1 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:10,240 Thank you for listening to the Riverbend Church Podcast. 2 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:13,960 Riverbend Church exists to lead all people to know, love, and 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,400 live new life in Jesus Christ. We hope that you enjoy this 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:21,400 message all. Right. 5 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:23,320 Good morning Riverbend, how you doing this morning? 6 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,440 That is so good being able to worship with you. 7 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,040 If you are new to Riverbend and we haven't had the chance to 8 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,159 meet yet, My name is Ben. Get the service, the lead pastor 9 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:34,600 here. We are so very thankful that you 10 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:38,800 chose to be here with us. Very front edge of Thanksgiving 11 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,120 break. Welcome to Riverbend. 12 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,600 We would love, if you're new to Riverbend, we would love to 13 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:47,520 connect with you, love to get to know you. 14 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,080 Probably the easiest way for that to happen is through that 15 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:52,360 connect card that you received on your way in. 16 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:54,800 We're not going to make it weird or anything like that. 17 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:57,760 We just want to connect with you and connect you with some people 18 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:01,840 maybe similar age or stage just because we realize how important 19 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,640 community and relationship really is. 20 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,480 But if you are new to Riverbend, I want to kind of bring you up 21 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:09,760 to speed. We are on the tail end of a 22 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,280 series to where we've been talking about this unseen 23 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:17,720 spiritual world, this unseen spiritual world and, and, and 24 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:22,200 how it is impacting my life and your life and, and in our lives. 25 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:26,000 And we, we greatly understand that there, there are two camps 26 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:27,920 there, there's, there, there's a group. 27 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,440 And maybe you're in this group to where you think and you, you 28 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,680 know, like, hey, I know about spiritual warfare and I know 29 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,760 that it's real. And, and, and, and we, we 30 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:41,200 encounter it every single day. And then there, there's a camp 31 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:45,320 over here that says, I'm just not quite sure about that. 32 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:48,920 And if we're talking about something that's spiritual 33 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,520 nature, something that's unseen, I'm just not quite sure. 34 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,120 And here's where I would say to both camps, welcome. 35 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,520 We're so glad to be able to journey through this series with 36 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,360 you, and here's what we would just encourage you to kind of 37 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,120 keep in mind. It's just because you may not be 38 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,400 able to see it doesn't mean that it's not real. 39 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:10,720 And just because you may not even acknowledge it, it doesn't 40 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,000 mean that it's not impacting your life. 41 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,920 You see, Just kind of make sure that we're all on the same page 42 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:19,080 throughout this series. We have today and then we have 43 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,400 next week to where we'll be tying a bow around everything 44 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:24,920 that we've been walking through over the past eight weeks 45 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:27,040 together. Throughout this series, we've 46 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,760 looked at a the vital component components of this unseen 47 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,520 spiritual world. We've taken a look at God and 48 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,840 angels in heaven, Satan, demons and and hell. 49 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:42,120 We we've talked about B how there's a spiritual war that is 50 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:46,360 raging that started in heaven. Satan's rebellion, Satan wanting 51 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:50,040 to rise to the same level of God due to his pride. 52 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:55,360 This rebellion, this war started in heaven, spilled over into our 53 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,760 world, and we are in counting. There's a spiritual war that's 54 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:01,880 going on between God and his angels and Satan and his demons. 55 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:06,400 And see, this spiritual world is actually affecting every single 56 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,320 one of us. There is no neutrality in this 57 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,160 spiritual war. There's absolutely no neutrality 58 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,400 in the spiritual war. And it's so important that we 59 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:18,200 understand the components of the spiritual world and the overall 60 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:22,720 existence of the spiritual war because we need to understand 61 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,680 the consequences. It's not just the consequences 62 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,800 of our daily actions. What I would tell you is, is, 63 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,600 you know, I think that we all need to come to grips. 64 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:36,640 Whether you're a man or a woman, a, a husband or a wife, a, a 65 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:40,120 parent, a grandparent, an employer, an employee, we all 66 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,600 need to come to grips that life is way too big for us. 67 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,960 Like we, we, we are not good enough, We're not smart enough, 68 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,880 we're not articulate enough to do life on our own. 69 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:54,040 We need the guiding presence of God in our lives. 70 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,280 And one of the things that the spiritual world, the spiritual 71 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,960 war tries to do is to try to drive a wedge between US and God 72 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:06,200 to where we see him less or we sense him less and we experience 73 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,920 him less through when we fall into, into sin through 74 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,760 temptation. One of the things that we have 75 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,839 been kind of riding on the, the main rail that we've been riding 76 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:21,560 on throughout this entire series is a, is a core truth, a, a, a, 77 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:25,360 a main point, a big idea. And if you're with us for the 78 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,000 first time, I want to introduce you to the big idea throughout 79 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,280 this series just so that you have a pretty good fundamental 80 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:34,160 grasp of where we've been and where we're going to be heading. 81 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,240 The unseen world is just as real as the one I can see, and it's 82 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:40,360 shaping my life every single day. 83 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,960 This unseen world just as real as the one I can see, and it's 84 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:45,360 shaping my life every single day. 85 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,160 If you were with us last week, we talked about, we really 86 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,560 answer the question, OK, if it's shaping my life, how is it 87 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,640 shaping my life? What is it shaping my life to 88 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,360 resemble, to look like, to become? 