April 19, 2026 SERMON

 Live the Difference

YOU’VE GOT A GIFT!

I Corinthians 12:1-6
 

We have now come to chapter 12 of I Corinthians as we’re learning from Paul how to live differently since becoming a Christ follower and having been gifted with His Holy Spirit.

So please find that in your Bibles so you’ll be able to follow along.

 This chapter along with chapters 13 and 14 Paul is teaching about spiritual gifts.

We will find in our study of some facts we need to know in order to apply our spiritual gifts.

I like getting gifts. I like being treated to dinner, getting a good book, someone blessing me with encouragement, with love, respect and so forth.

But do you know that we have been gifted by God?

Think for a moment, we have been gifted with infinitely better things than those I just mentioned. 

 We have been given eternal life.
We have been given the Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of God residing in us. But even that is not the end. There is even more!

You see…

12:1-6 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. 3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

Although the members of the church at Corinth were highly favored with spiritual gifts, they do not seem to have known how to use them. 

Paul points out to them, in this chapter, how ignorant they were concerning the very gifts which they possessed. They did not know how to put them to proper' use in the service of God. 

The apostle therefore reminds these gift-exalted Corinthians that, only a little while before, they were heathens, carried away by falsehood and superstition, and worshipping dumb idols. 

They had nothing to boast of; and it is probable that, if we also look back to the pit we came from we shall find no more occasion for boasting than they had.

It is so important for us to understand that as Christians, WE HAVE BEEN SPIRITUALLY GIFTED. 

There is not a believer in this room who does not have what is called a “spiritual gift.”

Each one of us has been gifted by God with special abilities that we did not have prior to being a Christian. They are, in fact, the result of the Holy Spirit residing in us.

Sadly though, the truth is that we don’t all use them. They are for the church untapped resources, because we don’t know what we have or how to use them. That means that many of us end up settling for far less than God intended for us.

Now, as a point of clarification, spiritual gifts are different than talents. Talents are what you are born with; spiritual gifts are what you are born again with.

Our spiritual gifts are worth knowing, because we are assigned to have a proper estimate of ourselves. In (Romans 12:3), it says…For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

To better understand what spiritual gifts are, consider this definition: Spiritual gifts are special supernatural abilities distributed by the Holy Spirit to every believer according to God’s design and grace for the common good of the body of Christ.

Spiritual gifts are divine endowments. They come from God to us. And they are true gifts. The Greek word that is translated spiritual gift is charismata.
At the beginning of that word is charis, which is the word for grace. So spiritual gifts are really endowments of grace.

 They are special abilities that are graciously given to us so that we might make our unique contribution to the body of Christ, the church. Now note, they are not meant for ourselves. They are given to us so that we will effectively minister among the community of believers. They are for the building of the body.
 

God has designed the church to work inter-dependently. We have not been designed to work independent of one another. We are to work together – interdependently. It is God’s design that we use our spiritual gifts to serve the body.

 Their use is to promote the good health of the church. This means, when we use them properly, it is a win/win situation for all involved.

But a key issue in all of this is having a proper estimate of ourselves. We need to not only understand what our spiritual gifts are; we also need to understand what keeps us from using them effectively. 

 Things that can get in our way are pride and arrogance. If we think that we are somehow superior, we will be unable to effectively minister.

If we don’t trust others to use their gifts, we will prevent others from effectively ministering.

 If we fear failure, we will never use them. If we are into power and control, we will fail to see the necessity of others in the process. 

So, it is important that in our discovery of our spiritual gifts, and their use, that we be godly men and women.

Therefore, let us remember that we are different, but not divided. We don’t all get the same gift or gift-mix. Each one of us is different. Each one of us has different personalities, different talents, different interests and different experiences. And now, along with those, we have differing spiritual 

gifts.

But in the midst of all this difference, there is to be unity. We are different, but we are also the same.

For what unites us is much greater than what makes us different. 

We have the same Spirit. We have the same Lord. We have the same God. This means that we are called to serve without division.

