Transformed Life: Gifts Of Grace: How The Church Becomes Strong When Everyone Serves | Romans 12:3–8
October 6, 2025 • 39 mins
We open Romans 12:3–8 to name pride as the church’s quiet poison and to show how grace shapes sober judgment, unity, and Spirit-given gifts. From prophecy to mercy, we trace practical ways to find your gifts and put them to work for the good of the body.
• pride as the root that weakens believers and churches
• sober judgment versus self-deprecation
• one body many members under Christ
• what spiritual gifts are and are not
• the Venn of affinity ability affirmation
• examples of prophecy service teaching exhortation generosity leadership mercy
• why every gift matters equally in mission
• simple next steps to discover and deploy gifts
Come by after service to pick up the paper spiritual gifts survey. Email your top three gifts to Taylor at taylor@fbceldoreto.org so we can place gifts where they fit best
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Hello and welcome to the FBC El Doredo Sermon
Podcast.
My name is Taylor Gere, and Ihave the privilege of being the
pastor here at First Baptist.
And I want to thank you forlistening into our sermon this
week.
And I want to tell you this ifyou're in our area and you don't
have a church home, we wouldlove to see you any Sunday
morning at First Baptist ElDoredo.
(00:25):
Would you join me now inlistening to our sermon from
this week?
Open with me to Romans chapter12.
Romans chapter 12.
Today we'll begin in verse 3,looking through verse 8.
3 through 8.
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For by the grace given to me, Isay to everyone among you not to
think of himself more highlythan he ought to think, but to
think with sober judgment, eachaccording to the measure of
faith that God has assigned.
For as in one body we have manymembers, and the members do not
all have the same function, sowe, though many, are one body in
(01:07):
Christ, and individually we aremembers of one another.
Having gifts that differaccording to the grace given us,
let us use them, if prophecy inproportion to our faith, if
service in our serving, the onewho teaches in his teaching, the
one who exhorts in hisexhortation, the one who
contributes in generosity, theone who leads with zeal, the one
(01:30):
who does acts of mercy withcheerfulness.
Pray with me.
Lord Jesus, by your Spirit,would you speak to us now, Lord?
Lord, give us the freedom tohear from you, to be transformed
by your word, and Lord, throughthis word you have for us, Lord,
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let us understand so well thatwe are members of the family of
God, and that means something.
And that means something to thechurch, and we mean so much as
individuals to the church as wehelp this church fulfill its
God-given purpose, Lord.
(02:13):
We pray this now.
Teach us, Lord, in Christ'sname.
Amen.
The ghosts will show upeventually.
That may be the greatest quotein the history of the New York
Yankees.
And that's saying somethingbecause there's a lot of great
quotes, but it was October of2001.
The New York Yankees were in theWorld Series.
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Obviously, if you think of ateam from New York in the World
Series in October of 2001,emotions were very high for many
reasons.
But on the baseball field, theywere coming from uh Phoenix to
New York down two games tonothing.
And Derek Jeter was asked, Whatdo you do now?
(02:56):
You've kind of backed yourselfinto a corner here.
What do you do?
And Derek Jeter said this theghosts will show up eventually.
What did he mean by that?
He meant this that every memberof this team is critical, but in
the New York Yankees, there'seven some members from the past
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that are critical.
That in the Bronx in October,Joe DiMaggio and Roger Maris and
Mickey Mann and Lou Gehrig andBabe Ruth, these men just have a
way of showing up at thestadium.
It may be a warning track popfly that turns into a short
porch home run.
It may be a single that turnsinto a double because the ball
(03:42):
takes a funky hop.
But the ghosts will show upeventually.
Every member of this team, pastand present, is critical.
Now, there's not really anyghost of Yankee Stadium.
I don't believe there's anyghosts of First Baptist.
There's been a time or two I'vebeen shutting down late at night
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where I've wondered, but thepoint is still true that every
member of this team is critical.
Every member of this team thatat this time is this collection
of believers called FirstBaptist Church of El Doredo.
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Certainly we could spread thiswider and just say the church
universal, but certainly here,First Baptist Church of El
Doredo, every member of the teamis critical.
If you are a believer in ChristJesus who is a member of First
Baptist Church of El Doredo, youare critical.
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And what I want us to see todayis the body of Christ is
strengthened by every member'spresence.
And that's what Paul wants us tosee today as we begin in verse
3.
For by the grace given to me, Isay to everyone among you not to
think of himself more highlythan he ought to think, but to
(05:09):
think with sober judgment, eachaccording to the measure of
faith that God has assigned.
What Paul wants us to see fromthe start, as we think about
what it means to be a memberhere and using our Holy
Spirit-given gifts to serve thechurch and to be a part of this
church family, from the start,he does want to give us a
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warning, something to thinkseriously about, and that is
this that nothing will destroy aChristian and destroy a church
quicker than pride.
Nothing can destroy a believeror a church quicker than pride.
Now, certainly as we walk downthe road of thinking about
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spiritual gifts, nothing canhurt us more than a pride that
says, well, one gift is betterthan the other.
One member surely has more valuethan the other.
Well, certainly this group ismore important.
And hey, I'm glad that group'shere, but you know, do they make
a big no, no.
Pride can kill everything we'regoing to talk about today.
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C.S.
Lewis calls pride the great sin.
Why does he do that?
He says this, because it seemslike every sin flows from that
one great sin, pride.
And you think about that, itdoes feel like every sin flows
from pride.
If I uh am in the sin of gossip,I would argue pride's all behind
that.
Why?
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Because there's something in methat must think I'm a little bit
better than you, and thereforeI'm gonna tell somebody else
just how much better I may bethan you.
There's pride behind that.
If if I sin in anger, there'sprobably pride behind that.
I'm angry, why?
Because I didn't get my way.
I'm angry because things didn'tturn out exactly how I intended.
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Pride can destroy the believer,it can destroy the church.
And so that's why Paul wants usto see don't think of yourself
more highly than you ought tothink.
Now, it's also important for usto realize as believers, that
doesn't mean we're we'resupposed to look at ourselves
and think of ourselves asworthless, that I don't add a
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thing.
It's not supposed to be that welook just so lowly at ourselves
that we say, I'm worth nothing.
Absolutely not.
Uh it's probably a quote that'sbeen attributed to many.
Uh who said it first, I don'tknow, but humility is not
thinking uh less of yourself,it's thinking of yourself less.
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It's not just putting yourselfdown, it's just putting others,
uh putting others up.
And so don't think more highlythan you ought, but think with
sober judgment, as Paul says.
Just think accurately, uh,reflect accurately about you and
your gifts and your part withinthis church family, each
according to the measure offaith that God has assigned.
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Now, what does Paul mean bythat?
According to the measure offaith that Paul has assigned.
What he doesn't mean is this anidea that depending on just how
strong your faith is, will bejust how uh, you know,
impressive or how many spiritualgifts you get.
No, no, what we need to see isthis that first of all, our
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salvation is simply given by thegrace of God.
The indwelling of the HolySpirit in our lives is given by
the grace of God.
What we also need to see isthis, that even the faith that
you and I are given so that wecan live out the spiritual gifts
and live out our part in thefamily of God, that's simply
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given by the grace of God.
Even the faith to live out theChristian life is just a gift
from God, and praise God He'sgiven.
And so, according to the faithhe's given you that measure of
faith, uh, live out into yourgifting.
