So how's everyone doing? Aren't you excited? We are here. We get to worship together. It's a beautiful day that the Lord has given us, and we're going to learn about spiritual gifts. So oftentimes, when we get into the idea of talking about our spiritual gifts, I start to get a response that is a little bit glassy-eyed. Oh, no. Here we go. They want me to do something, and this is why we're going to do this. And that's not why we're doing this. But we are going to move into a new series that's going to take quite a while because we're not just going to talk about what they are. We're going to go through them over the course of several weeks individually as gifts so that you can know more about the spiritual gifts gifts that you have been given. So not only are we going to discover which spiritual gifts God has given to each one of us, but we're also going to have a visual of what gifts God has brought together for this church. So we need to learn about our spiritual gifts because by helping to understand how we've been gifted, we can then take that and understand how God has empowered this church, this local expression of church, to carry out his mission in this area, in this time, and in this season.
So yes, we will find out what gifts we have, because that will help us to understand how God wants us to serve. But it's not going to be so individual. I'm not going to make you stand up and say, These are my gifts. However, there is going to be an overreaching competition, contest, how you want to play it. But by the end of the series, whoever can guess my top three spiritual gifts wins a prize. But you have to get all three right. But you... Okay. To help us get a visual or an illustration of how spiritual gifts work, I'm going to read you a story. Yes, you get to listen to a story today, and it's called The Hat for Ivan. Are you ready? Sit back, relax, don't fall asleep as I begin our story. Ivan was a happy boy. He lived in Hatville. Everyone in Hatville wore hats. Doctors wore doctor hats, cooks wore cooking hats, farmers wore farming hats. Ivan's father father was the hat maker. When people came to his shop to order a hat, Ivan's father would ask, What do you really love to do? I love to fish, one man said.
Do you fish well? That I do. Then you need a fishing hat. So Ivan's father made a hat with a pocket for the hooks and a small bucket for the bait. At the age of 10, each boy and girl in Hatville had a hat day. On that big day, they got their own hats. Ivan Ivan's Hat Day was coming soon. All Ivan could think about was his new hat. He told everyone, My hat day is coming. The people in Hatville were excited about Ivan's hat day, but they had their own ideas about what hat he should wear. Felix the baker, said, Ivan, I have a hat for you. Ivan was surprised. He thought his hat would come from his father, the hatmaker. But maybe he was wrong. Ivan didn't want to hurt his friend's feelings. Thank you, Mr. Felix, he said. Go ahead. Put it on, said the baker. Ivan did. But it was too big. It fell down over his whole face. That's okay, little friend. It will soon fit. Ivan tripped on the step and fell down. Funny, he said to himself, I thought my hat would fit better than this. Soon, Ivan came to Ms. Anita's piano studio.
Ivan's father had made her a special music hat with bells. She loved the hat, and she loved Ivan. But when he stopped to hear her play, she didn't know who he was. All she saw was a tall hat on a small boy. Who are you? She asked. Ivan said, It's me, Ms. Anita. Ivan. That's not the hat for you, she declared. Then she handed Ivan a very different-looking hat. I made this just for you. Here, try it on. The hat was covered with music makers, a piccolo, bells, whistles, and a drumstick. Perfect, Ms. Anita said as he put it on. Ivan smiles and left the studio. Now he had two hats. He wasn't comfortable wearing either one, but he didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Soon he met a new problem. Ivan, the big deep voice, belonged to Bruno, the firefighter. Take that silly hat off your head. I knew your hat day was near, so I brought you a gift. For the third time that day, a hat was placed on Ivan's head. This hat was just like Bruno's, long and red and very shiny with a piece of fire hose wrapped around it and a tiny ladder on top.
