spirits tongues interpretation of tongues

“All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.” (verse 11).

User’s of Spiritual Gifts (v. 27-31)

apostles    prophets    teachers    miracle workers    healers    helpers    organizers    those who pray in tongues.

I Corinthians 12:27-31 27-31You are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body":

   apostles    prophets    teachers    miracle workers    healers    helpers    organizers    those who pray in tongues.

But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It's not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called "important" parts.  But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.

Corinthian Division

“Jesus is damned” “Jesus is Master” “some of you keep competing for so-

called "important" parts”

The Language of GiftsIndeed the body does not consist of one member, but many parts (12:14)

The congregation at Corinth had heard Paul use language of freedom at some point:

1 Corinthians 10:23[ The Believer's Freedom ] "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive.

>The Corinthian congregation mixed up Paul’s language of freedom and started saying “I am free to do as I am pleased,” There was a breakdown in communication.

QUESTIONDo we have mixed messages on what is in the

bible today? Share

Accepting Our Gifts

We cannot neglect our spiritual gifts. When the Lord gives it to us we must embrace it. Per 27-31 spiritual gifts come from the Lord, the Lord decides who will get spiritual gifts and when.

Read I Corinthians 12:4-11 again and name your gift. How is your gift treated at St. Peter’s? Do you feel that your gift is invisible? When was the last time your gift was noticed?

Honoring the Gifts of Others

We cannot sand the rough edges off of people. For example, there are members of our congregation who want the pastor to cause some folk to control themselves in worship, but we must try to see what is being done in light these individuals spiritual gift. It could be that if we listen to the crowd we could be sanding off what the Lord has given a person.

CLOSING COMMENTEveryone is different. We are all lifetime projects of the Lord. The Lord arranges us as the Lord desires (See 12:18)

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