The Spiritual Gift of Preaching (Corinthians 14:1-19)

 The purpose of preaching

§       To increase the knowledge of Christian truth.

§       To interpret the Bible in a way that allows us to live the Christian life.

§       To encourage—point to the grace of God that can enable us to conquer all problems.

§       To comfort—sooth the human spirit through the word of God.

The substance of preaching

§       Preaching comes from a direct revelation of God.

§       Proclaims the truth of Christ

§       Teaches the meaning of scripture

Preaching enhances worship

§       Two broad principles regarding Christian worship

·      Worship brings us nearer to each other and nearer to God

·      Worship brings understanding of the spiritual power of God

The Special Spiritual Gift of Love (I Corinthians 13)

The characteristics of God’s love:

v    God’s love is permanent. When people we love die, God’s love remains forever.

v    God’s love is complete. Corinth was famous for its manufacture of mirrors. Because Corinthian mirrors were made from highly polished metal, they gave an imperfect reflection. In this world, just as with Corinthian mirrors, we see an incomplete reflection of God’s love. When we see God face to face, we will know perfect love.

v    God’s love, the fire that kindles faith, is also the light that turns hope into certainty.

o      Salvation is not about winning God’s approval; it’s about gratitude for his love.

The Nature of Christian Love

v    Love is patient.

v    Love is kind. Christianity engenders a sweetness that wishes everyone well.

v    Love knows no envy. Begrudging others because of their talents and possessions is even worse than coveting what others have.

v    Love is no braggart. The real lover cannot get over the wonder that he is loved.

v    Love is not inflated with its own importance.

v    Love does not behave gracelessly. Courtesy and politeness floods our countenance with love.

v    Love does not insist upon its rights. Love forgets privileges and remembers responsibilities.

v    Love never flies into a temper. One filled with love can keep his head when everyone else is losing his and blaming it on him.

v    Love does not remember a wrong. Love erases memory of a slight as the schoolboy erases the chalkboard.

v    Love finds no pleasure in evil doing.

v    Love rejoices in the truth. Love has nothing to conceal.

v    Love can endure anything. When disaster destroys fences, love mends them.

v    Love is completely trusting. The paranoid believes the world is out to do him ill. The lover believes the world is out to do him good.

v    Love never ceases to hope.

v    Love bears everything with triumphant fortitude. 

Paul’s List of Spiritual Gifts in I Corinthians 12: 1-11

o      Wisdom comes from communication with God (I Corinthians 2: 6-16)

§       Wisdom is knowing God’s plan of salvation for all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior

§       Wisdom comes from the Holy Spirit and is not the product of intellectual activity

§       We are wise when we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us

            Show me your ways, O Lord,

                   teach me your paths.

            Guide me in your truth and teach me,

                  for you are God my Savior,

                 and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25: 4-5

§       The only way we can comprehend God is through the Holy Spirit

·      There are things about ourselves that are so private that only we know them; likewise, there are spiritual things that only God knows and that we learn from the Holy Spirit.

·      How do we know when an idea comes from God and when an idea comes from us?

o      Knowledge, knowing what to do in a certain situation, is the wisdom of God put into action.

§       Two types of knowledge

·      The physical, the intellectual, the worldly, the material, the temporal

·      The spiritual, the Godly, the eternal

                        For we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen. For what                         is seen             is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.                        

                                                                                                II Corinthians 4:18

o      Faith, more than intellectual conviction, is a belief that allows us to step out “into thin air.”

o      Spiritual healing comes from the Holy Spirit as opposed to medical healing that comes from specialized training. A physician can have both or neither.

o      Miraculous powers—exorcism, a spiritual ritual that requires courage and Holiness.

o      Prophesy—foresight (not foretelling) that warns and guides.

o      Gift of tongues—an ecstasy of unintelligible sounds.

§       It is difficult to tell if these unintelligible sounds are hysterical or a gift from the Holy Spirit. (To be on the safe side, I try to believe it is from the Holy Spirit, but don’t pay much attention this behavior. Does this mean that I am a blasphemer? Only God knows. I am going to avoid worrying about this, however, because God has better things for me to do with my time.)

o      Interpretation of tongues—the ability to discern whether speaking in tongues comes from God, the devil, or hysteria. If something spoken cannot be interpreted, it is probably not from God.

Spiritual Gifts (I Corinthians 12)

Because pleasing God is the first purpose of our lives, our most important task involves discovering how to use our spiritual gifts and talents to serve others and honor God.

v    Two types of gifts

o      Spiritual gifts are abilities and talents that come from the Holy Spirit

o      Genetic gifts—abilities and talents that come from our chromosomes

v    The difficulty in distinguishing between gifts and abilities

o      A spiritual gift is unseen and eternal; therefore, a spiritual gift is difficult to grasp and to define.

o      When a gift is outside our normal way of thinking it is difficult to tell if this power comes from God.

§       Is it from the devil?

§       Is it hysterical?

§       Is it what we have come to call charismatic power (using the common, worldly definition, not the Greek definition, charismata—special gifts).

Lyrics Simple Gifts

Simple Gifts

 

Tis the gift to be simple,

'Tis the gift to be free,

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

It will be in the valley of love and delight.

 

When true simplicity is gained,

to bow and to bend, we will not be ashamed

To turn, turn, will be our delight,

'Til by turning, turning, we come round right. 

ARE YOU DEPRESSED?

MAKE CHECK MARK (√) IN APPROPRIATE COLUMN	LITTLE OF THE TIME 1-pt/each √	SOME OF THE TIME 2-pt/each √	A LOT OF THE TIME 3-pt/each √	MOST OF THE TIME 4-pt/each √
I have trouble sleeping at night
My eating habits are different from my normal eating habits
My sex habits are different from my normal sex habits
I have less energy than I used to
I have more trouble concentrating than I used to
I have more difficulty making decisions than I used to
I feel less hopeful about the future than I used to
I don’t enjoy things that I used to enjoy
I feel less useful and needed than I used to
I feel others would be better off if I were dead
Multiply √ by the value given in each column

 

Add the total for each column to get the GRAND TOTAL = ________

 

Scoring

10-14 points = Sunshine all the time

15-24 points = Partly cloudy

25-34 points = Cloudy and cold

34-40 points =  100% chance of rain