89 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,560 And we talked about the encouragement of this spiritual 90 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:05,120 war is God does not just give us information about this spiritual 91 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:09,480 war, He gives us an invitation to actually engage and be 92 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,120 equipped. You see, in the spiritual war, 93 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,640 when God doesn't leave us hanging at all, God actually 94 00:05:15,840 --> 00:05:20,880 invites us to to engage, to be in relationship, to be in 95 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:23,480 fellowship with him. Because one of the things that 96 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:28,360 we have to understand is in a spiritual war, physical weapons 97 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,640 just won't cut it. We need spiritual weapons to 98 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:36,600 fight in a spiritual war. So God invites us throughout 99 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:41,240 Scripture to put on, as Paul put it in Ephesians chapter 6, put 100 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,040 on the full armor of God. And if you were with us last 101 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,960 week, we talked about what that full armor of God, those six 102 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,800 individual components and why they are so important for you 103 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:55,640 and I, if there's any part of this series that that that you 104 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,520 missed, or maybe you're out of town, or maybe maybe you were, 105 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:00,600 you were sick, I would, I highly encourage you. 106 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:04,400 You can go back to the church app or through the website or 107 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:06,720 YouTube, church's YouTube channel or wherever you listen 108 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,960 to podcast and kind of walk back through where we've been because 109 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:14,920 it's all building to honestly, it's building to next week to 110 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,080 where we're going to come together and we're going to be 111 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:21,240 able to put together a personalized battle plan for 112 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:23,920 this spiritual war. But there's one last component 113 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:27,320 that we need to look at in order for us to build this 114 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:32,360 personalized spiritual, a battle plan for our lives. 115 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,880 And it is the component of something called spiritual 116 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:37,920 gifts. It's the component of something 117 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,800 that we call or the Bible calls spiritual gifts. 118 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,400 So if you're taking notes with us, I want to show you something 119 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:50,120 about these spiritual gifts. First of all, if you're taking 120 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:51,840 notes with us, here's the first thing that we need to 121 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:54,080 understand. If the Holy Spirit lives in me, 122 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:55,840 then the Holy Spirit has gifted me. 123 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,760 If the Holy Spirit lives in me, then the Holy Spirit has gifted 124 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:02,120 me. So if there's ever come a point 125 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:04,880 in time in your life to where you've asked Jesus to forgive 126 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,920 you of your sins, to take control of your life and to 127 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,880 guide you, that means that the Holy Spirit of God has come 128 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:14,800 inside of you. And if the Holy Spirit of God is 129 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:19,120 in you, then the Holy Spirit of God has gifted you. 130 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:24,600 Now let's kind of put some put some 2025 feet on what that 131 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,120 means. Do you remember in, back in 132 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,040 elementary school or middle school or or high school, there 133 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:33,200 was a select group of students that they were kind of called 134 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:35,560 out from the, from the classrooms and they were, they 135 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:37,880 were marked the gifted students. Do y'all remember? 136 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:39,240 Y'all remember the gifted students? 137 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:41,360 Maybe you were one of the gifted students. 138 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,120 Maybe you still hold a grudge against the gifted students. 139 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,880 I don't know. For me, I'm married, one of the 140 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:52,360 gifted students. So that's kind of on her, right. 141 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:54,480 She knew what she was signing up for. 142 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:59,520 If you if you've been at Riverbend for for a while, 143 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:01,200 you've probably heard me tell this story before. 144 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:03,080 But if you're new to Riverbend, I'll just go ahead and tell you 145 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:07,640 in full transparency. I took the gifted test in school 146 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:09,160 and elementary school and middle school. 147 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:13,120 I took the gifted test three times and I failed it three 148 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,960 times. Anybody can beat that. 149 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:19,640 Obviously, I wasn't gifted, right? 150 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,520 I failed the gifted test three times, so I was never part of 151 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:27,160 the gifted class at all. Yet here's a beautiful thing 152 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:30,320 that God tells us in Scripture is if you've given your life to 153 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:32,360 Jesus Christ, guess what? You're gifted. 154 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,280 I'm gifted. Look at the person next to you 155 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:39,360 and say I'm gifted. Look at the person next to you 156 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:41,120 and say against all odds, you're gifted. 157 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,080 You're gifted. You see, if the Holy Spirit of 158 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:51,840 God lives in you, then the Holy Spirit of God has specifically 159 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,240 gifted you. Second broad thing that we need 160 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,440 to understand about spiritual gifts is this is a spiritual 161 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:01,560 gift is a specific way in which, when used properly, we're going 162 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:03,160 to come back to that phrase in just a moment. 163 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,160 When used properly, I will be most effective in pointing 164 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:11,400 people to Jesus. A spiritual gift is a specific 165 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,160 way in which, when used properly, I will be most 166 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:16,600 effective in pointing people to Jesus. 167 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:20,720 So if the Holy Spirit lives in you, the Holy Spirit has gifted 168 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,800 you, what is the purpose of the gifting to point people to 169 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,920 Jesus? This is going to be your unique 170 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:31,880 way. This is going to be like, think 171 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,160 of a spiritual gift this way. It's going to be your greatest 172 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:36,800 asset to heaven and it's going to be your greatest threat to 173 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:39,240 hell. Your spiritual gift is going to 174 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:40,720 be your greatest asset to heaven. 175 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,280 It's going to be your greatest threat to hell. 176 00:09:43,560 --> 00:09:46,360 It is going to be the way in which the Holy Spirit of God 177 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,760 living in you and through you is going to point the people around 178 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:54,960 you to Jesus. Now here's the caveat when used 179 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:57,920 properly, why is that phrase so important? 