So please remember that unity doesn’t mean we have to be alike. It doesn’t mean we have to think alike. It doesn’t mean that everybody here has to conform to what I think you should be. 

What unity does mean, though, is that we are working together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

We are made to function in community. So anytime we are sitting on the sidelines, thinking we are not needed or because we are upset, we are being 

disobedient. 

We are not being a good steward of what God has given us, because we are called to invest what we have been given for the accomplishment of the Great Commission.

 We are called to make disciples. And God has given each local church, all that is needed to accomplish this task, which includes our spiritual gifts.

Now, we have one or more spiritual gifts. Each one of us has at least one and we certainly can have a combination of two or more. 

We’ll be looking at spiritual gifts over the next couple weeks but for today we’ll look at an overview of the gifts. This is a list of spiritual gifts that I believe are the most clearly defined in Scripture, but it is not necessarily an exhaustive list.

First, Administration: ability to devise and execute procedures to accomplish the goals of ministry (I Corinthians 12:28). People that have the gift of administration are good with strategies and plans.

They enable ministries to be effective and efficient, by creating and establishing order. These are the people that have the special ability to be organized in such a way that ministry happens.

The second gift to consider is Apostleship: ability to minister cross-culturally (I Cor. 12:28). I believe that this role and gift is alive today. People with this gift are mission-oriented. 

It is on their heart to fulfill the Great Commission as found in Matthew 28, with a special burden that all hear the good news. They are enabled to communicate across cultural boundaries with relative ease.

Obviously, it is to the advantage of those that are going into some kind of cross-cultural ministry to possess this gift.

The third gift to consider is Discernment: the ability to distinguish between truth and error (I Cor. 12:10)

People with this gift are able to discern between right and wrong. They have insight on the difference between pure motives and impure. They readily identify deception and often can sense when evil is at play. They are perceptive and insightful.
 

The fourth gift is Encouragement: ability to strengthen, comfort and counsel those who need help (Romans 12:8). Sometimes this gift is also called “exhortation.” 

People with this gift have the ability to come alongside others, at just the right time, to challenge, comfort and confront as needed. 

These gifted ones desire to urge action that is biblical. They desire to inspire confidence in God’s promises. They desire to build the community of believers up so that it may be effective in accomplishing its purpose.

The fifth gift is Evangelism: ability to effectively communicate the gospel so people respond in faith (Ephesians 4:11). 

People with the gift of evangelism are able to speak with clarity and conviction. They desire and seek out opportunities to challenge unbelievers with the good news. Interestingly, they are typically sincere and candid, and they see positive results. People come to Jesus when they share the gospel.

The next gift is Faith: ability to act on God’s promises with extraordinary confidence (I Cor. 12:9). People that have been given faith as their spiritual gift know how to inspire faith in others.

They have a special sense of God’s leading, an attitude of trust in God that pushes them forward.

They don’t always know what the end will be, but that doesn’t matter. They know that God is in it and they must go forward.

Among the community of believers, we need to learn to trust those that have been given the gift of faith, and not hold back from following them, even if we don’t quite understand where they are going.

They are gifted by God.

The seventh gift is Giving: ability to contribute resources cheerfully and liberally (Romans 12:8). 

People with the gift of giving know how to manage their finances and limit their lifestyle so that they might contribute freely to the accomplishment of the Great Commission. They are often sacrificial in nature. 

Sometimes, God gives them the special ability to make money, so that they are able to give more. When they demonstrate the ability to give alongside the virtue of humility, they are very, very effective.

The eighth gift considering is Helps: ability to accomplish practical and necessary tasks (I Cor. 12:28). These people are the real work horses of the church, so to speak. Those with the gift of helps are known as available and willing. They have no problem working behind the scenes and are dependable. They have the ability to see what needs to be done and go do it without being asked or told to do so.

The next gift is Hospitality: ability to care for people by providing fellowship, food and shelter (I Peter 4:9-10). People with this gift are able to provide an environment where people feel valued and welcomed. They really know how to connect with people and have the ability to set people at ease. These are the kind of people that are easy to be around. 

