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The Arrival of the Holy Spirit and His Gifts
15th July 2024 • Springhouse Church Sermons • Springhouse Church
00:00:00 00:34:23

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Ever wondered about the different gifts of the Spirit? Dive into Part 1 of our series as Pastor Kevin explains their purpose and how they shape our lives.

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Transcripts

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(upbeat music)

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- All right, I'm coming to preach from the floor

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this morning because I wanna spit on some people.

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And so that's why my table is down there.

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And I think I've got all the things.

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Look at somebody you don't like and say,

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I'm glad you're here.

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If you're joining us on live stream,

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I wish you were here this morning.

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I'm glad you're joining us.

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We're continuing our series on his word, his life,

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his church this morning.

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And we're in the section of his church and guess what?

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You are his church.

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And it is such a privilege to be a part of God's church.

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And you're a part of his church.

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And so what we've been doing over the last couple of weeks,

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and we're gonna continue today and next week,

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is we've kind of laid a framework for the Holy Spirit.

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We've been talking about the person of the Holy Spirit.

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And what we're gonna be doing between now and Advent,

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now and Christmas time,

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is we're going to be talking about the Holy Spirit's move

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through the book of Acts.

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And so I wanna encourage you,

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if you're not in a reading plan right now,

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I wanna encourage you, you might wanna read Acts,

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go through Acts and you'll keep up with this.

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We're basically gonna step through chapter by chapter

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and draw points from the book of Acts

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as it relates to the Holy Spirit

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and what the Holy Spirit did in the early church.

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Okay, so that's coming down the pike.

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But today we're gonna do,

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today's the first of a two-part message, okay?

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So next week will be part two.

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But today we're gonna talk about the Holy Spirit

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and the gifts that the Holy Spirit has available for us.

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So this is what I'm hoping is gonna happen.

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Now, Kevin, if I get in front of this and mess this up,

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it's not gonna happen the way it's supposed to,

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but hopefully it happens the way I'm intending

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for it to happen.

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So today what I wanna do is I wanna talk about

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what is the purpose of these gifts mentioned in Scripture?

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What are the purpose of the gifts that God gives us?

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A, and B, what is the barometer and the litmus test

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of a believer who's living their life by the Spirit?

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Okay, so those are the two things I wanna address today.

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And then next Sunday,

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we're actually gonna look at the gifts.

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We're gonna look at some of the gifts

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and we're gonna unpackage what the gifts look like

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and what they're about, okay?

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So this is part one of a two-part message.

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If I mess it up, go back and listen to last week's

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Wayne's message.

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He did a great job last week, didn't he?

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Person of the Holy Spirit.

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So I think that's everything I need to do to set this up.

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So we're gonna stand and read from 1 Corinthians.

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And I want you to read like you've had three espresso shots

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this morning.

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Here we go.

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Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters,

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I do not want you to be uninformed.

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You know that when you were pagans,

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somehow or other you were influenced

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and led astray to mute idols.

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Therefore, I want you to know that no one who is speaking

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by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed,"

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and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord,"

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except by the Holy Spirit.

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There are different kinds of gifts,

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but the same Spirit distributes them.

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There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

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There are different kinds of working,

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but in all of them and in everyone,

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it is the same God at work.

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Now to each one, the manifestation of the Spirit

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is given for the common good.

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To one, there is given through the Spirit

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a message of wisdom.

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To another, a message of knowledge

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by the means of the same Spirit.

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To another, faith by the same Spirit.

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To another, gifts of healing by that one Spirit.

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To another, miraculous powers.

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To another, prophecy.

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To another, distinguishing between spirits.

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To another, speaking in different kinds of tongues,

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and still to the another, the interpretation of tongues.

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All these are the work of one and the same Spirit,

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and He distributes them to each one just as He determines.

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Father, I thank you that your word is full, it is alive.

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I thank you, Lord, that we have access to you, God,

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and we wanna be a people that have everything

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you have to offer us.

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So Lord, would you impart it to us today in Jesus' name,

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amen, you may be seated.

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The Holy Spirit is the most important person on the planet.