180 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,800 Because we need to understand if my spiritual gift is going to be 181 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,760 my greatest asset to heaven, is going to be my greatest threat 182 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:09,200 to hell, and it's going to be the most effective way in which 183 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:12,400 I'm, I'm able to point people to Jesus and you're able to point 184 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:17,040 people to Jesus, then it's also going to become the shadow side 185 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,960 of that Spiritual gifting is also going to become one of the 186 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:24,400 greatest temptations for us to start to take credit for the 187 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:28,600 effectiveness of that gift. And when we do that, when you 188 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:31,480 look at the way in which the Holy Spirit of God has gifted 189 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:35,160 you, supernaturally gifted you. And when you and I, we start to 190 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,680 take credit for that spiritual gifting because we see results, 191 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:42,920 because there's effectiveness, we start to slowly but surely 192 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:48,280 disconnect ourselves from the giver of the gift and the gift 193 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:51,120 itself. We start to worship the gift 194 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,320 rather than the God that gave the gift. 195 00:10:53,800 --> 00:11:00,640 And that is a very subtle, yet common, yet very, very enticing 196 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:04,520 temptation that we always need to be aware of. 197 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:07,920 So in just a few moments when we start going through individual 198 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:10,960 spiritual gifts, and maybe you already know your spiritual gift 199 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:14,120 or maybe the whole concept of spiritual gifting is brand new 200 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:16,920 to you and you're going to be on this journey of finding out, 201 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,560 discovering your spiritual gift. One of the things that I would 202 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:23,680 tell you from the very forefront of this discovery is be very, 203 00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:27,920 very aware that the temptation is going to come your way to 204 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:32,000 start taking credit for the effectiveness of that spiritual 205 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:35,800 gift. But my spiritual gift is a 206 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:39,560 specific way in which I will be most effective in pointing 207 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:42,840 people to Jesus. Third major thing that we need 208 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:45,000 to understand about spiritual gifting is this. 209 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:47,440 My spiritual gift. And sometimes the Holy Spirit 210 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:51,000 gives us more than one. My spiritual gift is designed 211 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:58,360 and assigned to me by God. It is designed and assigned to 212 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:02,000 me by God. I want to show you what Paul 213 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,080 writes in the book of First Corinthians. 214 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:07,640 Check this out. All these and the these that 215 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:09,280 he's talking about are spiritual gifts. 216 00:12:09,560 --> 00:12:15,040 All these are empowered by 1 and the same Spirit who apportions 217 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:18,960 to each one individually as He wills. 218 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:23,640 That means that my spiritual gift, your spiritual gift, is 219 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:28,440 designed and assigned to you, to me by God. 220 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,280 We don't sign up for it. We don't get to choose our 221 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:35,960 spiritual gifting. Why is this so important? 222 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:38,720 As a matter of fact, if you look at the top of your note sheet, 223 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:41,360 there are 4 scriptural references passages. 224 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,400 All four of those passages speak directly to spiritual gifting. 225 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:48,840 But all four of those passages also speak directly to the fact 226 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:52,600 that our spiritual gifts are designed and assigned to us by 227 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:54,480 God. We're not the ones that sign up 228 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:56,160 for. Why is that so important for us 229 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:58,880 to understand? It's, it's really important for 230 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:01,720 us to understand this Third Point that is assigned and 231 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:03,720 designed, designed and assigned by God. 232 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,520 Because when we're starting to, when we're tempted to start to 233 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:10,400 become arrogant, we're reminded, no, no, no, no. 234 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:14,160 It's the spiritual gift that the Holy Spirit has given me nothing 235 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,840 that I've done to earn it or deserve it or work for it. 236 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:20,720 So I can't, I can't boast, I can't brag. 237 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:25,080 I can't, I can't take credit for a gift that was given to me by 238 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:30,040 the Holy Spirit. It also, it also warns us about 239 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:33,840 about becoming envious of of another person's spiritual 240 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,560 gifting, about another person's spiritual gifting. 241 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:40,200 Throughout the New Testament, the apostle Paul is going to use 242 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:44,360 kind of a metaphor for the for the church as the body of 243 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:46,640 Christ. Though there are many members, 244 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:49,280 not all members serve the same purpose. 245 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:53,520 So there are many of us in this room and online that this the 246 00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:56,960 Holy Spirit of God has gifted in a variety of ways. 247 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:00,160 And if we're not careful and we don't really check ourselves and 248 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:04,400 check our egos, then we'll start to become envious of another 249 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:09,360 person's spiritual gifting. I want to pass along a quote to 250 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:10,880 you. Nobody's really sure who to 251 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,400 attribute it to throughout time and history. 252 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:16,320 So if you want to jot it down and you want to attribute it, 253 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:19,920 you can attribute it either to Mark Twain or Abraham Lincoln or 254 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:24,440 or or or Aristotle or or even Tupac maybe, maybe any of those 255 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:26,520 said it here. Here's the here's the statement. 256 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:31,160 No one can give you what God hasn't given you yet. 257 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:33,520 No one can ever take away what God has given you. 258 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,400 No one can give you what God hasn't given you yet. 259 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:40,880 No one can ever take away what God has given you. 260 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:45,280 No one's bigger than God. No one's bigger than God. 261 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,920 So our spiritual gifts, they are designed and assigned to us by 262 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:52,320 God. Think of my spiritual gifting, 263 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:55,280 your spiritual gifting, our spiritual gifting, as being 264 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:59,600 tailor made for you. They're tailor made for you, 265 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:05,000 designed and assigned to you specifically and personally by 266 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:08,120 God himself. That's a broad overview of 267 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,880 spiritual giftings. So here's what I want to do. 268 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:13,560 I want to kind of set the stage for where we're going to be 269 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,520 heading next week. And I want to set the stage and 270 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:21,280 I want to walk through the specific spiritual giftings that 271 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:25,160 the New Testament lays out for us, the specific spiritual 272 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:28,240 giftings, what they are and what they're for. 273 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,920 All right, So if you're taking notes with us, here's the first 274 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:33,920 thing that we need to understand. 275 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:37,320 Many members, different gifts. First thing that we need to 276 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,680 understand, we're going to say that there's 18 gifts, 3 277 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:45,040 categories, one purpose now, 18 gifts. 278 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:48,080 There's some people that would say there's up to 27 gifts 279 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,560 listed in the New Testament. As your pastor, I'm not going to 280 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,920 fight anybody over that. If you want to say there's 27, 281 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,440 awesome. If you say there's 18, awesome, 282 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:00,120 for our purposes, we're going to look at 18. 