Verse 4, for as in one body wehave many members, and the
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members do not all have the samefunction, so we, verse five,
though many are one body inChrist, and individually members
one of another.
Paul loves this idea.
He talks about this very ideamultiple times throughout the
New Testament.
It may remind you of uh 1Corinthians chapter 12, when
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Paul says the same idea.
Uh, for just as the body is one,this is verse 12 of 12, and has
many members, and all aremembers of the body, though
many, they are one body, so itis in Christ.
I mean, that sounds identical towhat we've read in Romans.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul eventakes the illustration further,
if you remember, when he talksabout the idea that the eye
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can't say to the hand, I don'tneed you, the hand can't look at
the eye and say, I don't needyou.
No, in the family of faith,every person brings their gifts
to the table, and we live outthese gifts in community with
one another.
Paul loves this idea of a familyof God that has many members in
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this room.
Let's say there's 300 people,250, 300 people.
Well, if if we were to say rightnow, and and and all are
believers, if we were to say 90%are believers, and every
believer in this room, uh, youhave a gift that you bring to
the table that your churchneeds.
And the church needs you, andand you need the church, so we
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can live this out together.
Now, let's talk more about thesegifts.
Verse 6, having gifts thatdiffer according to the grace
given to us.
Now you may be saying, spiritualgifts.
What in the world are youtalking about?
The reality is that sounds likea great thing.
We love a good gift.
No one in this room doesn't likea gift.
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James and I last night went tothe great event here in town,
the Hank Parker event.
We just had the best time there,and it was really neat.
We we walked in and James foundout that they were giving away a
uh there was a gift last night,they were giving away a
four-wheeler.
And James found that out.
And now he needed thisfour-wheeler with everything in
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him.
He wanted this.
But even still, he didn't knowwhat a four-wheeler was.
He he asked me, and I had toGoogle and show him a picture of
what a four-wheeler is, and yet,even still, he knew that is the
thing I need most in my life.
And we we had we're gettingclose to bedtime, and so we had
(11:43):
to leave a little early, and andhe was so upset by the fact that
he wouldn't be around to figureout who would win this gift,
this four-wheeler.
And I didn't have the heart totell him, buddy, even if they
called our name, we'd have topass that ticket around because
at an evangelistic event, whenthe senior pastor of the First
Baptist Church walks out ofthere with the four-wheeler,
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things look bad there.
Some insider trading has goneon, it's not a good look.
So we didn't go home with thegift.
But what are the spiritualgifts?
What does this mean?
That the Holy Spirit, as youhave come to know Christ, if you
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are in Christ Jesus, the HolySpirit now dwells within you,
and that means many things, butone thing it means is this, that
you now have received one ormore spiritual gifts.
Certain things, certain gifts inyour life, and we'll talk,
there's multiple lists in theNew Testament of these gifts.
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We'll talk about one of ourlists this morning, but what it
means is this, that you justhave a particular uh affinity,
uh, ability, we'll talk moreabout that in a minute.
The Holy Spirit has given youthat you can carry out these
gifts, not for the sake ofbuilding yourself up, but for
the sake of building up thechurch of Jesus Christ and
expanding the kingdom.
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The Holy Spirit has gifted you.
Now, what does it not mean?
It doesn't mean this that if wehave not been given a certain
spiritual gift, uh that we justkind of get to sit out of that
event in the life of the church.
What do I mean by that?
I believe there are some peoplethat have the spiritual gift of
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evangelism.
Maybe you've seen these peoplethat just have this unbelievable
ability within a conversation.
They'll be talking about theballgame last night, and not 10
seconds later they found a wayto turn it to where they're
talking about the gospel ofJesus Christ.
That they have this ability andthis clarity in speaking the
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gospel in such a way that theLord uses that and and minds are
open to Jesus.
They just have this gift ofevangelism.
I praise God for individualsthat have the gift of
evangelism.
But here's the question (14:04):
does that mean that if I take a
spiritual gift assessment andsee that I don't have the
spiritual gift of evangelism,does that mean as a Christian I
don't evangelize?
Absolutely not.
We're we are all evangelizing,sharing our faith.
And the gift of generosity.
Some have the gift ofgenerosity.
It's amazing to watch.
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If you don't, if I don't, doesthat mean we just don't have to
be generous in any way?
Uh no, we better be.
And so these gifts, though, aregiven by the Spirit, given to us
as believers, to do this, tobuild up the church and make
much of Jesus.
And let me just repeat again,excuse me, I want you to hear it
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again.
If you are in Christ Jesus, ifyou have a relationship with the
Lord, the Holy Spirit dwellswithin you, and you have one or
more spiritual gifts that youshould use, you are called to
use to build up the kingdom ofGod, the church of God, and to
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make much of Jesus.
Now, the question we're allasking, how can I know my gift?
Isn't that what we want to know?
How do I know in what ways I'mgifted?
I'll give us three ways thismorning, and I want to give us
two right now and one a littlelater.
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Number one way is this I wouldargue by living out Romans 12, 1
through 2.
We talked about these verseslast week, Romans 12, 1 through
2.
Imagine if, uh, and you willhave to use your imagination in
a big way, but imagine if I justhad the natural, just I was born
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with this natural talent that Iwas on a trajectory to be an
Olympic athlete.
Again, imagination is critical.
But I just had this trajectoryof an Olympic athlete, and yet I
spent all my days just sittingback on the lazy boy watching
videos of other Olympic athletesdo what they do very well.
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Guess what that natural abilitywould amount to?
Not very much.
You know, some of us want toknow and want to say, where am I
gifted?
How has the Holy Spirit giftedme?
And yet, we've yet to reallydive all into Romans 12, 1
through 2.
We've yet to fully dive intothis moment where we say, like
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last week, Lord Jesus, my blankcheck is on the table.
I want to run away from thethings of this world, and I want
to be transformed by the renewalof my mind.
I want to live life as you'vecalled me to live.
If you want to know in what waysyou're gifted, uh, grow closer
to Jesus.
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Remember how verse 2 ended lastweek that uh by this you may
discern what the will of God is,his good, acceptable, and
perfect will.
If you want to know what God isup to in your life, how he can
use you in your life, how you'regifted in your life, uh run
towards Jesus.
Don't sit on the sideline ofyour faith, but dive all into
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who he is and being transformedso that you can see where you're
gifted and how he may want touse you in a mighty way.
A second way I can think abouthow I know my spiritual gifts is
I want to put a uh a Venndiagram.
You can put this slide up, thesethree circles.
Uh and and uh I didn't createthis, I don't know who created
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this.
If that person reaches out tome, I'll give you credit next
week.
But you've got these threecircles of affinity, ability,
and affirmation.
And right in the middle of that,you can probably have a good
idea of where your spiritualgift lies.
And again, we'll give you a listin just a second, but think
about something.
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Think first of all aboutaffinity.
What are you naturally drawn to?
As we look at this spiritualgift list in a moment, is there
just one area that you naturallysay, that just feels right, that
just feels like something I'mdrawn to?
Ability.
As you feel like that's you havethis natural drawn to that
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thing.
Well, am I able to do this?
Does it feel like God has giftedme in this way?
Am I able?
And lastly, affirmation.
Maybe you've heard from othersas they've encouraged you and
they've said that, you knowwhat, I see this in you.
I see the way you have agenerous heart or a heart for
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mercy, or I see the way youshare your faith.
I I've watched you teach, andyou just have an ability to
teach God's word.
When those three things align inyour life, I I can bet pretty
well that that's where yourspiritual gift lies.