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And the glorious part of that truth

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is that you and I have access to Him.

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You and I have access to the God who created the universe,

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who breathed stars, who knows you by name,

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who created you, who set things in motion.

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We have access to the same God

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who's gonna split the sky one day and bring us all home.

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We have access to Him right now.

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There are many religions on the planet.

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We are the only religion that can proclaim a God

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who is alive and active today who we have access to.

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That's incredible.

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That's incredible.

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And it's unique to the God we serve.

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I would rather serve a God who is alive

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than a God who is dead.

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Our God is alive.

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Our God is alive.

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Now, I love, I love, I love getting gifts.

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Anybody here like getting gifts?

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I like giving gifts, but probably more than getting gifts,

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I love to give gifts.

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That's actually more, now, my daughter Nora

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would not be in that same boat.

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She, you know, yesterday was Sadassa's birthday

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and Nora was talking all day

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about when she's getting gifts on her birthday.

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And so there are people who are receivers

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and they enjoy the receiving end of things

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and there are people who are givers.

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Hopefully most of us are at least somewhere in the middle

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and not just the one side of receiving,

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but you know, some of us maybe live there.

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But I enjoy giving gifts,

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but I used to be a really bad gift giver.

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I used to be a really, really bad gift giver

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because what I would do is I would look

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at somebody like Cornelius and say,

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"I wanna get you a gift."

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And I would go to the store

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and I picked the first thing I see and I would wrap it up.

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Didn't matter what it was.

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It's just the first thing I saw.

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Maybe it was something that just struck my eye or whatever,

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but it had no significant value to Cornelius

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or any rhyme or reason.

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I just picked it up and wrapped it up.

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And the thing that I would do that's so interesting

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is I would get a gift and I would wrap it

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in the most expensive wrapping paper I could find,

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the most expensive bow, the most expensive bag.

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And so when you got this gift, you thought,

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whoa, this is something pretty awesome probably in here

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because of the way it looks

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on the, with the wrapping paper or whatever.

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And then the person would open it and I go,

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and they would, okay, great.

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And then it'd be regifted next Christmas.

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So, but I was really a bad gift giver,

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but I would always wrap the gifts really nice.

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Some of us are so concerned about what things look like

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on the outside that we don't pay attention

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to what we're putting on in the inside.

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And I want you to know that what's happening on the inside

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is much more significant

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than what's happening on the outside.

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In fact, I would say what's happening on the inside

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should overflow onto what's happening on the outside.

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But we are good at creating facades.

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We are good at masking what's really going on on the inside.

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And the Holy Spirit wants to get in

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and make true what's happening on the inside,

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what you're trying to project on the outside.

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And he can do that.

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And he wants to do that.

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But I used to give gifts, bad gift giver,

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but now I've evolved into,

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I've evolved into I think a pretty good gift giver.

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And that's because I know I put some thought

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into what I give,

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but I don't really like to give too many times

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tangible gifts.

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The gifts I enjoy giving are gifts of experience.

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Gifts of experience.

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If I could take you somewhere to experience something

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that you can connect a memory to,

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there's longevity in that gift.

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And I really enjoy giving those types of gifts.

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Paul's writing here to the Corinthians

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and he's going to list these gifts

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that we're actually gonna talk about next week.

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But he's listing these gifts.

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And in this portion of scripture, he says this.

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He says, "I don't want you to be uninformed."

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And the reason that he's saying this is he's saying,

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"Hey, look, there's an aspect to God here

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that you have access to.

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There's an aspect to the Holy Spirit

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that you have access to.

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There are these gifts that you have access to.

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And I want you to be well-informed about these gifts

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and what they're about and how they are to be used."

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And he doesn't want, and church, I'm telling you today,

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I don't want us to be uninformed about these gifts

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and what they are for and who they're for

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and all of those things.

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And so that's why we're taking time to do this.

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Now here's the dangerous thing.

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Here's the dangerous thing.

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We get sometimes attached to the gifts of the Holy Spirit

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and the glitz and the woo-hoo and the wow

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of some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit

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that sometimes we will take a left flank

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and we will start chasing after the gifts

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instead of the gift giver.