283 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,800 The reason that I feel, and I say that there's 18 is because 284 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,920 many of the spiritual gifts that are listed, you can put them 285 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:09,720 kind of together almost as synonyms of one another. 286 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:11,320 So let me kind of give you an example. 287 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,640 There is a gift that Paul's going to layout for us, the gift 288 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:17,520 of administration, and we'll get to what that means in just a 289 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:19,000 moment. But then later on in another 290 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,400 passage, he's going to layout for us the gift of leadership. 291 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:23,920 Some people would say no, no, those are two completely 292 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:25,760 different gifts. I think that they're probably 293 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:27,880 more one in the same type of gifts. 294 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:32,400 So for our purposes, 18 gifts, 3 categories. 295 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:34,880 These three categories are going to help us, even though they 296 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:37,760 don't come directly from the Bible, these three categories, 297 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:41,040 they're going to help us breakdown, understand, and apply 298 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:43,960 these spiritual giftings just a little bit better. 299 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:46,880 They're going to help us wrap our minds around the way in 300 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:50,240 which God wants to use these spiritual giftings to point 301 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,840 other people to Jesus. And then the final thing, one 302 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,040 purpose. This is the most important thing 303 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,200 about spiritual gifts, by far the most important thing about 304 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:02,560 spiritual gifts. Every spiritual gift is given 305 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:05,960 regardless of gift, regardless of category, regardless of 306 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:08,839 individual. Every spiritual gift is given 307 00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:11,359 for one singular purpose, and that is to point people to 308 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:13,000 Jesus. Period. 309 00:17:13,319 --> 00:17:17,599 The end one purpose, point people to Jesus. 310 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:22,960 So with that said, let's jump into the first grouping. 311 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:24,520 Let's jump into that first category. 312 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:27,119 We're going to call these miraculous gifts. 313 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,520 So we're going to start pretty easy, right? 314 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:32,600 If you're raised Baptist, you know that was a joke. 315 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,240 Miraculous gifts, the gift of tongues, gift of interpreting 316 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:38,960 tongues, gift of miracles, gift of healing. 317 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,880 We're going to put these spiritual gifts in the category 318 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:44,320 of what we would call miraculous gifts. 319 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:46,840 Let me kind of walk through them briefly. 320 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:49,360 Gift of tongues is a supernatural ability to be able 321 00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:53,000 to speak a previously unknown language for the purposes of 322 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,720 pointing other people to Jesus. Gift of interpreting tongues It 323 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,960 is a supernatural ability given by the Holy Spirit of God to 324 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:04,000 interpret previously unknown languages that point other 325 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,720 people to Jesus. The gift of miracles, 326 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,440 supernatural ability given by the Holy Spirit of God to 327 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,960 perform signs and wonders, all to point people to Jesus. 328 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,680 And the gift of healing is that supernatural spiritual ability 329 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:21,280 to provide healing of a disease, a disorder, or an infirmity. 330 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:25,800 So let me go ahead and address the elephant in the room about 331 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,120 miraculous gifts. If you were raised Southern 332 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:34,640 Baptist, these freak us out. And let me go ahead and say I 333 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:36,840 get it. I really do, as somebody that 334 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:41,160 was raised in a Southern Baptist church who went to, graduated 335 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,320 from a Georgia Baptist college, went to a Southern Baptist 336 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:48,160 seminary, went on to pastor for 10 years, a First Baptist Church 337 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:50,280 in Jacksonville. And if you're new to church and 338 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:52,480 you don't know what First Baptist means, it means Baptist 339 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:56,680 on steroids. And then now I'm pastoring 340 00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:59,120 Riverbend Church that is Southern Baptist. 341 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:03,720 I fully get it. I fully get how these miraculous 342 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:06,600 gifts, they kind of freak us out, don't they? 343 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:10,320 They kind of freak us out. We just don't quite know what to 344 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:14,880 do with these gifts. And here's where I would tell 345 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,720 you there's two camps when it comes to the miraculous gifts. 346 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:22,720 There's one camp, Camp A says that these gifts were given, 347 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:25,440 they were designed and assigned by God. 348 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:29,400 They were given by the Holy Spirit to, to, to, to the 349 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:33,760 apostles. And they were utilized and up 350 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:35,640 until the completion of the New Testament. 351 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,960 And then after the New Testament was completed and, and, and 352 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:42,520 disseminated and spread widely, these gifts were no longer 353 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:45,840 needed or necessary. So these, these gifts are no 354 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,240 longer used. They, they, they cease to be 355 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:51,320 used. Camp 2. 356 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:56,160 Camp 2 says, no, these gifts, they were given and they were 357 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:59,640 designed and assigned during the time of the apostles and they 358 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,960 pointed people to Jesus and they are still used by God when God 359 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:07,520 sees fit to point people to Jesus. 360 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,240 As your pastor, I fall into Camp 2. 361 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:14,480 I believe that these gifts are still active. 362 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:18,200 I think these gifts are still assigned to people. 363 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:22,360 I think these gifts are still used by God. 364 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:26,560 Now as your pastor, let me go ahead and qualify what I just 365 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:30,280 said because some of you may think, does that mean, Ben, if 366 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:34,360 you believe that the gift of tongues is still given by God 367 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:38,480 and used by God to point people to Jesus, do you believe that 368 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,680 Riverbend Church will be a a place to where we stand up and 369 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:48,160 we start speaking in tongues? I don't and here's why. 370 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:52,160 What is the main purpose of all spiritual gifts? 371 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,640 To point people to Jesus? Now follow me on this. 372 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,560 Somebody start standing up and speaking in tongues. 373 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,440 How many of us are going to leave here talking about Jesus? 