Now that's what I call a hat, Bruno boomed. Ivan stepped back and fell over. The hat was so tall and heavy, he couldn't keep his balance. Bruno helped him up. You'll get used to it, Ivan, Bruno told him. Ivan tried and tried to stand by falling backwards. Thanks, Mr. Bruno, he said. Funny, Ivan thought to himself. It's easy for Bruno to wear this big hat, but hard for me. Then with one hand holding the heavy hat on his head and one hand holding the others, he carefully walked the rest of the way to school. At school, Ivan tried wearing one hat after another. He had a hard time wearing all the hats. Ivan, the teacher, finally said, Maybe you should go home. Ivan knew she was right. He had too many hats. On the way home, he was given even more. The farmer gave him a straw hat, the beekeeper gave him one with a net, a clown gave him a cone hat, and the Bookshop owner gave him a hat shaped like a book. Ivan soon had so many hats that he could hardly carry them all. He kept dropping them. All of a sudden, he saw Felix, the baker.
Oh, no, he thought, I'm wearing the farmer's hat, and he snatched it off and put on the baker's hat. Carrying the hats was hard enough, but now Ivan's eyes were covered and he couldn't see where he's going. Suddenly, he heard tiny bells. It was Ms. Anita. Ivan pulled off the baker hat and threw on the musical hat just in time. Oh, you look wonderful, Ms. Anita, exclaimed as she passed. Ivan started picking up the rest of the hats when he heard Bruno's deep voice. Ivan, is that you? Quickly, Ivan replaced the musical hat with a firefighter hat. It's me, he said, standing up and then falling back and back until he landed on his bottom. Looks terrific, ' Bruno called over his shoulder. Thanks, Ivan, mumbled. He was just so tired. He just sat there surrounded by hats. Looks like you've had quite a day. ' Ivan couldn't remember when a voice ever sounded so good. 'Father, ' he shouted, jumping up. You won't believe what happened today. Everybody gave me a hat, and none of them fit, ' Ivan's father spoke up. 'That's That's right, said the boy. But you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings?
Ivan shook head. That's right, Ivan, stopped. How did you know? Ivan's father put his arm around the boy. I'm the hatmaker, Ivan. I've seen what happens when people have hats that weren't made for them. It was everyone to give you hats, but they don't know you. That's my job. I'm the hatmaker, and I'm your father. Ivan smiled, Father, I want the hat that you will make for me. Well, let's gather up these hats and go home then. As the hatmaker and his child walked home, the father asked, Tell me, Ivan, what do you really love to do? That was a fun story, right? But it also gives us a wonderful illustration of how spiritual gifts work. Just as Ivan's father made him the right hat, God has given each of us, through the Holy spirit, gifts that fit us perfectly and equip us to serve him in the way that he's designed. Now, discovering our spiritual gifts isn't always easy, and the journey certainly doesn't end once we discover them, once we've identified them. Finding out what the gifts are is really just the beginning. Step one is knowing what God has given us. But even that part can sometimes feel difficult because some of us don't like to draw attention to ourselves.
Others worry about saying that they are gifted would sound prideful. And I often hear people say, I don't have any gifts. But the truth is you do. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and saviour, the Holy spirit equips us with gifts that God has prepared for us long before we were born. And these gifts aren't about making ourselves look good. They're about serving God and building up his church. So while humility is important, denying the gift that God has given us isn't true humility. In fact, it's almost like saying no thanks to a gift that God designed especially for us. Now, think about how you feel when you put a lot of time and thought into a gift for someone. And when they unwrap it and they see what it is, their response is to tell you thanks, but that's not really what I wanted, so I'm going to take it back and get something else. That's hurtful, isn't it? Yet we have Sometimes a similar response to God's gifts. Gee, thanks God, but I would have rather had a different gift, if you don't mind. And do you think that's the response he's looking for?
Shouldn't we instead be grateful to receive and to use the gifts that he has given us as an act of worship and obedience to the one who's given them to us? Because God has uniquely gifted each one of us so that we can do what he calls calls us to do for the good of church, the kingdom, and to bring glory to God. So it turned to 1 Corinthians 12: 1-7. It says now about the gifts of the spirit brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other, you were influenced and led astray to mute idol. Therefore, I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the spirit of God says, 'Jesus be cursed. ' and no one can say this is Lord except by the Holy spirit. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone, it is the same God at work. Now, to each one, the manifestation of the spirit is given for the common good.
