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The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.
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Love
Teaching Text: 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11 and 27-31
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 idols. 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, “Jesus 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. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT | Meditations on the Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Gifts of the Spirit
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
What special ability do you have that people in your group does not know about?
Resume Virtues and Eulogy Virtues.
“The resume virtues are the ones you list on your resume, the skills that you bring to the job market and that contribute to external success. The eulogy virtues are deeper. They’re the virtues that get talked about at your funeral, the ones that exist at the core of your being - whether you are kind, brave, honest or faithful; what kind of relationships you formed.
Most of us would say that the eulogy virtues are more important than the resume virtues, but I confess that for long stretches of my life I’ve spent more time thinking about the latter than the former. Our education system is certainly oriented around the resume virtues more than the eulogy ones. Public conversation is, too - the self-help tips in magazines, the nonfiction bestsellers. Most of us have clearer strategies for how to achieve career success than we do for how to develop a profound character.”
– David Brooks
God is a wild life artist. Eugene Peterson has said this in his book Run with the Horses…
“Every time that there is a story of faith, it is completely original. God's creative genius is endless. He never, fatigued and unable to maintain the rigors of creativity, resorts to mass-producing copies. Each life is a fresh canvas on which he uses lines and colors, shades and lights, textures and proportions that he has never used before.
We see what is possible: anyone and everyone is able to live a zestful life that spills out of the stereotyped containers that a sin-inhibited society provides. Such lives fuse spontaneity and purpose and green the desiccated landscape with meaning. And we see how it is possible: by plunging into a life of faith, participating in what God initiates in each life, exploring what God is doing in each event. The persons we meet on the pages of Scripture are remarkable for the intensity with which they live Godward, the thoroughness in which all the details of their lives are included in God's word to them, in God's action in them. It is these persons who are conscious of participating in what God is saying and doing that are most human, most alive. These persons are evidence that none of us is required to live "at this poor dying rate" for another day, another hour.”
– Eugene Peterson
God is an artist with our lives, but beautifully God is not simply making us into something, but inviting us into a story, giving us gifts along the way, filling our spirits with the Spirit of God in this kind of friendship dance.
When God wants to build something, God equips people with gifts.
Corinth - was a city and church where God was clearly at work - they saw fruit in the Gospel and outpourings of the power of the Holy Spirit, but we also know they dealt with..
divisions over leadership
jealousy and quarreling
obvious and public sexual sin
indulgence and forgetting the others in the body
spiritual pride
confusion and even chaos in their gatherings
Their gifts were greater than their maturity - it is interesting that this then is the letter in the New Testament with some of the most extended teaching on the spiritual gifts.
Our strengths and weaknesses are often intermingled and what can make us great can threaten our downfall. And where we most need help may be the place God is most clearly seen in our lives.
The Spirit of God is always lifting up Christ.
“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.”
– 1 Corinthians 12 v 4-7
These are two huge errors the church can make…
Demanding each story to look the same.
or
Missing that each person’s gifts are not just for them but for the body.
We see this in the American church in
Rigid behavior modification in a given community - wells vs fences
Celebrity Christianity - overly exalting someone because of their gifts
Phariseeism - clean up the outside but your heart is heart
Second hand christianity - that person will do the God seeking so I don’t have to
If you are in Christ you are given the Holy Spirit
If you are in Christ you are gifted by the Holy Spirit
You are gifted by the Spirit to love well.
You are gifted by the Spirit to lift up Christ.
You are gifted by the Spirit so the body of Christ can this shining outpost of the Kingdom of God, tabernacle that it is meant to be.
Message of Wisdom – applying knowledge of God and His Word to specific areas of life, making sense of a moral dilemma, I need wisdom here.
Message of Knowledge – similar but more to do with navigating a particularly difficult to understand issue and making it clear. Help me in this confusion.
Wisdom is the decision
Knowledge is the clarity.
Faith – seeing situations with Gods power in perspective, remembering that all things are possible with God. Trusting God’s character and promise in the real details of life
Healings – this is the plural which means can happen at times, not necessarily always, and God gives the power for instant or gradual healing. WE should be praying for healing!!
Miraculous Powers – asking an evil Spirit to leave a person, having a vision of something that will happen, praying for someone to live who has died.
Prophecy – sensing Gods heart on a matter and redirecting people by sharing it, Scripture, pictures, words
Discernment between spirits – being able to sense when motives are impure, being able to tell when something is not from God
Speaking in Tongues – praying in a language that is not understood by the speaker, happened at Pentecost and all heard, happens in private prayer, if it happens publically in church then it is meant to have an interpretation
Interpretation of Tongues – the ability to interpret what has been said it tongues
Apostolic – visionary, pioneering work in the Kingdom of God
Which of these do you think you have?
These are way to love one another
Ways for Jesus to be lifted up
And you are gifted by the Spirit
Spiritual gifts emerge in the body of Christ as we…
Walk in friendship with Jesus – ABIDE is what the Jesus calls this
Speak the Gospel to your heart
Regularly spend time in extended prayer
Practice speaking with God through your day
Hide His word in your heart
Meet regularly with the church
Have people in your life with permission to call you to Jesus
Take risks of obedience when given
Take Opportunities of Service – when you have chances to serve even if you are not sure yet what you GIFTS are, begin serving
Understanding for Christians is often on the other side of obedience
Follow the Clues of your Passions – look at what makes your heart race
Look at what you have imagination for
Look at what bothers you in our church
How are you meant to BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE
Follow the Clues of Confirmations from Community
Pay attention when those in your community feel deeply encouraged by your service
Pay attention when you are being used to build the body up
Paul reminded Timothy that the church had prayed words over Him about his calling
Practice Using Gifts - once you get an idea about something realize that it will take development
A gift can be neglected
Practice in your Life Group – you may sense God gving you special insight for a person
You may notice a skill at explaining hard to grasp things
You may sense it is easy for you to bring people and be open about your faith
You may have vision for new things your life group or our church could do
Capacity - God has given you gift but you may not know yet the space it will fill
Development - is in consistency
Acceleration - acceleration is a gift God occasionally gives
