Spiritual Gifts Are Ministries Not Just Abilities | Pastor Tanks | Reach City Church

And so, I adopted his view, made a little tweak.But essentially, when we're defining spiritual gifts, spiritual gifts are spirit-given ministries enabled by the Holy Spirit's impartation of power for the task of building and building up the body of Christ. Spiritual gifts are spirit-given ministries. Notice I didn't say abilities. Ministries enabled by the Holy Spirit's impartation of power for the task of building and building up the body of Christ. [00:07:47] (30 seconds)  #spiritGivenMinistry

If you aren't taking the gift that God has given you and giving it back to your local church or back to the mission of God, then you're not stewarding what he's given you.You're abusing it.You've taken what he's gave you, made it all about you.And then when he said, hey, don't forget that's supposed to be about me.You said it's supposed to be about me.Wait a minute.I gave that to you. [00:12:25] (22 seconds)  #giveBackYourGift

Serving one another with our special gift is stewarding the gift.If you're not serving, you're not stewarding, period.I don't care about all of the stuff we say for why we don't do what God gave us and give it back to him.Excuses.You're not stewarding it.But Peter supports the idea that spiritual gifts are ministries empowered by differing gifts, right?This is why when we talk about gifts, they're all throughout the Scriptures and all of these primary passages, and I'm going to run through them kind of today, but we're going to go back to them through the series and really break them down. [00:14:27] (35 seconds)  #stewardYourGift

Spiritual gifts, therefore, if they are ministries, spiritual gifts are less about privilege and more about responsibilities. In other words, when you understand spiritual gifts as ministries, then it shifts the focus from personal adornment towards responsibility. And the reason it speaks to responsibility is because Romans 12, 4 and 6 teaches us this about the gifts. For just as we have many parts in one body and all body parts do not have the same function, so we who are many are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another. [00:21:19] (32 seconds)  #humbleByGrace

So if the body is malnourished, if the body is hurting, and it means somebody who has the gift to heal it, ain't using it.Or, we as a church are just really bad at understanding what they are and we don't give them space to use it.I'll give that too.I'll give that caveat.Okay?It's a responsibility to be gifted.It's not just something to talk about.Oh, I got a gift.I got a gift.Use it.It's not about what gift can get you attention on stage.Right?It's not about how your gift can serve you, but how it can serve others.And Peter says, that is what stewarding the gift of God looks like.So, to know your gift means it comes with responsibility. [00:24:27] (46 seconds)  #giftsAreResponsibility

So if the body is malnourished, if the body is hurting, and it means somebody who has the gift to heal it, ain't using it.Or, we as a church are just really bad at understanding what they are and we don't give them space to use it.I'll give that too.I'll give that caveat.Okay?It's a responsibility to be gifted.It's not just something to talk about.Oh, I got a gift.I got a gift.Use it.It's not about what gift can get you attention on stage.Right?It's not about how your gift can serve you, but how it can serve others.And Peter says, that is what stewarding the gift of God looks like.So, to know your gift means it comes with responsibility. [00:24:27] (46 seconds)  #oneBodyManyParts

How can you boast in your spiritual gift?It wasn't earned by you.It was given to you.It is a grace gift.It is not a talent you cultivated.It is not an ability you warmed up.It is not some birth God-given ability.It is a grace of God that he gave to you for the purpose of his church.So how can you boast in something that you did not earn?This is why grace and gifts are interchangeably. [00:30:48] (26 seconds)  #graceNotTalent

Secondly, spiritual gifts are not empowered by our abilities.They're empowered by the Holy Spirit.The reason this is important is in your own skills and talents, you cannot achieve the outcomes of your gift.Why?Because gifts are the presence of God's power, which means he empowers the activity.Not us, not our talents, his empowering presence, which is another way of describing the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit. [00:37:59] (21 seconds)  #SpiritNotSkill