You gotta look no further thanmy wife, Katie.
Think about something for aminute.
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I I believe with my whole heartthat she has the spiritual gift
of hospitality.
The spiritual gift ofhospitality.
Affinity.
She likes being hospitable.
She enjoys uh you know, bakingyou something.
She enjoys making you feelwelcome.
Is there an ability?
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Praise God.
I've I've tasted the blueberrymuffins and the cookies, and and
I know what it is to feel athome in my home because she
makes you feel at home.
Affirmation, uh, I've told hermany times.
Uh many in the congregation, I'mpraise God, even some of you
have affirmed this in her ownheart and life.
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I just believe she has that giftof hospitality, and I see it
because those three things cometogether.
And for you in your life, whatis that?
As we look at that list, andyou'll even take home a list
today, where does the affinity,the ability, and the affirmation
come together for you?
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And as you're living out Romans12, 1 through 2, and you see
where these three things cometogether, I've got good news.
You've probably found a placewhere a spiritual gift lies in
your own life.
And so we need every gift and weneed them working together.
Verse 6 continues, having giftsthat differ according to the
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grace given to us, let us usethem.
Let us use them.
Number one on the list, ifprophecy in proportion to our
faith, the spiritual gift ofprophecy.
You probably hear the wordprophecy, and I think I've
mentioned this before.
Your mind goes to telling thefuture and crystal balls.
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That's what prophecy soundslike.
That's not what it is.
Prophecy literally just meansthis proclaiming forth truth.
That that person you know inyour life that just has an
ability to speak the truth withclarity.
The truth from the word of God.
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Maybe you know, even in your ownlife, they've had to give that
word of truth to you in the formof some tough love, some love
that was much needed to buildyou up, but they may have had to
tell you the truth, or you'vehad to tell someone else the
truth in love about uh maybe away they're they're not walking
towards Jesus, but they're ableto just tell that truth with
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clarity.
There was a young man, uh, heand his mom, we were meeting the
other day, and they live closeby, so they just came over to
the house and we sat at thedining room table and chatted
for 40 minutes or so, and uhthis young man asked some of the
greatest questions.
He was asking questions about uhGod's creation and you know God
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uh always existing and all thesedeep, deep questions.
And I was so proud of him forasking these questions, and you
could tell his head and hisheart were all in trying to get
answers to these questions.
And I've just got a feeling thatthroughout this young man's life
he's gonna find that he has thespiritual gift of prophecy.
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Why?
Because he's someone that is socommitted to seeking the truth,
to asking hard questions andfinding those answers so that he
can know the truth for himself,and I would argue if he doesn't
know it yet, eventually so thathe can proclaim that very truth
to others.
If it's prophecy in proportionto our faith, verse 7 if service
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in our serving.
Service.
Again, this is uh another onelike we name that if you don't
have the spiritual gift ofservice, that doesn't mean we
get to be off the hook ofserving.
No, as the church, we all serve,but maybe you know those people
in your own life that are justgifted in service.
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Have you seen these people thatsee a need and address the need?
They see a need and and it'sinteresting.
They they they they they'rethey're quick to pray about it,
and then I'll find thisinteresting, and then they're
also quick on the backside ofthat to just be the answer to
their prayer.
That they will step up andserve.
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We were sitting in a missionsmeeting the other night, and
there was a missionary that weall know well, and and their
family just needed a car.
They needed a car.
Um and ten minutes later, theywere halfway to the car, and
seven days after that, they wereall the way to the car.
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Because there were people pairedwith the gift of generosity,
praise God, that just said, Isee a need, and let's not go
through the cycle, let's not uhask a hundred people and and and
you know, do the uh the wholething.
Let's just address this righthere, right now.
The the gift of service, theysee a need and they run to meet
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the need.
Uh, the one who teaches in histeaching, that's the end of
verse 7.
I praise God for many of theteachers in our congregation.
You probably benefited thismorning from a teacher that just
takes time to study and takestime to present the word of God.
There are those that are justgifted to teach, that just have
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a mind of not only to thinkthrough the word and the
theology of it, but also evenfurther of how it applies to my
life.
That you can you can readsomething in scripture and
they'll not only let you knowabout it, but what does that
mean on a Monday morning?
What does that mean every day ofyour life?
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Verse 8 The one who exhorts inhis exhortation.
As we think about exhortation,we think about encouragement.
The one who is able toencourage, the one who is able
to just give someone, a littlebit like prophecy, but give
someone the word they very muchmean or very much need.
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It could be like prophecy.
Sometimes that might even be I Iexhort you, I'm I'm I'm gonna
call you up.
Uh I'm gonna tell you somethingmaybe you you need to put on and
you need to do, but exhortation.
That person with the gift ofencouragement.
You can probably think ofsomeone in your own life that
when you needed a word the most,they came and they encouraged
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you.
Quite honestly, you may be thatperson and you've encouraged me
in so many ways.
You have the spiritual gift ofexhortation.
I remember when I got here 15months ago, there wasn't a thing
in my office except for when Isat down at my desk for the
first time, there was a noteright there in the center of my
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desk, and I opened that note,and it was the most encouraging
note of exhortation from one ofour members.
And now I don't want toembarrass, I won't name names.
I will say we're gonna celebrateher 100th birthday next year.
But the spiritual gift ofexhortation.
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Next we see this the one whocontributes in generosity, the
spiritual gift of generosity.
There are those, and we justtalked about a little bit a
second ago, there are those whoare just generous.
And guess what?
That doesn't just meanfinancially.
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They're generous with theirtheir treasure, sure, but also
with their time, also with theirtalents, generosity.
And I want to be clear,generosity has nothing to do, uh
I'll speak financially, it hasnothing to do with an amount, it
has everything to do with aheart.
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That's exactly what Jesus saidin Mark chapter 12.
There's a lot of rich peoplegiving their offerings one uh
Sunday morning, or I guess itmay have been a Saturday
morning.
There were a lot of rich peoplegiving their offerings, and they
wanted nothing more than to letyou know just how much they were
giving.
They probably brought one ofthose golf tournament checks,
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the big ones.
They wanted you to know whatthey were giving, but then uh
this widow comes in and shegives Jesus' words, she gives
these two little coins.
And what does Jesus say aboutthat?
That this woman has given morethan any other.
Because generosity is not aboutan amount, it's about a heart.
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There are those among us in thisroom that you just have a
generous heart with your time,with your talent, with your
abilities, with your finances.
In all kinds of ways, there isgenerosity.
I love that we serve a generouschurch.
That I get to serve a generouschurch.
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I I praise God for that.
The way that you give, the waythat you serve, you are a
generous, generous church.
I'm thankful for those who havethat gift of generosity.
We continue, the one who leadswith zeal.
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The spiritual gift ofleadership.
Those that are just able, justgifted from above to be able to
lead.
We know from scripture that thatmeans not a leadership of this
world, but a servant leadership.
But through the eyes of Christ,they are able to take leadership
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and they are able to allowothers to come behind them, and
they will lead them to whereChrist Jesus is taking us as a
church.
And that spiritual gift ofleadership, it also doesn't have
to have anything to do with aposition.
It doesn't mean you have to beon staff, it doesn't mean you
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have to be on this specificcommittee, or you better be a
deacon, or you better be atrustee, or you better be this,
that, or the other.
It has everything to do withyour ability and how the Spirit
has gifted you to be a servanthearted leader that desires to
take people closer to Jesus.