374 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,000 Most of us are going to be going, talking at lunch, going, 375 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,960 hey, that was weird. Don't know what went on there, 376 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,680 right? But just because we may not 377 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:16,880 experience here, that doesn't mean that God doesn't use it 378 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,600 elsewhere. Just because we may not 379 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,520 experience it ourselves, it doesn't mean that it's not 380 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:24,880 valid. And then let me also say this. 381 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:32,360 Just because just because we see it abused and misunderstood, it 382 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:36,880 doesn't mean that it's not real. Let me give you 2 sub points 383 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,560 about the miraculous gifts. Here's the first one. 384 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,360 These gifts are not more spiritual in nature. 385 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,200 They just show God's power in a more noticeable way. 386 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:47,760 They're not more spiritual in nature. 387 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,080 You see, one of the one of the issues that we have with these 388 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:54,880 miraculous gifts are there are some that say that unless you 389 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:57,720 speak in tongues, that's not really evidence that you have 390 00:21:57,720 --> 00:21:59,120 the Holy Spirit of God living in you. 391 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:03,480 Paul never talks about how there's a gift of tongues that 392 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:08,360 is above all other gifts. All gifts are designed and 393 00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:12,080 assigned by God uniquely and tailor made for the individual 394 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,600 for that individual to point people to Jesus. 395 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:17,800 That is not the litmus test of a person speaking in tongues. 396 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,480 They are not more spiritual in nature. 397 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,400 They just show God's power in a more noticeable way. 398 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:26,640 Second thing that we need to understand about these 399 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:29,920 miraculous gifts, just because these gifts lend themselves to a 400 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:34,200 lot of skepticism, that doesn't mean that they are illegitimate 401 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,040 just because these gifts lend themselves to a lot of 402 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,040 skepticism, that doesn't mean that they are illegitimate. 403 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:44,280 Let me kind of share a quick story with you When I was in 7th 404 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:47,640 or 8th grade me and my buddy, we would walk from our middle 405 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:50,000 school after class got over, we'd walk over to from our 406 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,840 middle school we'd walk over to our church that we grew up in 407 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:56,320 because his dad was on staff. My mom was on staff and we 408 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:59,600 would, we would walk over there and then before it was time for 409 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:01,680 them to leave, we would just kind of like roam the campus, 410 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:05,280 roam in the buildings and, you know, just to kill Tom. 411 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:08,960 So there was an education building on our, on our church 412 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:11,160 campus. And we, we went into this room 413 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,680 and there was ATV on a cart, not mounted on a wall. 414 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:18,200 There was ATV on a cart and it was plugged in and, and we 415 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,560 turned it on and we were just trying to catch like a baseball 416 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:23,120 game, right? See if see if the Braves were 417 00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:27,320 on, on TBS or the Cubs on WGN. And we're we're flipping through 418 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:31,160 the channels and a TV preacher comes on like through through 419 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:34,240 the fuzzy screen. Now these are the days before 420 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,480 plasma screens and LED. So I don't know if this works on 421 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,280 those, but I know back in the day, these big like deep tube 422 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:44,800 TV's, we're watching this like TV preacher and and he he gets 423 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,360 to the end and he flashes the phone number on the bottom of 424 00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:49,800 the screen and goes just put your hand on the television and 425 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,760 I'll send you a prayer hanky you'll be healed. 426 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,800 So me and my buddy were 7th and 8th grade, just like little 427 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:56,560 idiots. And we start putting our hands 428 00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:00,400 on the television and the static from the screen shocks us and we 429 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:04,680 run out screaming. Now I don't think that that was 430 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:06,520 the exercise of a spiritual gift of God. 431 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:12,320 Let me go ahead and tell you if anyone, if anyone, charges 432 00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:17,120 admission to administer the spiritual gifts of God, they're 433 00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:23,080 a con. So just because these gifts lend 434 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:27,440 themselves to a lot of skepticism, it doesn't mean that 435 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:31,040 they are not legitimate. It doesn't mean that they are 436 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:36,320 not legitimate category #2 We'll call these enabling gifts gift 437 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:39,800 of faith, gift of discernment, gift of wisdom, gift of 438 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,440 knowledge. Call these enabling gifts. 439 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:48,520 So the gift of faith, gift of faith is a supernatural ability 440 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:54,440 to have a deep, deep trust in God regardless of how situations 441 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:56,920 and circumstances may speak otherwise. 442 00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:01,120 The gift of faith can be seen as that friend of yours or that man 443 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:04,160 or that woman, that person in your life that you go to when 444 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:07,880 you when you just keep hitting dead end and after dead end 445 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:12,000 after dead end, that reminds you with authenticity and 446 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,160 legitimacy. Listen, if God's still in it, it 447 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:16,880 ain't over. Don't give up. 448 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:21,160 Think about the gift of faith, almost like a like Daniel before 449 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:23,680 he's thrown into the lions den. That's the gift of faith. 450 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:28,000 The gift of discernment is the supernatural spiritual ability 451 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:33,160 that's given by the Holy Spirit of God that allows the person to 452 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:38,280 have have a knowledge about God and have a knowledge about God's 453 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:41,840 Word, and to apply that knowledge in a way to where 454 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:46,320 they're able to easily discern what is true and what is false, 455 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,880 what is right and what is wrong. That's the gift of discernment, 456 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:53,720 the gift of wisdom. The gift of wisdom is this 457 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:58,000 supernatural ability to not only be able to synthesize knowledge 458 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:02,600 about God and from Scripture about God, but to actually apply 459 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:06,800 that into day-to-day situations. And then the gift of knowledge 460 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,480 is this supernatural spiritual ability given by the Holy Spirit 461 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:15,760 of God to where there is knowledge that is imparted from 462 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:20,920 God that could not be known from another source of information. 463 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:25,320 That is the spiritual gift of knowledge. 2 quick things that 464 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,400 we need to know about these enabling gifts. 465 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:33,200 First of all, these gifts are uniquely designed to help people 466 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:38,600 navigate deep inner tensions, questions, and battles. 467 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:43,440 These enabling gifts these enabling gifts are uniquely 468 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:48,160 designed to help people navigate deep inner tensions, questions 469 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:52,000 and battles. More times than not, people that 470 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:56,200 have the spiritual gifts of this category, these enabling gifts, 471 00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:59,160 they're going to be most effective in pointing people to 472 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:03,200 Jesus in small group environments, in one-on-one type 473 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:08,080 of encounters, and also in counseling type of situations. 