So Paul reminds us here that while there are many different kinds of gifts, they all come from the same spirit. And there are many different kinds of service, but the same Lord. And there are many different kinds of ways that God can work through us, but it's always the same God at work in every believer. So let's just hear verse seven again. Now, to each one, the manifestation of the spirit is given for the common good. In other words, every single follower of Jesus has at least one gift. There's no exceptions. Nobody is ever left out. Nobody is overlooked. Nobody is giftless. So think back to Ivan's story. His father didn't forget him, even though Ivan thought for a while that maybe he had. No, his father was carefully preparing a hat made just for him. And in the same way God didn't forget any one of you. He has a gift all prepared, something that fits you perfectly, something that reflects his knowledge of who you are and how he wants you to partner with him in his mission for the kingdom. So the gifts are not random. They're personal and they're intentional. It's not like the Price is Right game show where they spin the feel to see what they win, right?
The Holy spirit doesn't just close his eyes and point and say, Okay, you get the gift of mercy, you get the gift of leadership, you get the gift of evangelism. That's not how it works. Instead, the spirit distributes gifts in perfect wisdom, knowing exactly what is needed for building up the body. And here's the good news. If you have accepted Christ, you have a gift, which means you are needed. The church cannot be what God intends without you using the gift that he has placed within you. This is true regardless of age, gender, or experience. New believers are just as needed as those who have been followers for years. Young and the young at heart are all equally gifted and needed. And gifts are not gender-specific. It is so important that we do not put people into boxes of service based on gender instead of giftings. If we are to see the church reach its fullest potential. And if we were to continue reading the passage from 1 Corinthians 12 that we were hearing from earlier, we find that Paul described the church as being like a body, and a body has lots of different parts.
Hands hands, feet, eyes, ears, and each part is important. In the same way God has brought us all together, no matter where we come from, to be part of his family through his spirit. Now, imagine if the foot said, I'm not a hand, so I don't belong, or if the ear said, I'm not an eye, so I don't count. That would sound pretty silly, right? A body can't just one big eye or a giant ear. It needs all the body parts to work the way that they should. So God has made each part of the body special, and he placed them exactly where he wanted them. And that's true for us, too. God made each of us different on purpose. No one can say, We don't need you, because in God's family, everyone matters. So even the parts that seem small or unimportant are actually really valuable. God makes sure that those parts are cared for and honoured the way that the whole body works together in harmony. And when one part hurts, the rest of the body feels it. And when one part is happy, the rest of the body celebrates, too. So just as a body cannot function if the eyes refuse to see or the ears refuse to hear, the church cannot thrive if believer set aside or ignore the gifts that God has given them.
So when we talk about spiritual gifts, we're not talking about something optional or something extra. We're talking about the way that God has chosen to work through his people. We're talking about your hat, the unique role your father has designed for you in his kingdom work. So Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12 that the eye can't say to the hand, I don't need you, and the head can't say to the feet, I don't need you. That's because As the body of Christ, in the body of Christ, no gift is too small and no person is unnecessary. Every part match and every believer has a role to play. So when you think about your own body, we tend to notice the obvious parts, right? Our eyes, our hands, our legs. But what about the less visible parts? Your lungs, your kidneys, your heart? You don't see them, but you can't live without them. And in the same way, some gifts in the church are more visible, like teaching or leading, while others happen quickly behind the scenes, like serving, giving, and showing mercy. But they are just as vital for the church to be healthy. Just like a body can't function at its best without every part doing its job, the church can't thrive without every believer using their gift.