Lastly, the one who does acts ofmercy with cheerfulness.
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Maybe you think of those in yourlife.
That surely have the spiritualgift of mercy.
That they just have a heart forthe lowly.
They just have a heart for thosethat are down and out.
And maybe they're down and outbecause they've made every
decision in the book theyshouldn't have made.
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And yet this person looks atthem with dignity, with honor,
with respect, loves them, pointsthem to the forgiveness of
Christ, points them to the mercyof Christ, lets them know that
they have every right to be partof the family of God as anyone
else.
The gift of mercy.
Those people in your life thatyou just look at them, and quite
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literally, you look at them andyou say, you know, I bet that's
a little bit of what Jesuslooked like when he walked
around town.
I look at all of this list here.
And again, we don't do it inpride.
We don't look at it and say, youknow, I'm that one.
Paul listed prophecy first.
Paul listed, you know, immersylast.
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He really wanted the good one tobring up the rear.
No, no, no.
We look at it and we say, hey, Iget to be a part.
That no gift is better than theother.
No gift is more needed than theother.
But every one of these giftscome together.
And so the question, if you area believer, the question is not,
am I gifted?
The question is simply this (31:27):
how will I use my gift to build up
the church and make much ofJesus?
And by that, I do mean FirstBaptist El Doredo, but I also
mean the church far outside ElDorado.
How will I build up the kingdomof God?
Every Sunday, when someone joinsthe church, you'll probably
(31:48):
catch me saying this that we area better church because you're a
part of it.
And I mean that in the mostliteral sense.
That because you just joined thechurch, our church is now better
able to carry out the missionwe're called to carry out.
(32:09):
Because guess why?
Because five minutes ago, yourHoly Spirit-given giftings were
not a part of this body, and nowthey are.
God knew that we needed exactlywhat you bring to the table
through the Spirit, and God hasbrought you to our church, and
now we can carry out the missionand expand the kingdom of God at
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a higher level because yourgifts are a part of it.
I mean that.
That we're a better churchbecause you are a part of it.
I think about a young girl Ibaptized just last week.
Obviously, she's been around ourchurch for some time, but last
week, uh a few uh weeks ago, shebecame a follower of Jesus.
(32:54):
Last week she was baptized, andI want you to know something.
Not only did we gain, uh,through her coming to Christ,
did we gain a quote-unquoteofficial member on the
membership role of First BaptistEl Dorado?
I praise God for that, but Iwant to tell you something else.
A local elementary school, wesent out a missionary there.
Do you see that?
(33:14):
Like there is an elementaryschool in town that has one more
missionary than it did fourweeks ago.
Because she has come to know theLord.
So I mean this that we're abetter church because you're a
part of it.
Because not only does thischurch need your giftings, where
you work, where you live, thethe sports team you're a part
(33:37):
of, the the cheer team you're apart of, the the the places you
go, the people you're around,they need your gifting.
You have an important part inthe family of God.
And we are a better churchbecause you are a part of it.
(33:58):
And so I just want to encourageyou today to no longer ask the
question, am I gifted?
Am I able to help?
Am I able to serve?
Ask the question, okay, HolySpirit, if you've gifted me,
number one, uh search me andshow me what my gifts are.
(34:20):
And number two, show me how Ican make much of the church and
the kingdom and make much ofJesus through this gift.
Because we are a better churchbecause you're a part of it.
On the way out, I told youthere'd be one way to one other
way to find out your spiritualgifts, and and I want to be
(34:41):
clear.
Maybe you've you've done one ofthese before, but a spiritual
gift survey, a spiritual giftassessment.
Just to be clear, none of theseare just completely perfect.
Uh none of this is gospel truth.
Um, but I just want to encourageyou.
I do think they're very helpful.
And at the uh rear exits andthese exits, uh I've got these,
(35:06):
and and every believer, I wantyou to take one with you.
Adults, children, if you knowJesus Christ, take this with
you.
And I got bad news, it's onpaper.
I got bad news, it's gonna takeyou some time because you're
gonna take a pencil and fill itout.
I got bad news.
You've got to grade it yourself,okay?
It's not a computer programthat's gonna just pop it out for
(35:28):
you.
Then you can chart it yourself.
And the cool thing is this, whatI believe is if you will take
time, again, none of these isperfect, but I believe you'll
find it probably is gonna lineup pretty well, maybe with your
affinity, your ability withaffirmation.
I want you to take this.
I want you to see for yourselfwhere my gifts lie.
(35:50):
And here's what I want you todo.
I want you to go to the websiteand find my email address.
I'll save you some time.
Taylor at fbceldoreto.org.
It's not a tricky one.
And I just want you to email meyour top three gifts.
Whatever lands in the top three.
(36:10):
That's not it's not a quiz or atest.
I'm not gonna think better orworse of you.
Actually, I'm just gonna thinkyou're unbelievable, no matter
what you show me.
But here's why I want you to dothat.
Uh, because I want you to tellme your gifts, and I'm gonna
take that seriously, and I'mgonna make note of that.
Here's why.
Because when I sit down heresoon with a group of people and
(36:34):
we start thinking for, you know,how how teams can function in
the new years and some wayspeople can serve, I don't just
want to put names on a piece ofpaper, I want to put gifts on a
piece of paper.
I want to put people in a placewhere they can serve in such a
way that fits with theiraffinity, their ability, their
(36:54):
affirmation.
I want to put your gifts towork.
And so if you don't want tobuild up the church, don't email
me.
If you don't want to make muchof Jesus here at First Baptist
El Dorado, you better not emailme your gifts.
But if you'd be willing, as youtake this test, find where those
affinities might be, and justshoot me an email.
(37:18):
No rush, take the week, whateveryou want to do.
I just want to know where yourgifts are.
More important than me knowing,I want you to know where your
gifts are because I believe weare a better church because
you're a part of it.
Now, it may be this morning yousay, I want to make this church
better.
Well, come on down and join thischurch this morning.
(37:41):
This may be the place for you,and we need you, and we've been
waiting on your gifts.
It may be you want to say, Iknow Jesus, and I want to, I've
given my life to him, or I wantto give my life to him, I want
to be baptized.
I'll be right down front.
This is the place to do it, andwe've got a church family that's
ready to celebrate you.
(38:01):
It may be you want myself oranother pastor just to pray over
you this morning.
However, you might need torespond, now will be the time to
do it.
But First Baptist El Dorado,we're a better church because
you're part of it.
Let me pray for us.
Lord Jesus, I thank you so muchfor the truth of your word.
(38:23):
I thank you so much that youallow us to be part of your
mission.
And not only do you allow us tobe on mission for you, but you
equip us with gifts of theSpirit so that we can be on
mission for you.
And so, Lord, as a church, wouldwe take this call seriously?
(38:45):
And would every person in thisroom that knows you, would they
be encouraged this week as theyreally start to explore their
gifts?
And would it lead them tocourage?
Would it lead them to bravery,knowing uh that they are here
for a purpose and you haveequipped them for a purpose, and
they can do the work of ministrybecause you've gifted them to do
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it.
So, Lord, for every heart inthis room, would they be
encouraged this week?
If there is one that doesn'tknow you even now, Lord, would
today be the day that by yourSon Jesus Christ, through his
death and resurrection, theforgiveness of sins, that they
could know you for the firsttime.
(39:29):
Lord, however, we need torespond, would we do it now?
We ask this in Christ's name.
Amen.
