You Have A Gift
Sermon Notes
We want to be a place where both skeptics and believers can seek truth and find joy in loving community together. So if you’re a skeptic welcome; if you’re a believer, don’t stop sharing your faith because you’re afraid of tough questions. You may not feel equipped or smart enough like Caleb, but God can still use you like He did Caleb, and that’s what we’re talking about today. We’re talking about how you might not feel equipped or smart enough, but God’s given every believer gifts to live as instruments of grace. So let’s turn to Romans 12:1-8 and get into it. You’ll find Romans in the last quarter of your bible, we’ll be in Romans 12:1-8. The title of today’s message is You Have A Gift, and here’s the big idea. God gives gifts for the ministry, not a ministry for the gifted...God gives gifts for the ministry, not a ministry for the gifted...You have a gift!
Context:
Here’s your context. The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to Christians living in Rome, and in the first 11 chapters he talks primarily about the gospel. He talks primarily about God, sin, and our salvation through faith in Jesus. So the first 11 chapters is about the gospel, but in ch 12 he transitions into the practical implications of the gospel, and one of those implications is we’re to use our gifts for ministry. So far in this series we’ve talked about how you have a treasure, you have a ministry, and now we’re talking about how you have gifts for ministry. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
Romans 12:1-8 states, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God...” Paul’s giving us the motivation for Christian obedience, the motivation for wanting to use our gifts for ministry. He says “Therefore in view of the mercies of God, in view of the gospel, in view of the love Jesus poured out on the cross, you should live your life differently.” See there’s more to the Christian life than just trying to live a good life. Everybody in the world is trying to live a good life. I’ve never met a skeptic who’s said, “I want to live a bad life, a miserable life.” I’ve never met a skeptic who’s said that. It’s because everybody wants to live a good life, and there’s a lot of skeptics who will tell you they’re living a good life. They have the career they want, the salary they want. They love their family, their friends, their neighbors. They even care for the poor, they give to charities and global tragedies. So in their eyes they’re living a good life, they just don’t realize it’s because of the mercies of God. Jesus even says in Matthew 5:45, “God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” The only reason anyone lives a good life is because of the mercies of God. The world would be full of so much more misery if God didn’t have mercy on us, but skeptics don’t realize this! They have no view of the mercies of God, of the mercies Jesus poured out on the cross, and that’s the difference between the Christian life and the skeptic’s life. It’s that our view of God’s mercy motivates us to live not a good life like the world, but a good life like Jesus. It also gives us access to the power of Jesus, so we can actually live a good life like Jesus.
Again vs. 1 states, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.” Paul’s saying in view of the mercies of God, in view of Jesus sacrificing himself for our sins on the cross, we should offer our lives up as living sacrifices to Jesus! We should put to death our will to live for Jesus’ will. We should live as ambassadors for Christ, representing our King instead of trying to be king. If you’re still reading the bible like a relativist or subjectivist saying “I believe this part of the bible, but not this part. I like this part, but not this part. I’ll trust, accept, submit to this part, but not this part.” If you’re doing that then you’re not representing the King, you’re still trying to be king. You’re still trying to govern your life, sit on the throne of your life, thinking you know what’s best for your life. You’re still serving yourself instead of serving Christ, being a living sacrifice for Christ. A living sacrifice is somebody who says “Jesus you’re infinitely greater, wiser, more loving than I could ever be. So I trust you, I trust your word is what’s best for my life. I sometimes wrestle with your word, but I trust your word. So in view of your mercies I submit my crown to your crown! I submit my life to your life! I submit my will to your will. I offer my life to you as a living sacrifice, as a true act of worship.” It isn’t easy for us to say that because we’re AmeriCAN’s not AmeriCANT’s. We’re not used to giving up control and our independent mindset without a fight. But the more we view the mercies of Christ, the more we should want to surrender control to Christ. It’s because we know how dark and dead our lives would be without Christ, so we want to submit our entire lives to Christ, as living sacrifices.
Vs. 2, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” So this goes much deeper than just submitting our lives to Jesus. It’s about transforming our hearts and minds in such a way that we actually delight in submitting to Jesus, we actually delight in being living sacrifices for Jesus. One of our codes here at City Awakening is the gospel’s more than a way to eternal life, the gospel IS our life, meaning we need Jesus not just for salvation, but for everyday life and transformation! We need Jesus to transform our hearts and minds into being more like his, so we can delight in doing the good, pleasing, perfect will of God. This can’t happen if we aren’t viewing our lives through the gospel, through the mercies of Jesus. The way to delight in the will of Jesus, is to view your life through the mercies of Jesus. The way to no longer conform to the patterns of this world, is to be transformed by the mercies of the cross.