If even one part stops working, the whole body feels it. And when one part steps up and does its job faithfully, the whole body benefits. This means that your gift, whatever it is, matters deeply to God and to his people. So whether you are gifted in teaching or encouraging, serving, giving, leading, showing mercy, your role is essential. God didn't design a church made up only of preachers. Can you imagine? Or only of musicians, or only of helpers. He designed a church where different people with different gifts come together to reflect the fullness of Christ. And here's the truth. The church is at its best when everyone brings their gift to the table. No one can say, I'm not needed here, and no one should say, My gift is more important than yours. In God's design, all gifts matter, and all the gifts are meant to work together. Now, if we turn our attention from 1 Corinthians 12 and go over to Romans 12, We see that Paul tells us that, Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
In In other words, none of us has been given every single gift, and that's on purpose. God didn't design us to do everything on our own. Instead, he made us to work together, each one bringing their unique gift to the table. That's why a healthy church isn't healthy and doesn't work to its fullest potential when only 10% are using their gifts and the other 90% are not. In a hat for Ivan, the But the believers gave Ivan hats that weren't right for him because they weren't made for him in mind. And in the same way, the church doesn't function best when we try to take on roles that are not ours. If we're constantly trying to wear someone else's gift, we'll end up frustrated, burned out, feeling out of place. But when each of us serves in the area that God has designed for us, something beautiful happens. The church becomes a living picture of unity in diversity, different people with different gifts all moving in the same direction, accomplishing God's mission in God's way. God's plan is not for one person to do it all, nor for us to compare ourselves to others, but for each of us to fitfully use the gift that we've been given.
And when we do, his work gets done the way he intended, and the body of Christ becomes strong, whole, and effective. Romans 12: 6 6 says, We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us. That means that God has carefully chosen how to equip each believer. And when we use those gifts, it's not only a blessing to others, it brings joy to us as well. Because think again about Ivan, as he tron hat after hat from the villages, he became weighted down and discouraged, didn't he? Those hats weren't made for him. They didn't fit him. So wearing them made him feel awkward and uncomfortable. And in the same way, when we try to serve in areas that God has not gifted us for, ministry can feel like a burden. We may grow tired, joyless, and even resentful. But everything changes when we put on the gift that God has given us. Just like Ivan finally discovered that his father was going to make for him, when we step into the role that God has prepared for us, there's a sense of relief and purpose and joy. It feels right, not because it's always easy, but because we know we are serving where God wants us to be.
Has anybody had the experience of feeling like you were gifted in a particular way and that God was leading you in a particular way to serve, but you were unable to do that? You were unable to fulfil that serving? Have you ever been in that position where for whatever reason you were not given the opportunity to do that? It feels like you're in a box and you can't escape because God has empowered you in this amazing way, and then you're stuck not being able to use it. It's like having all this energy and nowhere for it to go. It's not joyful at all. But the beauty of spiritual gifts is that they're not just about what the church needs, they're also about how God designed us to thrive in serving him. There's a deep sense of fulfilment when you see God working through you, when you realise this is exactly what I was made to do. And that joy is not just temporary happiness. It's a lasting joy that comes from knowing that you're in step with God's spirit. So if you've ever felt worn out or discouraged in serving, it may be that you're trying to wear someone else's hat.
The good news is your father has a hat that fits you perfectly. And when you wear it, when you serve in your ding, you'll experience the joy of living out the purpose that God has designed for you. Think of it like a team sport. Sports and I are like math and I, just so you know. But I figured I wouldn't use a dance analogy here. So my understanding is that every player has a position and a role to play. But if the quarterback tried to play the part of the linebacker, or if a pitcher suddenly stepped in as a catcher, or if one of the other players I don't know the names of for soccer decided to take over as goalie, what are those? The ones do all the running and kicking, like the forwards. Who are they? Are they just forwards? Stryker. Okay, because I read that and then I'm like, I don't... Okay, so that's true? Cool to know. Okay. What would happen if they did that? They could probably do it for a little while, right? But it would be awkward and frustrating and probably not very effective. A pitcher probably isn't going to be as good at catching fastballs behind the plate.
