The Gifts of the Spirit

Members of RS2 suggested this as a topic for this month!

We started by watching an old advert…

And then we read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.

The connection between these two is that they paint a picture of people working together to create something beautiful and good.  When we use our spiritual gifts we do this for each other (“for the common good”), but also to give glory to God.

We looked at the following gifts listed in this passage, but acknowledged that this is just a starting place (we could also look at Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:28-30; and Ephesians 4:8-13).

The handout aimed to give some basic working definitions (I won’t pretend they say everything there is to say about them!).  Here they are again…

• Wisdom – not logic, but supernatural wisdom – an insight into a situation or problem.

• Word of knowledge – God revealing something about a person/situation.

• Faith – confidence in God’s ability to heal/speak/do something out of the ordinary.

• Healing – this isn’t a gift, but gifts. The one who receives these gifts is like a delivery boy who passes them on to those who need them. These gifts bring supernatural healing in body, emotions or mind.

• Miracles – dramatic signs and deeds

• Prophecy – words spoken to strengthen, encourage, and comfort. Sometimes predicts a future event. Can take various forms, e.g. visions, spoken words, drama. Must always be carefully tested and considered. Should always be in line with what the Bible says.

• Discernment – being able to tell whether something is from God or not.

• Tongues – ability to speak to God in a language you haven’t learned. Can be used in praise and/or intercession. Two areas of use: i) private – helps you grow spiritually; ii) Public – spoken out loud which then requires interpretation.

• Interpretation of tongues – the ability to understand what was said in tongues and share it with everyone else.

The important thing is that we don’t just say “nice theory” and leave it at that.  This stuff needs to be put into action!  We should “truly want” the greater gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31) – i.e. those which build up the body (that is the church). We made some time/space for that at X-alt, but we need to keep on asking for God to give us these gifts and then look for opportunities to use them!