They are comfortable to be around and they are comfortable with their living space, regardless of its condition (in other words, you don’t have to have a perfect looking home in order to have the gift of hospitality).

The tenth gift to consider is Knowledge: ability to discover, accumulate and analyze Scriptural truth for the church (I Cor. 12:8). They search Scriptures for insight, understanding and truth. Alongside of this, they are able to organize information that is helpful to others. Sometimes, they have unusual insight that no one else has.

The eleventh gift to consider is Leadership: ability to cast vision, motivate and direct people to accomplish the purposes of God (Rom. 12:8). 

People with the gift of leadership know how to provide direction and motivate others to get there.

They understand the “big picture” and place great value in it. They are influential and persuasive.

They have the ability to point people to better ways and destinations.

The next gift is Mercy: ability to practically help those who are suffering or who are in need (Rom.12:8). 

People with the gift of mercy bring healing to the body. They know how to alleviate both physical and emotional pain with grace and dignity.

They are true expressions of agape love, as they are even able to serve in difficult and unsightly circumstances.

The thirteenth gift is Prophecy: ability to speak God’s words (Rom. 12:6). People that possess this gift are true listeners to the voice of God. When God brings matters to their mind, they realize the importance of these matters and share them with the community of believers.

The next gift is Shepherding: ability to care for, nurture and guide people to becoming like Christ (Eph. 4:11). Again, I think it is good for us to understand the difference between the office and the function as a spiritual gift. 

There are those that are called to fill the office of pastor and elder, and it is their responsibility to care for the flock. But there are also people that are gifted as shepherds who do not hold the office. They have a spiritual gifting to provide guidance and oversight, by modeling what it means to follow Jesus.

 

The fifteenth gift is Teaching: ability to clearly explain Scripture (I Cor. 12:28). People with the gift of teaching know how to get the point across.
Because they know how to explain the Word, they are able to challenge their listeners and inspire greater obedience in the body.

The last gift we are considering is Wisdom: ability to apply spiritual truth effectively (I Cor. 12:8). Those with this gift are very practical. They are able to focus on the unseen consequences of action and also offer solutions that will build the body.

Now, as I mentioned before, this is not an exhaustive list. There are other possible gifts: Celibacy, Counseling, Creativity, Intercession, suffering just to name some.

Also there are sign gifts: Healing, Interpretation, Miracles, Tongues. We will speak more about these in coming weeks. 

There are those that believe that these gifts ended with the apostolic age. There are others that believe that they are still very active today. Suffice it to say, though, it is rather self-evident if you possess the gift.

So what kind of shape are we in? Let’s follow the acrostic S – H – A – P – E to observe our makeup as a person. This will tell us about the shape God has made us. 

First, we have S Spiritual gifts.
Spiritual gifts demonstrate what we will do in the body of Christ. When we know our gifts, we are better able to identify the role God has for us.

Second, we have, H Heart. We all have differing interests, burdens and passions. When we can readily identify our passion, it helps to identify where we are best suited to serve.

Third, we have, A Abilities. We all have talents and abilities we are born with. When we can identify these, they also help determine what we can be doing for the body of Christ. What you are born with also determines what you will do.

Fourth, we have, P Personality. This is another part of God’s design in our lives. It demonstrates how we will serve. It is the how we do it. Some of us are more people-oriented, while others are more task-oriented. Some of us are more outgoing, while others are more reserved.

Finally, there is, E Experiences. We are all in a journey, and our experiences are what the Lord has already done in us. They reflect the lessons we have already learned.

These are the things that shape us.

You see, we should want everything that God has for us. And we should want nothing less. Find where you fit in God’s plan, and how you might best accomplish the role God has given you in the church.

We are spiritually gifted – we have been literally graced by God with special abilities; so, let’s use them for God’s glory. We are spiritually gifted – but these gifts are not for self-fulfillment, but rather for the building of Christ’s body; so, use these gifts for the glory of God. We are spiritually gifted – this makes us different from one another, and this is a good thing, for together we work as a unit – for the glory of God.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Amen!