A goalie isn't equipped as much to run the field scoring goals, and that would make the team struggle, and the players themselves probably would not enjoy it much either. But when each player is in the position that fits their skills, and when the defenders defend, when the scorer score, when the playmaker set things up, the team works the way it was designed. The game flows, and the players actually enjoy it because they're right where they belong. Have anybody been forced to play goal when you don't want to play goal in soccer? I've just watched that as a parent, and I've never seen anything more painful in my life. But that's exactly how it works with spiritual gifts. When we try to serve in a role that God has not designed for us, it can feel like we're playing out of position. It's hard, it's draining, and it's discouraging. But when we use the gifts that God has given us, when we can find the joy and the energy and the fulfilment because we're serving right where God has placed us. And when each of us plays our position, the whole team, the body of Christ, thrives.
So like Ivan's father in the story, God has a hat. He has prepared a gift for each of us. And because he's a very generous God, he usually gives us more than one. So over For the next few weeks, we're going to discover how God has gifted us, starting with a spiritual gifts inventory. It's not a test because you can't fail. So you're going to take it home. I can see the enthusiasm ooosing from all of your pores as I speak. You're going to take it home. It's only two pages, front and back, and you're going to fill it out. And then at the back, it helps you to score it yourself. And then you'll be able to see what your top three gifts are. Then when you come back at some point, we are going to have a visual on the wall. Joanna, is it going? It's going on the wall. And there will be a method for you to show your top three gifts. It doesn't have your name on it, so it's not like I'm going to look it up and go, Oh, so and so is gifted in this way. I'm going to hunt them down and ask them to do this.
That is not what it's about. But it will give us a visual of how, as a church, God has equipped us and gifted us, because that will help us to discern where he's taking us. Does that make sense to you? So if we see that we have really strong gifts in a particular area, well, that starts making us think, he must have a plan for us to do in this place at this time for his purpose because he's brought a whole bunch of people with this gift here. So You're going to want to know your top three gifts. Remember, as a through the gifts, start paying attention because you have to try and figure out which are mine. Nobody has ever got them right. They've got two out of three, but they usually miss the third. And you don't have to have them in order. I'll give you that leeway. I'm going to give you each one of these Right now, as I have you hostage sitting in your seats, I'm going to hand them out. And then as we move through this series, I want you to continue to pray to God to guide you towards where and how he wants you to use your gifts.
He is very very generously given you gifts. And I don't think any of us want to say to God, wrap it back up, stick it back in the box, and no, thank you. I'll take it back to the store and forget it. Not the response we want to have, right? And it's such It's an amazing privilege when you think about it, that here the God of the universe has given you a gift that you get to use to help build up his church in a way that will also bring you joy. Sure. So that you know the bottom ones are really faint ink because my printer ran out of ink printing There you go. And as I say, nobody is going to ask you to put your name on it and say, Tell me what gifts you have. Well, actually, I might ask you, but only if I already suspect. I might want an affirmation that I'm right. And that is a great conversation for everybody to have with one another. Hey, what did you find out about your spiritual gifts? Did it come as a surprise? So we're on a path of discovery here, friends.
Are you excited? Yes. This is going to be awesome. I'm so excited to see a visual of how God has equipped this church and how he's gifted this church. I think it's going to be amazing. And I think that we are going to discover some amazing insights about this church. So let's get excited about unwrapping our gifts. And let's pray. God, we thank you. We thank you that you not only call us to serve, but you don't just call us and then leave us there to try and figure it all out on our own and try to do it and accomplish it within our own strengths. God, you gift us, empower us to be able to serve you and to do the work that you have called us to do in the way that you want us to do it. God, I just pray for the weeks ahead as we delve into these spiritual gifts more in detail, that hearts will be moved and encouraged and just put on fire when they see that you have been so generous in the way that you have gifted us and that you want to partner with us so that we can serve you using these.
So just be with us in the weeks ahead. And God just bless each one today as we continue on into this service. God, you are just such an amazing God, and we are so privileged to worship you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
