Using Spiritual Gifts for Unity and Edification
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
"Kind of Paul's main argument in these chapters is pretty simple. He says, when everybody uses their gifts in a way that everybody can understand, everybody benefits. Right? When everybody uses their gifts in a way that everyone can understand and engage with, everybody benefits. So you guys ready to dive in? So let's do it. Good. He's ready. All right. There we go. So again, Paul's trying to solve problems. This church in Corinth had tons of problems that were going on that they invited Paul." [00:42:23] (27 seconds)
"The idea is that in a setting like this, everybody could come and contribute something in a meaningful way. And as they did that, kind of the worship service got built. But in spite of that difference, remember what for Paul the goal is. Look what he says next. He goes on to say in the very next line, everything must be done so that the church may be built up. For him, that's the goal. That's the goal of all these people bringing their different parts to the worship services." [00:45:54] (25 seconds)
"But all of those gifts, even though they're different, they're all given for exactly the same reason. He says there are different kinds of gifts, but right, it's the same Holy Spirit that distributes them. There's different kinds of services, but they all come from the same Lord. There's different kinds of workings, but it's the same God at work. And he says now to each one, this gift, this manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." [00:46:43] (22 seconds)
"So at first he starts out in chapter 12 by talking about how the church needs to have this variety of gifts, diversity of gifts. The church needs these different gifts and the church needs all of them. And they're not like rank ordered in terms of importance. They're all important. They're all critical for the life of the church. There's not one that's better than the other. And then he talks about how the people in the church, the image that he uses, he says, all y 'all in a church, don't think about yourselves as individuals." [00:49:04] (25 seconds)
"Then in chapter 13, he introduces a really important idea. He says that the thing that should determine the way that you use your gifts, when you speak, when you don't, when you use them, when you don't, is love. Like that's the idea he's hitting home in the first couple of verses of this very famous chapter. Usually you hear this chapter read at weddings because he talks about love. But really he's trying to point out to the Corinthians that the way they're doing things wrong." [00:50:46] (22 seconds)
"So you see what he's doing there? He's saying these particular gifts that he's going to talk about at length next. He says, look, if you have these gifts and you don't let love for the other people in the church and their common good and building them, if you're not letting that determine when and how you're using them, your gifts are kind of pointless. You're missing the point. That's the whole point of this chapter. It's not just to be read at weddings, although it does do a really wonderful description of love and how we in marriages are called to serve the common good of the other person." [00:51:33] (26 seconds)
"So prophecy, the way Paul's talking about it here, is when God's Spirit inspires a speaker to pastorally apply the teachings of Jesus or the words of Scripture to a given situation, right? It's when somebody's kind of based on, let me talk about how God's truth can provide encouragement or correction. It's the kind of thing where people interpret the biblical text for the building up of the community. So in a sense, it's not all that different than what I do every week when I get up here and preach." [00:55:21] (26 seconds)
"And it's that idea that everybody can understand. It comes up again in the middle of the chapter because Paul starts talking about the role of people who are visiting church services, people who aren't followers of Jesus that are showing up in these church services. So in verse 24, he says this, he's like, look, if an unbeliever or inquirer comes in while everybody is prophesying, where they're talking about how God's truth impacts our lives, well, they're going to be convicted of their sin." [00:56:34] (24 seconds)
"So it's interesting that Paul's talking about visitors because if you think about it, right, this probably happened fairly often. These first century services are happening in homes. And at that time, a person's home was often where they also did their business. So you can imagine, you know, people are gathered for a worship service, you know, there's 30 or 40 people there. They're singing songs, you know, the reading people are preaching. And you know, somebody walks into Publius's house because he's got to pay his bill for olive oil or something." [00:57:06] (25 seconds)
"But it has to also be done in a way that is understandable and helpful and convicting to people who are still exploring the faith, right? And that's a big part of the reason why we do a lot of the things that we do here this week. You know, oftentimes when we're setting up to communion, we explain what it is. We don't just assume that everybody knows because this could be new. It's why I tell people every week, hey, here's where you can find this passage in the Red Bible." [00:58:55] (23 seconds)
"Because again, remember, all the world does is try to break people apart into their different tribes and segments so they can sell them things. But Paul is saying that we need to be together, that we are created to be together, that we are a body, and we can't make it with some of these other parts. So part of what I think it means to follow Jesus faithfully today is to say, okay, what do I do to say no to this message from the world that just wants to keep us divided?" [01:09:44] (23 seconds)