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That's a problem.

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That's a problem.

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We never wanna be a people who are after the things of God

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more so than we are after God himself, God himself.

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And so I believe that this portion of scripture

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is designed to tell the Corinthians,

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to explain to us that there are some powerful gifts

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available to us if we will lean into them.

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And guess what?

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Every one of you, I believe have some type of gift

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opportunity available to you.

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Some of you multiple gifts, but every one of you have gifts.

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He told them in Acts, he said, "Listen, I want you

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to stay here and wait on the Holy Spirit.

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Do not leave Jerusalem without my power to go forth

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and spread my gospel to all the ends of the earth."

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Well, guess what?

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The Lord doesn't want you leaving your house

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without his power.

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He doesn't want you leaving your sphere of,

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going into your sphere of influence without his power.

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And he's got some real incredible, unique things

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available for us to tap into if we'll lean into them.

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So we don't wanna be uninformed.

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We don't wanna just grab a gift.

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Have you ever been given something and you decided to use it

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but you didn't read the instructions?

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(congregation laughing)

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Everybody, anybody try to build something

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and you had some extra screws left over?

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Well, it doesn't matter, it's held together, right?

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No, we're being given some instructions

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so that we're not misusing the gifts that we've been given.

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There's some real instructions on how the gifts

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are to be used.

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And again, next week we're gonna unpackage

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that a little bit more, but this is important.

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This is important.

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And I want us to understand, and I'm gonna read

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quite a bit of scripture today, but I want us to understand

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that even before these gifts of the Holy Spirit

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are talked about by Paul, I want us to understand

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that Jesus too also conferred gifts.

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He also conferred gifts.

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Let's look over at, we're gonna go to Ephesians chapter four.

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If you have your Bibles, a Bible is a good thing

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to bring to church.

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(congregation laughing)

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Kinda like when you bring an umbrella when it rains.

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A Bible goes with church, yeah.

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Chapter four of Ephesians.

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There is one body and one spirit.

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Can you say that?

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There is one body and one spirit.

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Just as you were called to one hope when called

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one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father

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of us all who is over all and through all and in all.

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Yet grace, say grace.

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Yet grace was given to each one of us

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in proportion to the measure of Christ's gifts.

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Skipping to verse 11.

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And he himself, he being Jesus himself,

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appointed such as apostles, some as prophets,

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some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers

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to fully equip and perfect the saints

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for works of service to build up the body of Christ

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until we all reach oneness in faith

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and in the knowledge of the Son of God

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to become a mature believer reaching to the measure

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of the fullness of Christ.

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So here we see that Jesus Christ himself

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gave very special grace gifts,

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but his gifts were in the form of offices

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or forms of people.

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And these are what they are.

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Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

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These are gifts, these are grace positions,

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graced people, graced gifts that are bestowed

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from Jesus Christ to people.

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So Jesus gives gifts in the form of people.

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The Holy Spirit gives gifts in the form of function.

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Okay, are you with me?

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Jesus gifts in the form of people,

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Holy Spirit in the form of function.

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For instance, the prophets,

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the prophet would be the gift from Jesus.

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This is the office of the prophet, okay?

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The prophet would render or bestow the gift of prophecy,

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the function of prophecy.

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Are you with me, okay?

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Now, when Jesus was saying this,

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when Jesus created these offices

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that we refer to the fivefold ministry,

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when we look at this, it says that,

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how long do we need to keep these going?

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Well, it says until we all look like Christ.

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So I want you to look at your neighbor and say,

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you don't look like Christ yet.

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So until we look like Christ,

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these are still in operation, yes?

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These are still in operation, okay?

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So these are special grace gifts

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given from Jesus, created by Jesus,

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so that the Holy Spirit can through them

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use the function of the gifts

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that the Holy Spirit has to offer.

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So now let's go to Romans chapter 12.

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Romans chapter 12 says this.

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"Therefore," Paul's speaking to the Romans,

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"I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God,

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"to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,

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"holy and well pleasing to God,

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"which is your rational act of worship.