Hello and welcome to the FBC El Doredo Sermon
Podcast.
My name is Taylor Gere, and Ihave the privilege of being the
pastor here at First Baptist.
And I want to thank you forlistening into our sermon this
week.
And I want to tell you this ifyou're in our area and you don't
have a church home, we wouldlove to see you any Sunday
morning at First Baptist ElDoredo.
(00:25):
Would you join me now inlistening to our sermon from
this week?
Open with me to Romans chapter12.
Romans chapter 12.
Today we'll begin in verse 3,looking through verse 8.
3 through 8.
(00:46):
For by the grace given to me, Isay to everyone among you not to
think of himself more highlythan he ought to think, but to
think with sober judgment, eachaccording to the measure of
faith that God has assigned.
For as in one body we have manymembers, and the members do not
all have the same function, sowe, though many, are one body in
(01:07):
Christ, and individually we aremembers of one another.
Having gifts that differaccording to the grace given us,
let us use them, if prophecy inproportion to our faith, if
service in our serving, the onewho teaches in his teaching, the
one who exhorts in hisexhortation, the one who
contributes in generosity, theone who leads with zeal, the one
(01:30):
who does acts of mercy withcheerfulness.
Pray with me.
Lord Jesus, by your Spirit,would you speak to us now, Lord?
Lord, give us the freedom tohear from you, to be transformed
by your word, and Lord, throughthis word you have for us, Lord,
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let us understand so well thatwe are members of the family of
God, and that means something.
And that means something to thechurch, and we mean so much as
individuals to the church as wehelp this church fulfill its
God-given purpose, Lord.
(02:13):
We pray this now.
Teach us, Lord, in Christ'sname.
Amen.
The ghosts will show upeventually.
That may be the greatest quotein the history of the New York
Yankees.
And that's saying somethingbecause there's a lot of great
quotes, but it was October of2001.
The New York Yankees were in theWorld Series.
(02:34):
Obviously, if you think of ateam from New York in the World
Series in October of 2001,emotions were very high for many
reasons.
But on the baseball field, theywere coming from uh Phoenix to
New York down two games tonothing.
And Derek Jeter was asked, Whatdo you do now?
(02:56):
You've kind of backed yourselfinto a corner here.
What do you do?
And Derek Jeter said this theghosts will show up eventually.
What did he mean by that?
He meant this that every memberof this team is critical, but in
the New York Yankees, there'seven some members from the past
(03:19):
that are critical.
That in the Bronx in October,Joe DiMaggio and Roger Maris and
Mickey Mann and Lou Gehrig andBabe Ruth, these men just have a
way of showing up at thestadium.
It may be a warning track popfly that turns into a short
porch home run.
It may be a single that turnsinto a double because the ball
(03:42):
takes a funky hop.
But the ghosts will show upeventually.
Every member of this team, pastand present, is critical.
Now, there's not really anyghost of Yankee Stadium.
I don't believe there's anyghosts of First Baptist.
There's been a time or two I'vebeen shutting down late at night
(04:02):
where I've wondered, but thepoint is still true that every
member of this team is critical.
Every member of this team thatat this time is this collection
of believers called FirstBaptist Church of El Doredo.
(04:24):
Certainly we could spread thiswider and just say the church
universal, but certainly here,First Baptist Church of El
Doredo, every member of the teamis critical.
If you are a believer in ChristJesus who is a member of First
Baptist Church of El Doredo, youare critical.
(04:47):
And what I want us to see todayis the body of Christ is
strengthened by every member'spresence.
And that's what Paul wants us tosee today as we begin in verse
3.
For by the grace given to me, Isay to everyone among you not to
think of himself more highlythan he ought to think, but to
(05:09):
think with sober judgment, eachaccording to the measure of
faith that God has assigned.
What Paul wants us to see fromthe start, as we think about
what it means to be a memberhere and using our Holy
Spirit-given gifts to serve thechurch and to be a part of this
church family, from the start,he does want to give us a
(05:31):
warning, something to thinkseriously about, and that is
this that nothing will destroy aChristian and destroy a church
quicker than pride.
Nothing can destroy a believeror a church quicker than pride.
Now, certainly as we walk downthe road of thinking about
(05:52):
spiritual gifts, nothing canhurt us more than a pride that
says, well, one gift is betterthan the other.
One member surely has more valuethan the other.
Well, certainly this group ismore important.
And hey, I'm glad that group'shere, but you know, do they make
a big no, no.
Pride can kill everything we'regoing to talk about today.
(06:14):
C.S.
Lewis calls pride the great sin.
Why does he do that?
He says this, because it seemslike every sin flows from that
one great sin, pride.
And you think about that, itdoes feel like every sin flows
from pride.
If I uh am in the sin of gossip,I would argue pride's all behind
that.
Why?
(06:34):
Because there's something in methat must think I'm a little bit
better than you, and thereforeI'm gonna tell somebody else
just how much better I may bethan you.
There's pride behind that.
If if I sin in anger, there'sprobably pride behind that.
I'm angry, why?
Because I didn't get my way.
I'm angry because things didn'tturn out exactly how I intended.
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Pride can destroy the believer,it can destroy the church.
And so that's why Paul wants usto see don't think of yourself
more highly than you ought tothink.
Now, it's also important for usto realize as believers, that
doesn't mean we're we'resupposed to look at ourselves
and think of ourselves asworthless, that I don't add a
(07:20):
thing.
It's not supposed to be that welook just so lowly at ourselves
that we say, I'm worth nothing.
Absolutely not.
Uh it's probably a quote that'sbeen attributed to many.
Uh who said it first, I don'tknow, but humility is not
thinking uh less of yourself,it's thinking of yourself less.
(07:40):
It's not just putting yourselfdown, it's just putting others,
uh putting others up.
And so don't think more highlythan you ought, but think with
sober judgment, as Paul says.
Just think accurately, uh,reflect accurately about you and
your gifts and your part withinthis church family, each
according to the measure offaith that God has assigned.
(08:03):
Now, what does Paul mean bythat?
According to the measure offaith that Paul has assigned.
What he doesn't mean is this anidea that depending on just how
strong your faith is, will bejust how uh, you know,
impressive or how many spiritualgifts you get.
No, no, what we need to see isthis that first of all, our
(08:26):
salvation is simply given by thegrace of God.
The indwelling of the HolySpirit in our lives is given by
the grace of God.
What we also need to see isthis, that even the faith that
you and I are given so that wecan live out the spiritual gifts
and live out our part in thefamily of God, that's simply
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given by the grace of God.
Even the faith to live out theChristian life is just a gift
from God, and praise God He'sgiven.
And so, according to the faithhe's given you that measure of
faith, uh, live out into yourgifting.
Verse 4, for as in one body wehave many members, and the
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members do not all have the samefunction, so we, verse five,
though many are one body inChrist, and individually members
one of another.
Paul loves this idea.
He talks about this very ideamultiple times throughout the
New Testament.
It may remind you of uh 1Corinthians chapter 12, when
(09:30):
Paul says the same idea.
Uh, for just as the body is one,this is verse 12 of 12, and has
many members, and all aremembers of the body, though
many, they are one body, so itis in Christ.
I mean, that sounds identical towhat we've read in Romans.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul eventakes the illustration further,
if you remember, when he talksabout the idea that the eye
(09:52):
can't say to the hand, I don'tneed you, the hand can't look at
the eye and say, I don't needyou.