"For those of us who are already serving, we know how to use our gifts in this place. Just encourage us, help us see the value in that. And for those of us, Lord, who are trying to figure out how we do that, through the power of your spirit, help us know what a next step is to identify how you're calling us to use your gifts right here in this place and in this community." [01:10:02] (18 seconds)
Ask a question about this sermon
"The idea is that in a setting like this, everybody could come and contribute something in a meaningful way. And as they did that, kind of the worship service got built. But in spite of that difference, remember what for Paul the goal is. Look what he says next. He goes on to say in the very next line, everything must be done so that the church may be built up. For him, that's the goal. That's the goal of all these people bringing their different parts to the worship services." [00:45:54] (25 seconds)
"But all of those gifts, even though they're different, they're all given for exactly the same reason. He says there are different kinds of gifts, but right, it's the same Holy Spirit that distributes them. There's different kinds of services, but they all come from the same Lord. There's different kinds of workings, but it's the same God at work. And he says now to each one, this gift, this manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." [00:46:43] (22 seconds)
"So at first he starts out in chapter 12 by talking about how the church needs to have this variety of gifts, diversity of gifts. The church needs these different gifts and the church needs all of them. And they're not like rank ordered in terms of importance. They're all important. They're all critical for the life of the church. There's not one that's better than the other. And then he talks about how the people in the church, the image that he uses, he says, all y 'all in a church, don't think about yourselves as individuals." [00:49:04] (25 seconds)
"Then in chapter 13, he introduces a really important idea. He says that the thing that should determine the way that you use your gifts, when you speak, when you don't, when you use them, when you don't, is love. Like that's the idea he's hitting home in the first couple of verses of this very famous chapter. Usually you hear this chapter read at weddings because he talks about love. But really he's trying to point out to the Corinthians that the way they're doing things wrong." [00:50:46] (22 seconds)
"So you see what he's doing there? He's saying these particular gifts that he's going to talk about at length next. He says, look, if you have these gifts and you don't let love for the other people in the church and their common good and building them, if you're not letting that determine when and how you're using them, your gifts are kind of pointless. You're missing the point. That's the whole point of this chapter. It's not just to be read at weddings, although it does do a really wonderful description of love and how we in marriages are called to serve the common good of the other person." [00:51:33] (26 seconds)
"So prophecy, the way Paul's talking about it here, is when God's Spirit inspires a speaker to pastorally apply the teachings of Jesus or the words of Scripture to a given situation, right? It's when somebody's kind of based on, let me talk about how God's truth can provide encouragement or correction. It's the kind of thing where people interpret the biblical text for the building up of the community. So in a sense, it's not all that different than what I do every week when I get up here and preach." [00:55:21] (26 seconds)
"And it's that idea that everybody can understand. It comes up again in the middle of the chapter because Paul starts talking about the role of people who are visiting church services, people who aren't followers of Jesus that are showing up in these church services. So in verse 24, he says this, he's like, look, if an unbeliever or inquirer comes in while everybody is prophesying, where they're talking about how God's truth impacts our lives, well, they're going to be convicted of their sin." [00:56:34] (24 seconds)
"So it's interesting that Paul's talking about visitors because if you think about it, right, this probably happened fairly often. These first century services are happening in homes. And at that time, a person's home was often where they also did their business. So you can imagine, you know, people are gathered for a worship service, you know, there's 30 or 40 people there. They're singing songs, you know, the reading people are preaching. And you know, somebody walks into Publius's house because he's got to pay his bill for olive oil or something." [00:57:06] (25 seconds)
"But it has to also be done in a way that is understandable and helpful and convicting to people who are still exploring the faith, right? And that's a big part of the reason why we do a lot of the things that we do here this week. You know, oftentimes when we're setting up to communion, we explain what it is. We don't just assume that everybody knows because this could be new. It's why I tell people every week, hey, here's where you can find this passage in the Red Bible." [00:58:55] (23 seconds)
"Because again, remember, all the world does is try to break people apart into their different tribes and segments so they can sell them things. But Paul is saying that we need to be together, that we are created to be together, that we are a body, and we can't make it with some of these other parts. So part of what I think it means to follow Jesus faithfully today is to say, okay, what do I do to say no to this message from the world that just wants to keep us divided?" [01:09:44] (23 seconds)
"For those of us who are already serving, we know how to use our gifts in this place. Just encourage us, help us see the value in that. And for those of us, Lord, who are trying to figure out how we do that, through the power of your spirit, help us know what a next step is to identify how you're calling us to use your gifts right here in this place and in this community." [01:10:02] (18 seconds)
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from Mar 28, 2025. Do you have any questions about it?