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"Do not be conformed to this world,

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"but be transformed and progressively changed

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"by the renewing of your mind,

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"so that you may prove what the will of God is,

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"that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

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"For by grace," say grace.

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- Grace.

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- "For by grace given to me, I say to every one of you,

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"not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think,

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"but to think so as to have sound judgment

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"as God apportioned to each a degree of faith.

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"For just as in one body we have many parts,

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"and these parts do not all have the same function

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"or special use, so we who are many

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"are one body in Christ and individually parts

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"of one another and dependent on one another."

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Listen to this.

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"Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace,"

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say grace.

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- Grace.

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- "Grace given to us,

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"each of us is to use them accordingly.

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"If prophecy, let it be used in proportion

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"to the faith possessed.

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"If service in the act of serving,

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"if he teaches in the act of teaching,

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"he who encourages in the act of encouragement,

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"he who gives with generosity,

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"he who leads with diligence,

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"he who shows mercy with cheerfulness."

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Okay, so what I want us to understand here,

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what I want us to understand here

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is that Jesus Christ appointed these positions

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as special grace gifts, okay, special grace gifts.

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So he's equipped these people with grace

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to give grace gifts to those that they are leading.

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And what kind of gifts is he giving?

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He's giving the gifts of prophecy,

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he's giving the gifts, a gift of wisdom.

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But there are more grace gifts than just the ones

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that we are used to in 1 Corinthians 12.

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This is what I wanna get at.

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There are so many people

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that have walked with the Holy Spirit,

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that have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit,

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and you feel like you have been left out

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because you are not up here laying hands on people

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and manifesting some type of out-of-body experience

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for somebody to be healed,

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but you have been given the supernatural gift of mercy.

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You have been given the supernatural gift of service.

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You've been given the supernatural.

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Hal Laughlin is one of the best administrators

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on the planet Earth.

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It's not because Hal's awesome.

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Hal is awesome, but it's not because he's awesome.

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It's because he's got a supernatural gift inside him

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that the Lord has given,

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and he's using it to serve the body.

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Do you understand what I'm saying to you?

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Wade Hutchinson has a gift of hospitality.

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There's, it pales in comparison,

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the way that, I mean, Wade serves

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in the area of hospitality.

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There is a supernatural gift

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that he has in the area of hospitality.

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What I want you to understand, saints,

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is that whether you are a doctor, a nurse, a teacher,

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a mechanic, whatever you are,

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when you have asked Jesus Christ in your heart

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and you have the Holy Spirit,

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he has given you every tool that you need,

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and he has given you a special gift

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and a special assignment to use

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for the glory of his kingdom,

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for the advancement of his kingdom.

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Nobody is left out.

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In other words, I believe everyone in here has a superpower.

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Everyone in here has something that they can lean into,

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that you can gravitate to.

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Now, you might not know what that is.

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And part of being a part of a community of believers

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is somebody to call out and say,

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I see this gift inside you.

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I see the Lord operating in this way inside you.

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So what I want us to understand,

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and the reason I'm starting here,

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is I want us to understand that everyone's gift

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is not going to be the same, A.

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And B, just because you're not down here

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performing what seems to be fireworks in the altar space

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doesn't mean that your gift is any less of value

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than the person who's doing those things.

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Do you understand what I'm saying to you?

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You have a gift.

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God wants to use you in your gift.

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He's given you, some of you have multiple gifts,

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multiple things, and the word of God says

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that God's gifts in his call are irrevocable.

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You know what that means?

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That means if you decide to go slide into the mud pit,

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you decide to get in your flesh,

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you decide to get away from the Lord, and you come back,

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God doesn't just snatch his gift and say,

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well, you messed that up.

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His gift is waiting right there for you

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whenever you return.

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He is such a gracious God.

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He is such a gracious God.

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God never intended for the apostles, prophets,

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evangelists, pastors, and teachers to do all of the work.

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He intended for this group to equip the body

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for acts of service so that you as the body

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are edifying the body.

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You are, your job is to edify the body.