No, in the family of faith,every person brings their gifts
to the table, and we live outthese gifts in community with
one another.
Paul loves this idea of a familyof God that has many members in
(10:16):
this room.
Let's say there's 300 people,250, 300 people.
Well, if if we were to say rightnow, and and and all are
believers, if we were to say 90%are believers, and every
believer in this room, uh, youhave a gift that you bring to
the table that your churchneeds.
And the church needs you, andand you need the church, so we
(10:39):
can live this out together.
Now, let's talk more about thesegifts.
Verse 6, having gifts thatdiffer according to the grace
given to us.
Now you may be saying, spiritualgifts.
What in the world are youtalking about?
The reality is that sounds likea great thing.
We love a good gift.
No one in this room doesn't likea gift.
(11:00):
James and I last night went tothe great event here in town,
the Hank Parker event.
We just had the best time there,and it was really neat.
We we walked in and James foundout that they were giving away a
uh there was a gift last night,they were giving away a
four-wheeler.
And James found that out.
And now he needed thisfour-wheeler with everything in
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him.
He wanted this.
But even still, he didn't knowwhat a four-wheeler was.
He he asked me, and I had toGoogle and show him a picture of
what a four-wheeler is, and yet,even still, he knew that is the
thing I need most in my life.
And we we had we're gettingclose to bedtime, and so we had
(11:43):
to leave a little early, and andhe was so upset by the fact that
he wouldn't be around to figureout who would win this gift,
this four-wheeler.
And I didn't have the heart totell him, buddy, even if they
called our name, we'd have topass that ticket around because
at an evangelistic event, whenthe senior pastor of the First
Baptist Church walks out ofthere with the four-wheeler,
(12:05):
things look bad there.
Some insider trading has goneon, it's not a good look.
So we didn't go home with thegift.
But what are the spiritualgifts?
What does this mean?
That the Holy Spirit, as youhave come to know Christ, if you
(12:26):
are in Christ Jesus, the HolySpirit now dwells within you,
and that means many things, butone thing it means is this, that
you now have received one ormore spiritual gifts.
Certain things, certain gifts inyour life, and we'll talk,
there's multiple lists in theNew Testament of these gifts.
(12:47):
We'll talk about one of ourlists this morning, but what it
means is this, that you justhave a particular uh affinity,
uh, ability, we'll talk moreabout that in a minute.
The Holy Spirit has given youthat you can carry out these
gifts, not for the sake ofbuilding yourself up, but for
the sake of building up thechurch of Jesus Christ and
expanding the kingdom.
(13:08):
The Holy Spirit has gifted you.
Now, what does it not mean?
It doesn't mean this that if wehave not been given a certain
spiritual gift, uh that we justkind of get to sit out of that
event in the life of the church.
What do I mean by that?
I believe there are some peoplethat have the spiritual gift of
(13:29):
evangelism.
Maybe you've seen these peoplethat just have this unbelievable
ability within a conversation.
They'll be talking about theballgame last night, and not 10
seconds later they found a wayto turn it to where they're
talking about the gospel ofJesus Christ.
That they have this ability andthis clarity in speaking the
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gospel in such a way that theLord uses that and and minds are
open to Jesus.
They just have this gift ofevangelism.
I praise God for individualsthat have the gift of
evangelism.
But here's the question (14:04):
does that mean that if I take a
spiritual gift assessment andsee that I don't have the
spiritual gift of evangelism,does that mean as a Christian I
don't evangelize?
Absolutely not.
We're we are all evangelizing,sharing our faith.
And the gift of generosity.
Some have the gift ofgenerosity.
It's amazing to watch.
(14:26):
If you don't, if I don't, doesthat mean we just don't have to
be generous in any way?
Uh no, we better be.
And so these gifts, though, aregiven by the Spirit, given to us
as believers, to do this, tobuild up the church and make
much of Jesus.
And let me just repeat again,excuse me, I want you to hear it
(14:47):
again.
If you are in Christ Jesus, ifyou have a relationship with the
Lord, the Holy Spirit dwellswithin you, and you have one or
more spiritual gifts that youshould use, you are called to
use to build up the kingdom ofGod, the church of God, and to
(15:08):
make much of Jesus.
Now, the question we're allasking, how can I know my gift?
Isn't that what we want to know?
How do I know in what ways I'mgifted?
I'll give us three ways thismorning, and I want to give us
two right now and one a littlelater.
(15:29):
Number one way is this I wouldargue by living out Romans 12, 1
through 2.
We talked about these verseslast week, Romans 12, 1 through
2.
Imagine if, uh, and you willhave to use your imagination in
a big way, but imagine if I justhad the natural, just I was born
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with this natural talent that Iwas on a trajectory to be an
Olympic athlete.
Again, imagination is critical.
But I just had this trajectoryof an Olympic athlete, and yet I
spent all my days just sittingback on the lazy boy watching
videos of other Olympic athletesdo what they do very well.
(16:12):
Guess what that natural abilitywould amount to?
Not very much.
You know, some of us want toknow and want to say, where am I
gifted?
How has the Holy Spirit giftedme?
And yet, we've yet to reallydive all into Romans 12, 1
through 2.
We've yet to fully dive intothis moment where we say, like
(16:35):
last week, Lord Jesus, my blankcheck is on the table.
I want to run away from thethings of this world, and I want
to be transformed by the renewalof my mind.
I want to live life as you'vecalled me to live.
If you want to know in what waysyou're gifted, uh, grow closer
to Jesus.
(16:56):
Remember how verse 2 ended lastweek that uh by this you may
discern what the will of God is,his good, acceptable, and
perfect will.
If you want to know what God isup to in your life, how he can
use you in your life, how you'regifted in your life, uh run
towards Jesus.
Don't sit on the sideline ofyour faith, but dive all into
(17:20):
who he is and being transformedso that you can see where you're
gifted and how he may want touse you in a mighty way.
A second way I can think abouthow I know my spiritual gifts is
I want to put a uh a Venndiagram.
You can put this slide up, thesethree circles.
Uh and and uh I didn't createthis, I don't know who created
(17:43):
this.
If that person reaches out tome, I'll give you credit next
week.
But you've got these threecircles of affinity, ability,
and affirmation.
And right in the middle of that,you can probably have a good
idea of where your spiritualgift lies.
And again, we'll give you a listin just a second, but think
about something.
(18:03):
Think first of all aboutaffinity.
What are you naturally drawn to?
As we look at this spiritualgift list in a moment, is there
just one area that you naturallysay, that just feels right, that
just feels like something I'mdrawn to?
Ability.
As you feel like that's you havethis natural drawn to that
(18:27):
thing.
Well, am I able to do this?
Does it feel like God has giftedme in this way?
Am I able?
And lastly, affirmation.
Maybe you've heard from othersas they've encouraged you and
they've said that, you knowwhat, I see this in you.
I see the way you have agenerous heart or a heart for
(18:49):
mercy, or I see the way youshare your faith.
I I've watched you teach, andyou just have an ability to
teach God's word.
When those three things align inyour life, I I can bet pretty
well that that's where yourspiritual gift lies.
You gotta look no further thanmy wife, Katie.
Think about something for aminute.
(19:09):
I I believe with my whole heartthat she has the spiritual gift
of hospitality.
The spiritual gift ofhospitality.
Affinity.
She likes being hospitable.
She enjoys uh you know, bakingyou something.
She enjoys making you feelwelcome.
Is there an ability?
(19:30):
Praise God.