474 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:10,600 Which then leads us to the second thing that we need to 475 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:12,120 understand about these spiritual gifts. 476 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:16,400 Just because these gifts are quieter in nature, that doesn't 477 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:20,360 mean that they are any less valuable or vital just because 478 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:22,600 they are quieter. And here's what I mean. 479 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,680 When you look at the enabling gifts and you put them up beside 480 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,560 the miraculous gifts, the miraculous gifts, they look like 481 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,560 big and bold and flashy and like, wow, those are, those are 482 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:37,280 super supernatural, right? As if they come from like a 483 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:39,360 hyped up version of the Holy Spirit. 484 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:43,560 And here's why I would tell you, just because the exhibition and 485 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:46,440 the usage of these spiritual gifts, these enabling gifts, 486 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:50,800 just because they're quieter in nature, they're more one-on-one, 487 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:54,200 It doesn't mean that they're any less vital or necessary. 488 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,520 As a matter of fact, they are just as vital and just as 489 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:00,720 necessary. I'm not going to ask you to 490 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,840 raise your hand in here, but I, I wonder what the split would be 491 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,800 in the room and online between if I were to say, hey, raise 492 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:09,360 your hand if you're an extrovert. 493 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:11,440 And then, you know, OK, put your hand down. 494 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:13,120 Raise your hand if you're an introvert. 495 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,360 Here's one of the things as an extrovert. 496 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:21,280 Extroverts typically like the the the big and and and and the 497 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:24,800 bold and and and. The more the merrier right to 498 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:28,360 where people can be pointed to Jesus in those contexts. 499 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:32,520 Introverts. Introverts like the big and the 500 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:36,120 more, the merrier the crowd. It drains introverts. 501 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:40,200 What introverts are fueled by are kind of the one-on-one and 502 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:42,120 the small group type of environments. 503 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:46,960 So God uses both categories, the miraculous gifts and the 504 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,040 enabling gifts, the big, what we would call the big bowl flashy 505 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:52,600 gifts, and the quieter in nature gifts. 506 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:56,400 Because listen, it's not at all about the gift anyway. 507 00:28:56,400 --> 00:29:01,000 It's all about our effectiveness and pointing people to Jesus. 508 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:04,760 Here's the third category of spiritual gifts, what we'll call 509 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,560 team gifts. The team gifts are gift of the 510 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,280 apostle, gift of evangelism, gift of prophecy, gift of 511 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:12,440 teaching, gift of encouragement, gift of shepherding, gift of 512 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:15,360 serving, gift of mercy, gift of giving, and gift of 513 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:21,200 administration. These gifts these gifts gift of 514 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:27,360 the apostle is going to be a supernatural spirit LED ability 515 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:32,520 to to plant churches to go till a previously spiritual dry 516 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:37,280 ground and to plant a thriving congregation to start a movement 517 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:39,800 of the gospel. The gift of evangelism. 518 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,560 There are men and women that have the gift of evangelism to 519 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,440 where when they open their mouths and they start to speak 520 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:49,800 Jesus and preach Jesus, there is an anointing on them to where 521 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:53,920 people respond there, there is a there, there, there's a cut to 522 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:55,840 the heart, directly to to the heart. 523 00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:59,000 That's a gift of evangelism. Gift of prophecy is the 524 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:03,840 supernatural ability to be able to boldly stand where God stands 525 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:08,520 and be able to boldly proclaim what God proclaims and not to be 526 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:12,480 moved off of that. The gift of teaching is the 527 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:17,240 ability, the Spirit LED ability to take scripture and to take 528 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:20,920 the word of God and the concepts of God and the character of God 529 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:25,800 and to be able to break it down into easily understandable bits 530 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,800 to where we can grasp what the Bible's teaching. 531 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:32,520 The gift of encouragement is that person that has that spirit 532 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:37,000 LED ability to not only to lift you up and to, to keep you up, 533 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:39,840 but to encourage you not to, not to give up. 534 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:43,600 And it's not it's, it's not a put on, it's not a facade. 535 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:47,840 They truly are an encourager. And I don't know about you, but 536 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,520 there's several, God has blessed me with several people in my 537 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:55,040 life that I know that they have the gift of encouragement. 538 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:58,800 So valuable, the gift of shepherding is that Spirit LED 539 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:05,640 ability, that Holy Spirit given ability to be able to to build 540 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:09,800 and to convey an environment and a setting that basically 541 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:13,400 communicates, hey, I've got you, I've got you. 542 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:17,320 That's the gift of the shepherd. The gift of serving is that 543 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:21,480 supernaturally spirit LED ability to see a need and to 544 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,920 meet a need with great effectiveness. 545 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:27,320 The gift of mercy is being able to look at someone through the 546 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:32,400 lens of of grace and mercy, not at the exclusion of truth, but 547 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:37,560 to exercise an extra measure of sympathy and empathy in their 548 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:40,040 communication with people to point them to Jesus. 549 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:45,400 The gift of giving is that supernatural spirit LED Holy 550 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:50,920 Spirit given gift to be able to give irrationally, to be able 551 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:56,840 to, to to give to, to be an irrational giver, a rational 552 00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:00,000 generosity. And I know many people that have 553 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:04,560 or several people that have that gift and that that pray bold, 554 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:07,920 bold prayers, knowing that that is the gift that God has given 555 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:09,720 them. And the gift of administration 556 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:14,120 is that Holy Spirit LED ability to be able to line things, that 557 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:18,680 set things up and set things in motion, to organize people and 558 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:22,080 resources, all for Kingdom advances. 559 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:25,800 I don't know if you noticed this or not about the commonality of 560 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:29,840 these team gifts, but these team gifts, here's the two things 561 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:30,880 that I would tell you about them. 562 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:34,320 Number one, these team gifts are going to be most effective when 563 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:36,840 they operate within the context of the local church. 