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You have a gift inside you that is supposed to encourage,

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it's supposed to edify, it's supposed to build up

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so that whenever you're doing life on a Tuesday afternoon

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or a Wednesday night or a Thursday,

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and somebody comes along your path,

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guess what, I have the gift of prophecy.

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The Lord's given me a word,

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or the Lord has given me some gift of discernment

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or wisdom or knowledge.

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And you use that gift to edify the body of Christ

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so that Jesus Christ can be exalted.

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So that Jesus Christ can be exalted.

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The grace gifts in your lives are there to equip you

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to build each other up.

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And the gift of the Spirit,

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the gifts of the Spirit edify,

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edify is just a fancy word for build up.

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They edify the body of Christ, the body of Christ.

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Okay, I said I like giving gifts.

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Who likes receiving gifts?

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Anybody like receiving gifts?

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I bought some gifts today.

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I would like to hand some of these gifts out

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to a few chosen individuals.

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(congregation laughing)

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- Oh, okay.

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- Few chosen individuals, okay?

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So I think I'm going to give Daniel one.

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(audience applauding)

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Let's see here.

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I'm gonna give, look at people smiling at me real big.

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Like, "Choose me, choose me."

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See, show me the view one.

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Let's see, live stream people hate this,

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the camera people, because I'm like,

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they have no idea where I'm going

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and they have to follow me with the camera.

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Let's see back here.

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I don't even know if you can turn the camera.

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Carrie, man, I've been wanting to give you a gift

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all morning, there you go, buddy, okay?

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Here you go, who else?

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Who else do I want to give a gift to?

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Here, right here.

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- Zach's birthday.

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- Is it Zach's birthday?

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Is it your birthday?

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Happy birthday, I'm not giving you a gift.

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(congregation laughing)

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Let's see, it's because it's not even,

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I gotta get over here.

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Let's see, I'm gonna give you a gift.

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All right, let's see here.

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Ted, it's a gift, buddy, come get this gift.

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Can you pass that down there?

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Don't steal it, okay.

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Here, I'm gonna put a gift right over here, okay.

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If you received a gift from me, would you please stand?

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- Uh-oh.

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- Okay, can you see the people around the room?

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Now, if you received a gift from me,

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I have chosen you and you and you and you and you and you

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to give gifts to.

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Would you open your gift, please,

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and hold your gift in the air?

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Chocolate, we're about to have church, people.

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Okay, hold it up, hold up your gift.

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Okay, I want you to notice something.

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I handed out seven gifts to seven individuals.

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They're all chocolate, but they're all different gifts.

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You with me?

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They're all chocolate,

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but they're all different brands of chocolate.

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Are you with me, okay?

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Now, you have a gift in your hand

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and you're holding it in the air.

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Be kind of silly just to walk around

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holding your gift up in the air, right?

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Just hold it around, all right?

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But you know what, you have an option to do

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with what you're gonna do with the gift.

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You could put it back in the package

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and put it under your chair.

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You could throw it in the trash can on the way out.

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You could put it in your car in the 100 degree weather

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and let it melt.

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You could say, man, forget this message.

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I'm just gonna eat all this chocolate right now.

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There's a lot you could do with this chocolate.

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It's a gift that's been given to you,

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and I'm not gonna take it back

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because I've given you the gift.

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It is your gift.

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It's your gift.

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I've given it to you, okay?

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Now, I want you to open your gift,

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and I would like you to distribute

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as much as you're willing to distribute of your gift

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to the people around you.

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(audience chattering)

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Just as much as you are willing to distribute.

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(audience chattering)

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Okay, my seven people who are handing out the gift.

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Look at me, if you're one of the seven people

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who are handing out the gift,

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how does it feel to distribute gifts right now?

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How's it feel?

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Kerry, how's it feel?

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Feel pretty good?

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Feel pretty good?

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Okay.

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If you're one of the people who received a gift,

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I want you to stand up.

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(audience chattering)

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Okay, now I want you to look around the church.

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I want you to look around the church.

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There are many more people standing.

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There are many more people standing

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than the original seven who were bestowed the gift.

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Because the people with the original gift

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understood something, that they were to take what they had

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and to distribute it amongst the body.