Vs. 3, “For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.” The Greek word ‘sensibly’ can also be translated as ‘sober minded,’ meaning the gospel reminds us to think sensibly, to think sober minded about ourselves. All of us view ourselves in a certain way. For example some of you think too highly of yourself. You have a super ego, you walk with a bit of swag, usually to overcompensate for your ego being wounded in the past. But some of you think too lowly of yourself. You have a low ego, low self-esteem, and walk around more like Eeyore than Tigger. But the gospel reminds us to think sensibly about ourselves so we don’t view ourselves as too highly or lowly. It humbles us as we realize we’re nothing compared to Jesus, and we’re powerless to save ourselves from sin apart from Jesus. It humbles us but doesn’t crush us, because Jesus has given us the eternal security of his love. So no matter what the world says about you, Jesus already declared his love for you on the cross, giving you eternal worth and purpose in life. It’s a unique balanced identity where you don’t have to think too highly or lowly of yourself or your unique giftedness, which Paul mentions next.
Vs. 4, “Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.” Paul uses the human body to illustrate the church being diverse, yet united. Just like there’s many parts in one body, the local church has many parts in one body, and Jesus united us here in Orlando to help build this local church body. This local church body has many parts, but you have a part!...You have a part, you have a role to play, you have a gift. Jesus has united us not to be spectators, but to be participators, to put our different gifts to use in ministry.
Vs. 6, “According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; 7 if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; 8 if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.” Paul isn’t giving us a complete list here, he’s giving us a general list of the different gifts God’s given us. So there’s more gifts, even subcategories of these gifts that aren’t listed. Tim Keller breaks these gifts down into 3 helpful categories: it’s speaking gifts, serving gifts, and leading gifts. But regardless of how you break these down, Paul’s point is we’re to use our gifts! His point is in view of God’s mercy, we’re to use our gifts in ministry...So let me give you 3 things, 3 applications, especially as it relates to being instruments of grace in 2021.
#1 Participate in ministry, instead of being a spectator of ministry = Participate in ministry, instead of being a spectator of ministry. Paul says every Christian has a part, a role, and gifts to play that role! So there shouldn’t be any Christians sitting unemployed in local church ministry. You may be unemployed in the business world, but you shouldn’t ever be unemployed in local church ministry. As Christians we should come to church not just to be served, but also to serve. Jesus says in Mark 10:45 “I came not to be served, but to serve, to give my life as a ransom for many.” So in view of his mercies, we should come to church with the same mentality. We should come asking “How can I help? How can I serve?” If you see a guest not being greeted, you be the greeter. If you see somebody hurting, you be the one who checks in on them. You be the one who participates in ministry, instead of the one who’s a spectator of ministry.
#2 You aren’t gifted to do everything, but you’re gifted to do something = You aren’t gifted to do everything, but you’re gifted to do something. In vs 6 Paul says we all have different gifts, meaning there’s some things God hasn’t gifted you to do. For example you don’t want me leading worship. The bible says make a joyful noise, and I’ll make a joyful noise, it just isn’t a pretty noise. So you don’t want me leading worship, because it isn’t my gift! Now I want to be careful here, because some Christians are like “I don’t have to share my faith; it isn’t my gift!” But that isn’t true because every Christian’s supposed to share their faith. It’s just you might not be as gifted at it as others. In fact this is what Paul means when he says we have different gifts, according to the grace given to us. He’s saying God gives us extra grace to do certain things in ministry more effectively. He gives some extra grace to speak more effectively, to serve more effectively, to lead more effectively. It’s things every Christian should do, but God’s gifted us to be more effective at some things over others. So not everything in ministry has your name on it, but something does! Something has your name on it, because every Christian has gifts as unique as their fingerprints. You have gifts, abilities, life experiences that’ve shaped you in unique ways allowing you to reach people nobody else can. That means there’s people in our church and city only you can reach. There’s people in your neighborhood, workplace, friendships only you can reach. They won’t be reached if you think somebody else will do it, because God’s uniquely gifted you to do it! You aren’t gifted to do everything, but you’re gifted to do something.
#3 We’re better together! = We’re better together...I’m not talking Jack Johnson, I’m talking Paul’s human body analogy. Some people are like “Well I don’t need to be a part of a church to be a Christian.” You’re right, but you’ll be a part of a church if you are a Christian. This is especially true for those of you watching this online. It’s one thing if you watch church online due to COVID restrictions. But a lot of people watch it online because it’s convenient, and you can’t live the Christian faith in isolation! You can’t live this text if you’re not a part of a local church. Just like if you cut one of your body parts off it slowly rots, if you cut yourself off from the local church body your life will slowly rot. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for anyone he can devour.” The way a lion attacks its prey is by isolating it from the flock, then devouring it. Pastor J.D. Greear once illustrated this telling the story of a scientist who saw a huge rhino corpse. The scientist saw an African villager next to it, so he asked “Did you kill this thing?” Yes, I used my club...With a shocked look the scientist said “Wow! How big was your club?” To which the villager replied “400 members!...It was about 400 members...” By himself he would’ve died, but with 400 members by his side, he survived...City Awakening we’re much better off doing life together. So Let’s build this church, advance Jesus’ kingdom, bring much joy to our city, by living as instruments of grace together.
