Do you remember the first Christmas gifts you GAVE? Often, when it comes to Christmas gifts, people will ask us about gifts that we have RECEIVED, but what about gifts you have GIVEN?
If it is true that it is better to give than to receive, what are our prominent memories about what we have given?
Sometime in my “tween” years, I remember being given a certain amount of money then unleashed in Washington Park Mall with the task of purchasing gifts for my family. I took that $40 and began hunting for the “perfect” items for those closest to me. I bought a small wind up music box for my mom that played Christmas carols beneath a teddy bear on a rocking horse, and a few other items for my dad and sister. It really was fun to give. The money had been given to me from my Dad for the purpose of buying gifts for my family. I knew my purpose and was glad to pass the resource I had been given on to others to show my love.
I share this story with you today because this Sunday at Wildwood Community Church we will be in the seventh installment of the “Fired Up” sermon series on the Holy Spirit and the believer. In this final message in the series we will talk about spiritual gifts. I know what some of you are probably thinking – “FINALLY! I wondered if we were ever going to get to the topic of spiritual gifts!” I understand where your enthusiasm for this topic came from. Spiritual gifts have been a source of confusion, questions, and division in the church over the past 125 years. That said, though I understand the interest in the topic of spiritual gifts, I think the conversation needs proper context. Reducing the Holy Spirit to MY spiritual giftedness is like defining a person by their eyelashes. The Holy Spirit is WAY MORE than just the dispenser of any gift I have. In the first 7 weeks of this series we have seen that the Holy Spirit is God Himself, who inspired the authors of the Bible to write down the Truth for us and then guides us in study of that Truth, reminding us of the call to love as Jesus has loved us and then empowering us to live to that standard. We have also seen the Spirit’s work in evangelism, shining a spotlight on the identity of the Son of God and simultaneously shining a spotlight on our need for a Savior. We have seen when the Christian bears witness concerning Jesus in this dark world the Holy Spirit roars behind and through the message to accomplish His work in this world. After 6 weeks seeing all these great truths about the Spirit, we turn to a final message reflecting on the particular and varied ways the Spirit has equipped us to serve others.
Spiritual gifts are particular skills and gifts that our Heavenly Father gives to different Christians so that they can be a blessing to others. God does not give us gifts so that we can merely take “gift assessments” or enhance our own spiritual walk. Our gifting is not ultimately about what is RECEIVED, but what we can GIVE based on what we have received. Like the $40 my dad gave me years ago, the Spirit gives us abilities so that we can give them away.
What does that look like? Well, we will explore that together on Sunday, June 8 in our 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00 service. Hope to see you there as we study John 14:12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4, Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 together. See you then … and bring friends!