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And once they distribute it amongst the body,

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look who's being built up, look who's being edified.

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I'll tell you what, the minute I said,

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let's give those out smiles all across the room.

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People so excited, I might be the one who's chosen.

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Now, if you're still sitting, it's because you are sinful

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and you need to get your life together.

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No, I'm kidding.

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I'm kidding, listen.

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So listen, listen, listen.

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Listen, imagine, guys, go with me.

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All of you have a package of candy

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that have 10 bars in it and if everyone is handing out,

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not only does everyone get edified,

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but there's abundance in the house.

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Do you understand that God wants to use his gifts

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to edify his body to build us up?

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That's your job.

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We're supposed to be doing this with one another every day

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all the time, all the time.

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We should be building each other up.

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We should be experiencing this type of joy.

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Now, here's another question, ready?

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Who gave you the gift?

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If you were one of the original seven, raise your hand.

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Okay, here's the danger.

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The danger is when we say, Ted, thank you for this candy

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and Ted says, you're so welcome.

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I did such a great thing by giving you that candy.

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I am the provider of this candy.

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Look at me, I'm gonna go get some more candy

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so that everybody can look at me

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and I'm gonna get a business card that says I'm a prophet

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and hand it to people and say, call me for 19.95.

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Okay, I'm being just a little facetious.

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Listen, listen.

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It is so easy because we are flesh

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to get in a posture of either A, putting the spotlight on us

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when we're the one the Lord is using

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or for everybody else to begin to look and praise

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and elevate you because you're the one with the goods.

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You're the one with the, and so it's so important.

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There is a story in the book of Acts, you may be seated.

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There's a story in the book of Acts chapter 14.

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Paul and Barnabas, they go to Lystra and they heal a man

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and then they healed this man and all of the people

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begin to worship Paul and Barnabas.

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How easy would it be to stand up and be worshiped?

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Isn't that one of the fatal sin of man to be lifted,

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that we would be acknowledged, that we would be lifted up?

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So as you are conferring these gifts,

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it is super important that you are giving

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the acknowledgement to God.

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In this instance, when somebody says,

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Daniel, thank you for this chocolate,

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the appropriate response would be, you're welcome.

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Kevin is the one who originated it.

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He's the one that needs to get the praise

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because none of you had chocolate before I came into the room.

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Do you understand what I'm saying?

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Okay, so God's saying, none of you have

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the gifts you think you have without me.

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So I'm the one who needs to be acknowledged.

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I'm the one who needs to have the gratitude bestowed.

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And so when God does something, you get out of the way

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and you make sure that it exemplifies Christ,

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that it exemplifies Christ.

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Now, what is the barometer of a person

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who is living life by the Spirit?

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What is the barometer?

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It is not the gifts that you possess.

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I said earlier that I like to give gifts of experience.

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Do you know, there have been people that I have lavished,

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I say such humility, truly, truly.

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I have given above and beyond gift to individuals.

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And when it gets just so far away

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from whatever that gift is or that time, it's forgotten.

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The gifts pass away.

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The gifts pass away.

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The litmus test of whether or not you're living

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by the Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit.

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The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

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patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

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gentleness, and self-control.

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The gifts are not the indicator

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that you are walking by the Spirit.

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I'm gonna say something that's a bit

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of a hasty generalization, but I'm gonna say it, okay?

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Here's the deal.

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I cannot stand, okay?

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Believers who lay their hands on people to heal them,

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speak in all sorts of tongues, swing from the chandeliers,

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jump up and down in a praise worship concert,

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but then go out those doors

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and they are the unkindest, ugliest people

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who don't, aren't considerate, selfish,

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self-seeking, all of those things.

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But boy, they can come in here and jump up high

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and raise their hands and shout to the ceilings about Jesus,

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but when they're out there modeling it,

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they have none of this going on in their life.

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The litmus test of your life

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of whether you're living by the Spirit is this right here.

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And this is what we are trying to achieve.

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This is the baseline, this is the framework

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that says that person's living by the Spirit.

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Give me somebody like this,

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I'll receive from them all day long.

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I'll be happy to receive from them all day long.

