PARAKLETOS Part 3 : Boxing Day THE ROCKS Church, 21 October 2012 Michael Rumende GREETINGS Once again, a special welcome to you who are visiting THE ROCKS today, My name is Michael Rumende, I m one of the pastors here at THE ROCKS. And for those of you who has been calling THE ROCKS your family, I also want to welcome you, you re doing yourself a favour today, because every sunday is an opportunity for us to celebrate God s amazing love together, be inspired and transformed. ME I want to start by sharing with you my earliest pleasant memory being brought up in my lovely family. One of the memories that I often still cherish even until today, is BIRTHDAYS. When me and my siblings were small, my dad created a sort of birthday ritual. He would go home from work bringing birthday gifts. Not only one gift! but he brought home 5 gifts. Our parents then would pray for the birthday boy, then allow me to open those gifts, Dad would say this one is from me, that one is from Mommy, that one is from andrew (my younger brother), and this one is from Elsa (my younger sister). What makes me even more happy was to see the faces of my jealous brother and sister (haha) We all loved all gifts given to us. Interestingly, as we grow up, we would not appreciate every single gifts were given to us. We only be grateful and excited if the gift given to us is something that we like. Somebody gave you a birthday present, Happy birthday, here s a gift for you... It s a toaster... yeay! thank you. RECAP Today we re continuing the sermon series Ps Daniel started two weeks ago : PARAKLETOS. John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor (parakletos) to be with you forever the Spirit of truth. PARAKLETOS: a person summoned to one s aid by walking alongside him/her. The main jobs of the Holy Spirit 1. 2. 3. The Holy Spirit Keeps Unity among Christians. The Holy Spirit points to Jesus Christ THE SPIRIT HELPS US TO BE HOLY Think about this, The holy spirit is the one who pointed you to Jesus. If you re a Christian, you believe that Jesus died for you sins and He is the only way for you to receive forgiveness of sin. Guess what, Holy spirit is the one who pointed you to Jesus. And after we receive forgiveness, the holy spirit is also the person who help us not just to be declared Holy and forgiven, but he help us to live HOLY as forgiven people, as God s sons and daughter. Parakletos* *Part*3*:*Boxing*Day********************************************************************************1*of*5
Have you ever wonder, if God s main purpose is so that you would receive eternal life and make you holy, why wouldn t He just take you to meet with God right after you believe? Straight to heaven. That leads us to the fourth main job of the Holy spirit, and that is to connect you to the God s main agenda in this world. So that more and more people be reconnected with God, and receive the ultimate gift of eternal life. And for us to take part in God s main agenda of reconnecting people to God, the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to the followers of Jesus Christ. The holy Spirit equips ALL believers with spiritual gifts as important tools ILLUSTRATION : BONDI RESCUE Almost everyone in Australia knows how to swim, but for those who sign up to be a lifeguard, they are being equipped with special skills to enable them to rescue drowned people. They also equipped with all the instruments, and vehicle to be effective in their rescue mission. ALL Christ followers are invited to join God s mission in this world, and the Holy spirit equips you with spiritual gifts. Before you become Christian, you would realise that you have some natural talents which also come from God. But as soon as you believe Jesus as the only way, immediately the holy spirit lives in you and equipped you with Special Spiritual gifts. SPIRITUAL GIFTS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE Spiritual gifts are mentioned in the Book of Acts, the Holy Spirit came in power at Pentecost, enabling believers to do supernatural works. Acts 19:11 says that God did extraordinary miracles, a spiritual gift, through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. When Paul arrived in Ephesus, he found some believers that were not filled with the Spirit. Acts 19:6 says, When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied; both spiritual gifts. You may remember Peter, the guy who couldn t get anything right, and even denied Jesus 3 times; the Holy Spirit gave him the gift of evangelism so that he could share the message of Christ boldly. Acts 2:41 says; Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day; the gift of evangelism. When Peter encountered a dead woman one time, the Bible says, turning toward the dead woman, he said, Tabitha get up! She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He took her by the hand and he helped her to her feet. Then, he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, the Bible says, And many people believed in the Lord. Parakletos* *Part*3*:*Boxing*Day********************************************************************************2*of*5