I've I've tasted the blueberrymuffins and the cookies, and and
I know what it is to feel athome in my home because she
makes you feel at home.
Affirmation, uh, I've told hermany times.
Uh many in the congregation, I'mpraise God, even some of you
have affirmed this in her ownheart and life.
(19:51):
I just believe she has that giftof hospitality, and I see it
because those three things cometogether.
And for you in your life, whatis that?
As we look at that list, andyou'll even take home a list
today, where does the affinity,the ability, and the affirmation
come together for you?
(20:13):
And as you're living out Romans12, 1 through 2, and you see
where these three things cometogether, I've got good news.
You've probably found a placewhere a spiritual gift lies in
your own life.
And so we need every gift and weneed them working together.
Verse 6 continues, having giftsthat differ according to the
(20:36):
grace given to us, let us usethem.
Let us use them.
Number one on the list, ifprophecy in proportion to our
faith, the spiritual gift ofprophecy.
You probably hear the wordprophecy, and I think I've
mentioned this before.
Your mind goes to telling thefuture and crystal balls.
(20:58):
That's what prophecy soundslike.
That's not what it is.
Prophecy literally just meansthis proclaiming forth truth.
That that person you know inyour life that just has an
ability to speak the truth withclarity.
The truth from the word of God.
(21:25):
Maybe you know, even in your ownlife, they've had to give that
word of truth to you in the formof some tough love, some love
that was much needed to buildyou up, but they may have had to
tell you the truth, or you'vehad to tell someone else the
truth in love about uh maybe away they're they're not walking
towards Jesus, but they're ableto just tell that truth with
(21:47):
clarity.
There was a young man, uh, heand his mom, we were meeting the
other day, and they live closeby, so they just came over to
the house and we sat at thedining room table and chatted
for 40 minutes or so, and uhthis young man asked some of the
greatest questions.
He was asking questions about uhGod's creation and you know God
(22:12):
uh always existing and all thesedeep, deep questions.
And I was so proud of him forasking these questions, and you
could tell his head and hisheart were all in trying to get
answers to these questions.
And I've just got a feeling thatthroughout this young man's life
he's gonna find that he has thespiritual gift of prophecy.
(22:35):
Why?
Because he's someone that is socommitted to seeking the truth,
to asking hard questions andfinding those answers so that he
can know the truth for himself,and I would argue if he doesn't
know it yet, eventually so thathe can proclaim that very truth
to others.
If it's prophecy in proportionto our faith, verse 7 if service
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in our serving.
Service.
Again, this is uh another onelike we name that if you don't
have the spiritual gift ofservice, that doesn't mean we
get to be off the hook ofserving.
No, as the church, we all serve,but maybe you know those people
in your own life that are justgifted in service.
(23:22):
Have you seen these people thatsee a need and address the need?
They see a need and and it'sinteresting.
They they they they they'rethey're quick to pray about it,
and then I'll find thisinteresting, and then they're
also quick on the backside ofthat to just be the answer to
their prayer.
That they will step up andserve.
(23:44):
We were sitting in a missionsmeeting the other night, and
there was a missionary that weall know well, and and their
family just needed a car.
They needed a car.
Um and ten minutes later, theywere halfway to the car, and
seven days after that, they wereall the way to the car.
(24:06):
Because there were people pairedwith the gift of generosity,
praise God, that just said, Isee a need, and let's not go
through the cycle, let's not uhask a hundred people and and and
you know, do the uh the wholething.
Let's just address this righthere, right now.
The the gift of service, theysee a need and they run to meet
(24:27):
the need.
Uh, the one who teaches in histeaching, that's the end of
verse 7.
I praise God for many of theteachers in our congregation.
You probably benefited thismorning from a teacher that just
takes time to study and takestime to present the word of God.
There are those that are justgifted to teach, that just have
(24:51):
a mind of not only to thinkthrough the word and the
theology of it, but also evenfurther of how it applies to my
life.
That you can you can readsomething in scripture and
they'll not only let you knowabout it, but what does that
mean on a Monday morning?
What does that mean every day ofyour life?
(25:13):
Verse 8 The one who exhorts inhis exhortation.
As we think about exhortation,we think about encouragement.
The one who is able toencourage, the one who is able
to just give someone, a littlebit like prophecy, but give
someone the word they very muchmean or very much need.
(25:36):
It could be like prophecy.
Sometimes that might even be I Iexhort you, I'm I'm I'm gonna
call you up.
Uh I'm gonna tell you somethingmaybe you you need to put on and
you need to do, but exhortation.
That person with the gift ofencouragement.
You can probably think ofsomeone in your own life that
when you needed a word the most,they came and they encouraged
(26:00):
you.
Quite honestly, you may be thatperson and you've encouraged me
in so many ways.
You have the spiritual gift ofexhortation.
I remember when I got here 15months ago, there wasn't a thing
in my office except for when Isat down at my desk for the
first time, there was a noteright there in the center of my
(26:21):
desk, and I opened that note,and it was the most encouraging
note of exhortation from one ofour members.
And now I don't want toembarrass, I won't name names.
I will say we're gonna celebrateher 100th birthday next year.
But the spiritual gift ofexhortation.
(26:42):
Next we see this the one whocontributes in generosity, the
spiritual gift of generosity.
There are those, and we justtalked about a little bit a
second ago, there are those whoare just generous.
And guess what?
That doesn't just meanfinancially.
(27:04):
They're generous with theirtheir treasure, sure, but also
with their time, also with theirtalents, generosity.
And I want to be clear,generosity has nothing to do, uh
I'll speak financially, it hasnothing to do with an amount, it
has everything to do with aheart.
(27:25):
That's exactly what Jesus saidin Mark chapter 12.
There's a lot of rich peoplegiving their offerings one uh
Sunday morning, or I guess itmay have been a Saturday
morning.
There were a lot of rich peoplegiving their offerings, and they
wanted nothing more than to letyou know just how much they were
giving.
They probably brought one ofthose golf tournament checks,
(27:45):
the big ones.
They wanted you to know whatthey were giving, but then uh
this widow comes in and shegives Jesus' words, she gives
these two little coins.
And what does Jesus say aboutthat?
That this woman has given morethan any other.
Because generosity is not aboutan amount, it's about a heart.
(28:07):
There are those among us in thisroom that you just have a
generous heart with your time,with your talent, with your
abilities, with your finances.
In all kinds of ways, there isgenerosity.
I love that we serve a generouschurch.
That I get to serve a generouschurch.
(28:28):
I I praise God for that.
The way that you give, the waythat you serve, you are a
generous, generous church.
I'm thankful for those who havethat gift of generosity.
We continue, the one who leadswith zeal.
(28:50):
The spiritual gift ofleadership.
Those that are just able, justgifted from above to be able to
lead.
We know from scripture that thatmeans not a leadership of this
world, but a servant leadership.
But through the eyes of Christ,they are able to take leadership
(29:13):
and they are able to allowothers to come behind them, and
they will lead them to whereChrist Jesus is taking us as a
church.
And that spiritual gift ofleadership, it also doesn't have
to have anything to do with aposition.
It doesn't mean you have to beon staff, it doesn't mean you
(29:33):
have to be on this specificcommittee, or you better be a
deacon, or you better be atrustee, or you better be this,
that, or the other.
It has everything to do withyour ability and how the Spirit
has gifted you to be a servanthearted leader that desires to
take people closer to Jesus.
Lastly, the one who does acts ofmercy with cheerfulness.