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Here's the thing.

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The gifts of the Spirit are temporary.

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The fruit of the Spirit is everlasting.

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When it comes to prophecy,

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prophets gonna come prophesy and it's gonna be,

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it's gonna pass.

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The wisdom that you asked for, it's going to pass.

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All of these moments and these gifts, they're going to pass,

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but the fruit of the Spirit is everlasting.

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And that is what we wanna lean into.

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I wanna read this.

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I wanna read this to you.

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This is a very familiar passage,

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a very familiar passage of scripture,

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but if you're anything like me,

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sometimes the most familiar things I need to be reminded of

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over and over and over again.

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I want us to pay attention with our hearts this morning

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as I read this scripture that follows this passage.

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You know that you can't take scripture

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and just pull a section out and say,

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I'm gonna run with it over here.

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The scripture is the whole piece.

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It's the whole picture.

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Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, all about these gifts.

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And then he has something very important to say

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in chapter 13.

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So here we go.

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If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels,

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but I do not have love,

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I'm only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

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If I have the gift of prophecy

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and can fathom all the mysteries and all knowledge,

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and if I have a faith that can move mountains,

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but I do not have love, I am nothing.

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If I give all I possess to the poor

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and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,

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but I do not have love, I gain nothing.

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Love is patient.

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Love is kind.

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It does not envy.

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It does not boast.

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It is not proud.

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It does not dishonor others.

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It is not self-seeking.

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It is not easily angered.

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It keeps no record of wrongs.

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Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with truth.

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It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,

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always purse of ears.

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Love never fails.

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But where there are prophecies, they will cease.

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Where there are tongues, they'll be stilled.

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Where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

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For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

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but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

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When I was a child, I talked like a child.

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I thought like a child.

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I reasoned like a child.

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When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

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For now we see only reflection as in a mirror.

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Then we will see face to face.

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Now I know in part.

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Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

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And then he ends with this.

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And now these three things remain faith, hope, and love.

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But the greatest of these is love.

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Why is love the greatest?

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Because faith and hope are gonna come to completion

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when we meet him in his faith, in the fullness of his love.

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Faith, hope, and love remain.

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Not the gifts, not the woo-hoo, not the thing.

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It's wonderful.

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It's a great, wonderful thing.

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When we had the birthday party yesterday,

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two days ago for Hadassah, when people are giving her gifts,

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what's the first thing a parent says to their child

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when somebody gives them the gift?

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Make sure you, make sure you say thank you.

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Why?

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Because I don't want the gift to supersede the gift giver.

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Nor should it be with us in our lives.

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He is a good God.

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So church, I do not want us to be uninformed.

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Not just about what the gifts are,

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but the purpose of the gifts,

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so that we may use them to edify each other

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and build the body of Christ.

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The gifts are important, but they are never as important

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as the one who gives them.

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I give gifts, they get forgotten, I get forgotten.

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So what?

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He's the gift giver.

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He's the one that we remember.

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All of this to say that the primary job of the Holy Spirit

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is to point people to Jesus Christ.

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And so the gifts that he gifts,

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that we would be pointed to Christ Jesus.

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Would you stand with me this morning

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with those who are gonna pray with people, come forward?

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We have been given a mighty, mighty gift in the Holy Spirit.

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And some of you this morning, I'm sure came with all sorts

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of things going on in your life that you need a touch

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from this mighty God.

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And guess what?

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He wants to meet you.

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This is so cool.

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He wants to meet you.

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And I hope that you do come and you agree with somebody

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in prayer 'cause in a gathering like this,

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the Holy Spirit does convict and he does speak

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to your heart.

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But can I just encourage you,

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the same Holy Spirit that's here right now at 11 45,

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this morning is the same Holy Spirit

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that you have access to on Monday morning,

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on Tuesday night, on Wednesday afternoon, on Thursday,

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you do not have to wait to get into this setting

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to get things right with the Lord.

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That's a lie.

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He loves you.

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He wants to do life with you.

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He wants to communicate with you.

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So let us be people who lean in to this God

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with every waking hour.

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If you have a need, come and pray as we worship.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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