If you are a believer in Christ, the Holy Spirit will equip you with spiritual gifts to minister to believers and to make a difference all over this world; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. OPENER : PERSONAL TESTIMONY Personal Testimony about my experience benefitting from Spiritual gift being used by other believer. First day at Bible College Orientation Camp Back when I was a teenager, one day in my church, my local church pastor was preaching, suddenly he stopped and ask this question, There is one lady in this room who has a lump on her ovary, if that s you, raise your hand. No one raised their hand. He then continued his preaching... but after few minutes he would stop again and ask, i really felt strongly that the holy spirit says that there is one lady who has a lump on her ovary. DEFINITION OF A SPIRITUAL GIFT What is a spiritual gift? If you are taking notes, a spiritual gift is simply a supernatural ability given to all Christians to do God s work on earth. It s an ability given by God, to all of God s people, to make a difference first, if you read Scripture, first in the church and then overflowing into the world. To get foundational understanding, 1 Corinthians 12:1 the Bible says this; Now about spiritual gifts, Paul says, Brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. Yet, according to 1 study, 87% of Christians don t know anything about their spiritual gifts. He says, First off, I don t want you to be ignorant. And yet, almost 9 in 10 Christians, don t know anything about their gifts. They are ignorant. ILLUSTRATION : FREE TOOLS FROM CAR MANUFACTURER Do you know that your car manufacturer gives you a set of tool on your boot for you to use in case of emergency to change a flat tyre. It s Free! But for most of us when we have flat tyre, what was the first thing we do? We would go out from our car, and then stare at the flat tyre for 5 minutes. The tool was given by your car manufacturer for a purpose, to help you change tyres. Yet, this gift is hidden and unused; which is exactly what many of you are doing with the gifts that God has given you. Many of you, you don t even know what they are, where they are, how they are supposed to function. Your Father has given you a gift that continues to be hidden and unused. 1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 1 Corinthians 12:1, 4-6 NIV 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 1 Corinthians 12:7 NLT Parakletos* *Part*3*:*Boxing*Day********************************************************************************3*of*5
Notice that all Christians receive spiritual gifts. All spiritual gifts are useful. All of hell wants you to keep your gift hidden and unused, so that the gift your Father has given you is not useful to build up the body of Christ and minister to people in the world. 1) NATURAL TALENTS. SPIRITUAL GIFTS ARE NOT 2) GIVEN TO THE ELITE FEW. 3) SIGN OF SPIRITUAL MATURITY. 4) FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. 5) SOMETHING TO FEAR. Romans 12:6-8 NLT WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS? 6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. HOW DO YOU DISCOVER YOUR GIFTS? 1) STUDY WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT GIFTS. 2) ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU YOUR GIFTS. 3) EXAMINE WHAT YOU ENJOY AND DO WELL. 4) TAKE A SPIRITUAL GIFT TEST. 5) DO WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS YOU TO DO. Whenever you feel like God is calling to do something, have the faith to do it. Just like whenever I Parakletos* *Part*3*:*Boxing*Day********************************************************************************4*of*5
feel like God has given me a burden to speak on his behalf; the more I do that, and the more he proves himself faithful, the more confidence I have tha t this is a gift from God. I don t own it, it doesn t make me any better, but it is a gift he has given me, and as I acknowledge the gift, it gives me more confidence to step out in these gifts, and to use them to make a difference in this world. THE GIFT ITSELF DOESN T MAKE ME GROW, but MY DEPENDENCE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL MAKE ME GROW> 10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4:10-11 NLT THE ULTIMATE GIFT 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 What are your spiritual gifts? How did you discover them? if you don t know what your gifts are, then discuss some ways to uncover them. How has God used your spiritual gift to make an impact? THE HOLY SPIRIT PROMPTING How would you know the spirit prompting? The more often you learn about God through the bible, the more sensitive to the spirit s prompting. The more you obey that nudge, that prompting, the more Illustration : A bank teller would know immediately whether a note is a fake not or not, just by touching and feel it. Why, because they handle real money almost 6-8 hours a day. They also have the special ultraviolet device to check immediately whether that s real or fake. God gives us his word as an important tool to know his heart. PRAYER God, I ask and I pray that you would reveal to us the gifts you have given us. God, that you would give us the courage to use those gifts to make a difference, first in the church God, and then in the world. Parakletos* *Part*3*:*Boxing*Day********************************************************************************5*of*5