564 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:40,360 These team gifts are going to be most effective when they operate 565 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:41,720 within the context of the local church. 566 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:44,880 Every single one of these gifts, you know one of the things that 567 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:48,720 they all have in common, none of them are given as Lone Ranger 568 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:51,080 gifts. None of them are given as Lone 569 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:54,600 Ranger gifts. They are all most effective 570 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:58,600 within the context of community. Remember right after God created 571 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,640 Adam and and and and God gave Adam the task. 572 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:05,880 He tend tend to the garden and and and into all the creation 573 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:08,880 and then he looks down and he says it's not good for man to be 574 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:10,960 alone instead of suitable helper. 575 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:14,400 Was it found for Adam so that God created Eve? 576 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:17,760 What does that tell you about our nature that God create us 577 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:21,040 with? It's not a result of sin, but 578 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:23,960 God created every single one of us with the innate need for 579 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,760 community. We need one another. 580 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:32,040 Introverts, fellow introverts. We need one another, right? 581 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:37,440 We need one another, so it makes all the sense in the world that 582 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:41,840 if God created us for community, the most effective that we can 583 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:46,080 be in pointing other people to Jesus is for us to lock arms 584 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:50,400 together and to walk in lockstep as the local body and as the 585 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:53,600 church as we point people to Jesus. 586 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:56,360 Second thing that we need to understand about these gifts 587 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:58,600 though, is just because these gifts may be more public in 588 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:02,400 nature, that doesn't mean that the deep, continual private work 589 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:06,000 of the Holy Spirit isn't needed. Let me kind of unpack that 590 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,880 thought. Some of these gifts are the team 591 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:12,360 gifts. Some of these gifts are very 592 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:15,760 public in nature. They're very public in nature, 593 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:17,840 right? And here's where I would tell 594 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:23,080 you about public gifts. Many times public gifts, one of 595 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:27,800 the things that comes along with a public gift is a platform or a 596 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:30,920 stage. Can I let you in on something? 597 00:34:31,159 --> 00:34:34,040 And I've already, I've talked to several of you about this 598 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:38,159 already, a platform, a stage, and a set of lights. 599 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:42,159 They give you the thought that they're actually making you when 600 00:34:42,159 --> 00:34:46,280 in fact they're baking you, when in fact they're baking you. 601 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:55,719 The more public the stage, the deeper, the deeper the work the 602 00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:57,960 Holy Spirit has to do and the person. 603 00:34:58,720 --> 00:35:00,200 I'll go ahead and tell you this as well. 604 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:02,720 There's not a single one of us in this room. 605 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:06,120 Despite your age, despite your experience, despite your faith 606 00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:09,360 journey, despite your giftedness, there's not a single 607 00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:15,400 one of us that is beyond the deep, continual private work of 608 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:20,760 the Holy Spirit in our lives. I need it, you need it. 609 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:25,200 This series has not been about, hey, let me give you all the 610 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:28,160 answers. This series has really been 611 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:33,520 about, hey, let me point you to God and God's word for you to 612 00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:37,560 discover what God has for you and for you to experience what 613 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:41,720 God has for us together. That is going to take a 614 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:46,640 commitment to the deep continual private work of the Holy Spirit 615 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:51,160 in our lives. I want to direct your attention 616 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:52,840 to the bottom of that note sheet. 617 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:55,000 You can even flip it over to that QR code. 618 00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:59,400 You can go to the link at the bottom of the note sheet, or you 619 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:03,880 can click on that QR code, take your phone out, click on the the 620 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:07,640 the link tree and it'll, it'll pull up a listing about a 621 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:10,320 spiritual gift online assessment. 622 00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:13,240 Here's what I would encourage you as your pastor, I would 623 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:18,760 greatly encourage you to spend some time, go home today, go 624 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:20,800 home today. Click on that link. 625 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:24,480 Spend some time walking through that free online assessment. 626 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:28,280 If you, if you, if you have a pretty good idea of what your 627 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:32,200 spiritual gifting already is, This may be confirmation. 628 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:36,160 It may be, you may find out, hey, maybe in a new season and 629 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:40,200 new stage of life, maybe God has shifted my spiritual gifting. 630 00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:44,600 Maybe you're new to this entire concept and it is the very first 631 00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:48,600 step in a journey to discover how God wants to use you, how 632 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:51,960 you can be heaven's greatest asset and Hell's greatest threat 633 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,440 as you walk day-to-day through life. 634 00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:00,280 But as you do that, this isn't in your notes, but it's really 635 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:04,280 important for you to hear me say, do not use your spiritual 636 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:06,880 gifting or the lack thereof as a crutch. 637 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:10,760 Here's what I mean by that. I want to take just a few of 638 00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:12,760 these. You may say, well, Ben, I took 639 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:15,240 the spiritual gift inventory. I don't have the gift of 640 00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:17,360 evangelism. I don't have really that 641 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:21,560 spiritual gift of being able to just open my mouth, tell people 642 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:23,480 about Jesus and they respond to the gospel. 643 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:26,000 That doesn't mean just because you don't have the gift of 644 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,760 evangelism, it doesn't mean that you're not called to tell people 645 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:31,960 about Jesus. You may say, well, Ben, I don't 646 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:36,000 have the gift of encouragement. So I can just be a pessimist, 647 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:39,360 right? No, Ben, I don't have the gift 648 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:41,680 of mercy. So is it OK for me to be a jerk 649 00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:46,240 in Jesus name? No, Ben, I don't have the gift 650 00:37:46,240 --> 00:37:48,560 of serving. Listen, you may not have the 651 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,960 supernatural, holy spiritual gift of serving, but that 652 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:54,800 doesn't mean that God hasn't called us to serve together, to 653 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:57,000 link arms and to walk in lockstep. 654 00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:58,480 Ben, I don't have the gift of giving. 