Gifts

[00:00:00] Foreign. [00:00:08] Hey, everybody, it's Friday and you have made it to the end of the week. And thanks so much for joining me on today's weekday podcast. As we've talked about all week long, spiritual gifts are a big deal. They're a big deal in the kingdom, they're a big deal in our life, but they're really big deal. And the people around us that experience that. [00:00:29] So I want to talk today. [00:00:31] Well, actually, let me drop back and say if you haven't had a chance to catch up on Monday through Thursday this week, they're, they're each. They average out about five minutes each. I think they're like six, four, four and a half and five, something like that through the week. And I want to encourage you, go back and take a few minutes and get caught up on this thing called spiritual gifts. A quick reminder, we've all been given gifts by our Heavenly Father that those gifts are designed for others. Often we don't know exactly what they are until such time as we experience the blessing from them or other people let us see what they are. [00:01:11] And other people often see it before we do. [00:01:15] And some of us, when it comes to spiritual gift, thinks, okay, that's really cool, Chuck, and that sounds wonderful, but I'm really afraid I'm going to mess it up. [00:01:24] Well, this guy named Timothy, who is a young friend of the Apostle Paul, felt that way as well. [00:01:30] Paul wrote to him in a book called Second Timothy 1:6. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self doubt, discipline. [00:01:51] You know, One of the things I love about this time of year as we head into fall and cooler weather are fires. I have one of these little fire pits, you know, on my front porch. And it's one of my favorite things to do is just light up a fire. [00:02:06] And, you know, when a fire gets a little air, it grows you. You don't have to create a spark for a spiritual gift. God's already done that. [00:02:17] You just have to give it some air. You need to give it a little room. [00:02:20] You know, when we sit down and we're with our family or with our family of friends, it's a good idea to ask a couple of questions. Things like, what do you think God made you good at? And how could you use that to bless somebody this week? [00:02:38] If you've ever wondered, okay, what should my family talk about? This is a great place to start, by the way, let your kids or students answer it first. And then choose one person to bless. A neighbor, a grandparent, a friend, someone here at Sugar Hill Church or your church. And write a note, just maybe bake something, make a call, pray for them. But afterwards, talk about how it felt. [00:03:06] One of the things that we should take away from this week is a really great idea that in the midst of everything that's happening in the world, God didn't miss a beat in making sure that we were part of his plan for redemption and grace. [00:03:22] And if you've been sitting on the sidelines and not been putting your gifts to work, or maybe you're trying to figure out, okay, how do I know what this gift is? [00:03:31] Talk to your pastor, one of your pastors, and just figure out, I'd like to serve. I'm not sure where, but I'm willing. You don't have to have it all figured out, and you don't have to get it right the first time. You literally can just start something and if it doesn't feel right, go try something else. [00:03:47] But you have to be able to make that call. I want to be used and I want to be a part. And you say, well, Chuck, I'm just really busy and I don't really have time for this. [00:03:58] You know, one of the things I've learned about spiritual gifts is that they tend to be really well connected to the things we enjoy. [00:04:05] They tend to be really well connected to the ways we feel blessed and joy filled. [00:04:11] So I'm going to offer five questions that you could work through with your family or family of friends. [00:04:19] And it started with the first question I used a minute ago. What is something you really enjoy doing that makes other people happy? [00:04:27] Great. Question number two. Who has blessed you with their gift this week and how did they do it? One of the ways that we learn a lot is how did somebody bless or encourage us? [00:04:39] Maybe you haven't been blessed or encouraged. [00:04:42] And let that be something that should motivate you, knowing that the world needs that. [00:04:46] Number four, what's one way that we could use our gifts as a family or friends to bless someone else this week and just think about it and go do it. It doesn't have to be big, as a matter of fact, probably shouldn't be. [00:05:00] And read First Corinthians 12, 7 together. [00:05:03] What does it mean that a gift is given and you ready for this so we can help each other. [00:05:08] That's a good week. Just to talk about what it's like to be a part of spiritual gifts and God's wondrous plan for you in this wondrous world that he's created and you being a really big part of it. God bless you, friend. Thanks for joining me. This week on the weekday podcast, we talk about spiritual gifts and come on back and join us again Monday. We're really thrilled that you join us each day and every day you can, and I hope you'll share it with your friends. God bless you. Bye now.