I believe God wants to fill this church with His glory, with His goodness, creating spiritual growth and life transformation.
Gifted for Glory - Guest Speaker Pastor Reggie Roberson
Ephesians 3:20-21
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
When the church is glorified the goodness of God is revealed throughout the earth which means the earth becomes a better place. How many you think we could use better on our planet? Shootings in Las Vegas, ethnic tension, political upheavals, personal challenges -we need the goodness of God.
Right after Paul makes the statement about glory in the church and in Christ Jesus we find…
Ephesians 4:1-13 NIV
“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all. However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.” Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself. Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”
Main thought: God’s glory fills the church when each one of us actively uses our God given gifts.
I have 3 thoughts related to our main point:
- Godly character and unity makes gifts well received.
- Jesus paid the price to give every believer a gift.
- God's gifts are to help the church grow.
Godly character and unity makes gifts well-received v. 1-6
It’s like eating lettuce at a restaurant (Mexican). It looks delicious but when you bite into it feels like you are eating rocks. (Something tastes bad and you keep tasting it out disbelief. You even pass it over to others).
Have you ever known anyone who was incredibly gifted but just had really bad character? How many of you think you would enjoy working with someone like that?
It’s a poorly wrapped gift.
If a person does not have character or does not seek unity they are like that lettuce I ate or a poorly wrapped gift.
● People will tolerate them and eventually, no one will want to work with or be around them, him or her.
● Even more dangerous, they will build something up with his or her gift and tear it all down with their character.
Godly character can be summed up in these verses as love and unity. Love is humble, gentle, patient, forgiving, peacemaking. Unity is when we gladly make concessions and are inconvenienced to be with each other because we are focused on Jesus and not ourselves. Complaining, gossiping, and having a critical attitude is not going to release the glory of God in this spiritual community.
Love and unity will. Love and unity is what makes our gifts well received.
God is pleased with love and unity.
Love and unity will make a gift effective and powerful in helping other people. (Helpful Help). Love and unity come from focusing on Jesus and making him a priority in your life! That is what this scripture is saying.
Let godly character and seeking unity be the foundation of your gifts.
Jesus paid the price to give every believer a gift (v. 7-11).
In our main text Paul applies Psalm 68:18 to the life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ where He is pictured winning a war, taking spoils, and distributing gifts to His people. Paul’s says that Christ gave people as gifts -apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors or shepherds and teachers. In his letter to the Corinthians, which you have been reading, Paul expands the list saying God has appointed people as gifts in the church. As we read through this list I want to ask, what is your appointment or function?
1 Corinthians 12:28
Apostles
Prophets
Teachers/shepherds
Miracle workers/evangelists
Gifts of healing
Helpers
Administrators
Various kinds of tongues speakers
You may be asking how do I know which one I have? Your gift is whatever you do well with that benefits others but doesn’t require a massive amount of effort. You do it with ease. (Admin-Eric; Leah; Rollan and B- leadership, Cole- pastoring, my wife- creativity & communication)
Ways you discover your gifts that Jesus gave you are:
● Prayer: Since He made you He knows better than anyone else what is your purpose. Acknowledging God and inviting Him into your life through prayer is a vital piece to discover your gifts.
● Building Christ centered relationships: Gifts are identified and called out by our brothers and sisters in Christ. (As student being called a prophet)
● Assessments that help you to understand your personality, leadership style, and spiritual gifts.
● Serving: When I am sharing about gifts I always get questions about what is my gift. Do I have healing? Have you ever prayed for healing? I watched Rollan and B’s gifts emerge as they served the church and our campus ministry.
Make every effort you can to figure out what gifts Jesus gave you since He paid the price for your gift.
God's gifts are to help the church grow. (v. 11-13).
God’s gifts are categorized into two types that help the church or body of Christ to grow. There are equippers; apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. There are ministers; people serving in the church and through the church to show God’s goodness to the community. The Fisher's and Parleir’s are equippers; guess what you are? Ministers! What this reveals is that every person is actively using the gifts Jesus purchased for them with His blood, with godly character, to build or grow the church. There is no one hidden in the dugout. There is no one on the bench. The bench is all the people who are in heaven. That's right. Hebrews 12:1 tells us. Everyone is playing his or her part.
That happens when we do life together, strategize together, and pray together. We learn and serve together. It also happens when you have support, encouragement, and accountability from other believers and church leaders as you use your gifts in the community and at your workplace.
Let me summarize what I’ve said.
God’s glory fills the church when each one of us actively uses our God given gifts.
If we recognize the gifts Jesus paid for through His blood, if we have godly character and seek unity, if we use them to grow the church, then the glory of God, His goodness, will fill this church to produce spiritual growth and life transformation.
Second City Church- Gifted Sermon Series - Rollan Fisher 2017