655 00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:02,320 That doesn't mean that we that we don't give God our first and 656 00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:06,120 our finest. Don't use your spiritual gift or 657 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:12,800 the lack thereof as a crutch not to be the core basic son or 658 00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:17,200 daughter of God walking in that holy responsibility that he's 659 00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:19,880 called us to. It's going to be really 660 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:23,640 important for us to come back to next week as we come together 661 00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:27,920 and we build out a personal battle plan together. 662 00:38:28,720 --> 00:38:32,240 But before we close out, I want to acknowledge a couple things. 663 00:38:32,240 --> 00:38:34,560 Number one, we've walked through a lot of info. 664 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:38,600 We've walked through a lot of info, and I don't want all the 665 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:41,080 info to drown out the main point. 666 00:38:41,720 --> 00:38:43,520 You know what the main point of this morning is? 667 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:46,760 It's Jesus. You know what the main point of 668 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:49,000 spiritual gifting is? It's Jesus. 669 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:54,080 The main point is Jesus. It's, it's always Jesus, always 670 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:57,800 will be Jesus. The main point is Jesus. 671 00:38:58,720 --> 00:39:01,880 So with that said, I just want to simply ask you a question. 672 00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:05,280 If you're new to Riverbend, awesome welcome. 673 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:08,000 If you call Riverbend home, awesome welcome with us in the 674 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,160 room online. I want to ask us all the same 675 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:13,720 question. What is your relationship with 676 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:17,960 Jesus like? What's your relationship with 677 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:20,440 Jesus like? I didn't say what's your 678 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:22,280 relationship with a man upstairs? 679 00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:24,000 I didn't say what's your relationship like? 680 00:39:24,120 --> 00:39:26,360 Hey, when times are good, I throw up a prayer. 681 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:29,720 I'm saying like, what is your relationship with Jesus like? 682 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:34,880 Is there a close intimacy? There is there is there a growth 683 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:37,560 there? You you may be here with us this 684 00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:39,360 morning or maybe with us online this morning. 685 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:43,280 You say, well, Ben, I you, I have a belief in Jesus, but I 686 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:45,480 wouldn't say that I have a relationship with Jesus. 687 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:51,960 And if that's you, then the most important thing that we can talk 688 00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:55,280 through and that we can pray through is how to transition a 689 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:57,720 belief in Jesus into a relationship with Jesus. 690 00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:00,560 A belief in Jesus that's not really going to change anything. 691 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:03,480 Even the demons in hell believe and they shudder. 692 00:40:04,200 --> 00:40:06,400 But a relationship with Jesus, that changes everything. 693 00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:09,400 So if you don't have a relationship with Jesus, I would 694 00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:11,000 love to pray with you. I'd love to talk with you, 695 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:13,120 encourage you. But if you do have a 696 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:16,400 relationship with Jesus, what is the status of that relationship? 697 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:20,560 Is there a closeness? Is there a distance there? 698 00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:24,520 Is there something between you? Is there unconfessed sin between 699 00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:28,320 you and God? In just a moment we're going to 700 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:33,080 have an opportunity just to come down and spend some time with 701 00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:37,760 Jesus through prayer. But second question is not only 702 00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:41,200 what is your relationship with Jesus like, but who in your life 703 00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:43,440 are you fairly confident needs Jesus? 704 00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:46,440 And one of the things that we've been doing throughout this 705 00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:50,240 series, and we'll continue doing way after this series is just 706 00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:55,320 emphasizing the overall power of being able to lift someone up by 707 00:40:55,320 --> 00:41:00,200 name, to be able to come down to be able to kneel and and say 708 00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:04,640 Holy Spirit of God. This person in my home, this 709 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:07,680 person in my family is person that is, that is near and dear 710 00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:11,680 to my to my heart, God, they're not here this morning. 711 00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:15,800 But God, I pray that you would unleash your Holy Spirit God 712 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:18,400 that you would go to where they are and that you would invade 713 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:21,760 their hearts and their minds. God draw them close to you. 714 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:25,600 And there's a great honor and privilege and power being able 715 00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:28,720 to lift up someone else by name through prayer. 716 00:41:29,160 --> 00:41:30,240 So here's what we're going to do. 717 00:41:30,240 --> 00:41:32,880 I want to pray over us and then we're going to open up this 718 00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:35,120 front, open up the altar for a time of response. 719 00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:39,200 So myself and and Pastor Todd will be down here. 720 00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:41,840 Will we love to pray with you. If you want to have somebody 721 00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:43,920 else come down and pray with you down here. 722 00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:46,800 This front is open for you to do. 723 00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:49,280 However, God is calling you to respond. 724 00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:53,000 God, we love you and we thank you for the fact that you not 725 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:57,520 only inform us of truth, but God, you invite us to live in 726 00:41:57,520 --> 00:41:59,960 your truth. God, this whole issue of 727 00:41:59,960 --> 00:42:03,240 spiritual war. God, I pray that you would help 728 00:42:03,240 --> 00:42:07,880 us to understand that we are not, we're not sitting ducks. 729 00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:11,080 We're not, we're not bait. God, we, we are not inevitable 730 00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:15,800 prey for our enemy. But God, you invite us to become 731 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:21,440 warriors, God, by by placing our trust, by placing our faith in 732 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:24,760 you. God, we thank you for the fact 733 00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:27,760 that you love us so much, that you would forgive us of our sins 734 00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:31,040 through the cross of Jesus, that you love us so much that you 735 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:35,640 would walk with us daily and God us, but God also that you love 736 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:41,400 us so much that you would even be so bold to use us to point 737 00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:45,200 other people to Jesus. So God, I pray that throughout 738 00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:49,400 this time together, as we get to stand and worship one more time 739 00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:53,040 together this morning, as as an opportunity to be able to come 740 00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:57,240 and kneel in your presence. God, that you would bring us 741 00:42:57,240 --> 00:43:01,400 back to a closeness with you. God, that you would bring the 742 00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:06,440 people that we are close to that God we know that needs you. 743 00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:09,480 God, that we would lift them up to you. 744 00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:12,120 God that we would pray for them on their behalf. 745 00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:16,920 God to launch your Holy Spirit into their lives, to track them 746 00:43:16,920 --> 00:43:19,720 down. God to envelope them in your 747 00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:23,440 love and in your grace and in your mercy. 748 00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:25,640 God, I pray that you would have your will. 749 00:43:25,640 --> 00:43:27,680 I pray that you would have your way during this time. 750 00:43:27,920 --> 00:43:29,600 And it's in Jesus name that we pray. 751 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:34,960 Amen. Thank you for listening to the 752 00:43:34,960 --> 00:43:38,000 Riverbend Church Podcast. Learn more about who we are as a 753 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:40,120 church and how to connect. You can head over to our 754 00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:42,280 website, Riverbend Church dot Life.