Now some of you might be thinking “I’m willing to use my gifts, but I don’t know what my gifts are! So how do I discover my gifts? How do I discover what God’s wanting me to do in ministry?” It’s a great question! But its a question you’ll have to come back for next week, when we do our panel discussion ☺...Still some of you might be thinking like Caleb in the video “I’m not equipped enough, smart enough, gifted enough for all this.” But the reality is all of us start off feeling like that. In fact I still feel like that sometimes, especially when it comes to my gifts of leading and preaching! Some of the greatest Christians in biblical history felt this way! They weren’t perfect people with perfect gifts, they were imperfect people with unique gifts like us.
Abraham was guilty of duplicity, but God used him to build a family of faith, that would eventually lead to us being adopted into God’s family of faith.
Moses was a hot head who feared public speaking, but God used him to stand up and speak up against the Pharaoh of Egypt, which freed the Jews from Egyptian slavery.
King David committed adultery and had the woman’s husband killed, but after repenting God used him as a great leader, having him write many of the Psalms in the bible.
Rahab was a prostitute, yet God used her to help the Jews defeat the pagan city of Jericho, and she’s even included in the family lineage of Jesus.
Esther was a woman who remained silent about her faith, but God used her to eventually speak up about her faith, saving the Jews from total genocidal destruction.
Isaiah had a filthy mouth, but God used him as one of the greatest prophets in history.
Jeremiah battled with depression, but God used him as another great prophet.
Peter was a hot headed fisherman who shanked a guys ear off, and often cracked in cowardice when under pressure. But God used him to lead 3000 people to Jesus in a single day, to start the early church, and even write parts of the bible.
Paul was a contracted assassin, a contracted to killer of Christians. But God ends up turning his life around, then uses him to plant numerous churches, and write most of the New Testament part of the bible.
The list could go on of the hundreds, millions, billions of people all throughout history
that God used as instruments of grace. It isn’t perfect people with perfect gifts, it’s imperfect people with unique gifts like you and me! City Awakening God gives gifts for the ministry, not a ministry for the gifted! So let’s be a church where every member’s in ministry. Let’s be a church where every member, lives as an instrument of grace.
The Big Idea:
Look the big idea is you have a gift...God gives gifts for the ministry, not a ministry for the gifted...You have a gift...In fact we have a gift for you. We have a $40 gift card for each household, to use as an instrument of grace in our city. You can use it to buy some groceries for somebody in need this Thanksgiving. You can use it to take one of your co-workers to lunch to pour into them, or take some friends for coffee to check in on them. You can even bake some cookies to give to your neighbors, to get to know your neighbors. Use it on whoever the Lord leads you to use it on. The point isn’t for you to keep the gift, it’s for you use the gift. It’s for you to use it like you’re to use any other gift Jesus has given you. It’s just a primer, just a small way for our city to start feeling the ripple effects, of our church intentionally living as instruments of grace. You can’t say you aren’t gifted anymore for ministry, because we just gifted you. So the question isn’t are you gifted for ministry, it’s will you use the gifts you’ve been given for ministry? The question is will you lay your life down for Jesus, in view of the mercies of Jesus?
Pray For The People
#1 Participate in ministry, instead of being a spectator of ministry
#2 You aren’t gifted to do everything, but you’re gifted to do something
#3 We’re better together!
Abraham was guilty of duplicity, but God used him to build a family of faith, that would eventually lead to us being adopted into God’s family of faith.
Moses was a hot head who feared public speaking, but God used him to stand up and speak up against the Pharaoh of Egypt, which freed the Jews from Egyptian slavery.
King David committed adultery and had the woman’s husband killed, but after repenting God used him as a great leader, having him write many of the Psalms in the bible.
Rahab was a prostitute, yet God used her to help the Jews defeat the pagan city of Jericho, and she’s even included in the family lineage of Jesus.
Esther was a woman who remained silent about her faith, but God used her to eventually speak up about her faith, saving the Jews from total genocidal destruction.
Isaiah had a filthy mouth, but God used him as one of the greatest prophets in history.
Jeremiah battled with depression, but God used him as another great prophet.
Peter was a hot headed fisherman who shanked a guys ear off, and often cracked in cowardice when under pressure. But God used him to lead 3000 people to Jesus in a single day, to start the early church, and even write parts of the bible.
Paul was a contracted assassin, a contracted to killer of Christians. But God ends up turning his life around, then uses him to plant numerous churches, and write most of the New Testament part of the bible.