(29:57):
Maybe you think of those in yourlife.
That surely have the spiritualgift of mercy.
That they just have a heart forthe lowly.
They just have a heart for thosethat are down and out.
And maybe they're down and outbecause they've made every
decision in the book theyshouldn't have made.
(30:21):
And yet this person looks atthem with dignity, with honor,
with respect, loves them, pointsthem to the forgiveness of
Christ, points them to the mercyof Christ, lets them know that
they have every right to be partof the family of God as anyone
else.
The gift of mercy.
Those people in your life thatyou just look at them, and quite
(30:45):
literally, you look at them andyou say, you know, I bet that's
a little bit of what Jesuslooked like when he walked
around town.
I look at all of this list here.
And again, we don't do it inpride.
We don't look at it and say, youknow, I'm that one.
Paul listed prophecy first.
Paul listed, you know, immersylast.
(31:07):
He really wanted the good one tobring up the rear.
No, no, no.
We look at it and we say, hey, Iget to be a part.
That no gift is better than theother.
No gift is more needed than theother.
But every one of these giftscome together.
And so the question, if you area believer, the question is not,
am I gifted?
The question is simply this (31:27):
how will I use my gift to build up
the church and make much ofJesus?
And by that, I do mean FirstBaptist El Doredo, but I also
mean the church far outside ElDorado.
How will I build up the kingdomof God?
Every Sunday, when someone joinsthe church, you'll probably
(31:48):
catch me saying this that we area better church because you're a
part of it.
And I mean that in the mostliteral sense.
That because you just joined thechurch, our church is now better
able to carry out the missionwe're called to carry out.
(32:09):
Because guess why?
Because five minutes ago, yourHoly Spirit-given giftings were
not a part of this body, and nowthey are.
God knew that we needed exactlywhat you bring to the table
through the Spirit, and God hasbrought you to our church, and
now we can carry out the missionand expand the kingdom of God at
(32:33):
a higher level because yourgifts are a part of it.
I mean that.
That we're a better churchbecause you are a part of it.
I think about a young girl Ibaptized just last week.
Obviously, she's been around ourchurch for some time, but last
week, uh a few uh weeks ago, shebecame a follower of Jesus.
(32:54):
Last week she was baptized, andI want you to know something.
Not only did we gain, uh,through her coming to Christ,
did we gain a quote-unquoteofficial member on the
membership role of First BaptistEl Dorado?
I praise God for that, but Iwant to tell you something else.
A local elementary school, wesent out a missionary there.
Do you see that?
(33:14):
Like there is an elementaryschool in town that has one more
missionary than it did fourweeks ago.
Because she has come to know theLord.
So I mean this that we're abetter church because you're a
part of it.
Because not only does thischurch need your giftings, where
you work, where you live, thethe sports team you're a part
(33:37):
of, the the cheer team you're apart of, the the the places you
go, the people you're around,they need your gifting.
You have an important part inthe family of God.
And we are a better churchbecause you are a part of it.
(33:58):
And so I just want to encourageyou today to no longer ask the
question, am I gifted?
Am I able to help?
Am I able to serve?
Ask the question, okay, HolySpirit, if you've gifted me,
number one, uh search me andshow me what my gifts are.
(34:20):
And number two, show me how Ican make much of the church and
the kingdom and make much ofJesus through this gift.
Because we are a better churchbecause you're a part of it.
On the way out, I told youthere'd be one way to one other
way to find out your spiritualgifts, and and I want to be
(34:41):
clear.
Maybe you've you've done one ofthese before, but a spiritual
gift survey, a spiritual giftassessment.
Just to be clear, none of theseare just completely perfect.
Uh none of this is gospel truth.
Um, but I just want to encourageyou.
I do think they're very helpful.
And at the uh rear exits andthese exits, uh I've got these,
(35:06):
and and every believer, I wantyou to take one with you.
Adults, children, if you knowJesus Christ, take this with
you.
And I got bad news, it's onpaper.
I got bad news, it's gonna takeyou some time because you're
gonna take a pencil and fill itout.
I got bad news.
You've got to grade it yourself,okay?
It's not a computer programthat's gonna just pop it out for
(35:28):
you.
Then you can chart it yourself.
And the cool thing is this, whatI believe is if you will take
time, again, none of these isperfect, but I believe you'll
find it probably is gonna lineup pretty well, maybe with your
affinity, your ability withaffirmation.
I want you to take this.
I want you to see for yourselfwhere my gifts lie.
(35:50):
And here's what I want you todo.
I want you to go to the websiteand find my email address.
I'll save you some time.
Taylor at fbceldoreto.org.
It's not a tricky one.
And I just want you to email meyour top three gifts.
Whatever lands in the top three.
(36:10):
That's not it's not a quiz or atest.
I'm not gonna think better orworse of you.
Actually, I'm just gonna thinkyou're unbelievable, no matter
what you show me.
But here's why I want you to dothat.
Uh, because I want you to tellme your gifts, and I'm gonna
take that seriously, and I'mgonna make note of that.
Here's why.
Because when I sit down heresoon with a group of people and
(36:34):
we start thinking for, you know,how how teams can function in
the new years and some wayspeople can serve, I don't just
want to put names on a piece ofpaper, I want to put gifts on a
piece of paper.
I want to put people in a placewhere they can serve in such a
way that fits with theiraffinity, their ability, their
(36:54):
affirmation.
I want to put your gifts towork.
And so if you don't want tobuild up the church, don't email
me.
If you don't want to make muchof Jesus here at First Baptist
El Dorado, you better not emailme your gifts.
But if you'd be willing, as youtake this test, find where those
affinities might be, and justshoot me an email.
(37:18):
No rush, take the week, whateveryou want to do.
I just want to know where yourgifts are.
More important than me knowing,I want you to know where your
gifts are because I believe weare a better church because
you're a part of it.
Now, it may be this morning yousay, I want to make this church
better.
Well, come on down and join thischurch this morning.
(37:41):
This may be the place for you,and we need you, and we've been
waiting on your gifts.
It may be you want to say, Iknow Jesus, and I want to, I've
given my life to him, or I wantto give my life to him, I want
to be baptized.
I'll be right down front.
This is the place to do it, andwe've got a church family that's
ready to celebrate you.
(38:01):
It may be you want myself oranother pastor just to pray over
you this morning.
However, you might need torespond, now will be the time to
do it.
But First Baptist El Dorado,we're a better church because
you're part of it.
Let me pray for us.
Lord Jesus, I thank you so muchfor the truth of your word.
(38:23):
I thank you so much that youallow us to be part of your
mission.
And not only do you allow us tobe on mission for you, but you
equip us with gifts of theSpirit so that we can be on
mission for you.
And so, Lord, as a church, wouldwe take this call seriously?
(38:45):
And would every person in thisroom that knows you, would they
be encouraged this week as theyreally start to explore their
gifts?
And would it lead them tocourage?
Would it lead them to bravery,knowing uh that they are here
for a purpose and you haveequipped them for a purpose, and
they can do the work of ministrybecause you've gifted them to do
(39:07):
it.
So, Lord, for every heart inthis room, would they be
encouraged this week?
If there is one that doesn'tknow you even now, Lord, would
today be the day that by yourSon Jesus Christ, through his
death and resurrection, theforgiveness of sins, that they
could know you for the firsttime.
(39:29):
Lord, however, we need torespond, would we do it now?
We ask this in Christ's name.
Amen.
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