SPEAKER_00: And we understand that I am gifted for the greater good.
SPEAKER_01: First Baptist family, as our children go to children's church, let me remind you of the words found in Psalm 127, verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: Children are a gift from God.
SPEAKER_01: Every child who's playing in the nursery right now, every child who just walked through that organ side door to children's church, every child, preteen and teenager who's sitting in this sanctuary, every child is a gift from God.
SPEAKER_01: And so maybe this morning we just begin and we open our eyes and we can be overwhelmed by the fact that we are surrounded by the gifts of God in our very midst.
SPEAKER_01: We can open our eyes and admit that we are truly blessed.
SPEAKER_01: But this morning, I don't want you to simply see that you are surrounded by God's gifts.
SPEAKER_01: I want to introduce you just for a couple minutes to just a few of God's gifts.
SPEAKER_01: First, let's go to the next slide.
SPEAKER_01: First, this is uh Bo Jones.
SPEAKER_01: Bo is one of God's good gifts here at uh First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_01: His mom and dad are Stephen and Kelsey Jones, and Bo, at the age of seven, listen, he's a big brother to three younger siblings, M.C.
SPEAKER_01: Nolan, and Cooper.
SPEAKER_01: He's a first grader at Hugh Goodwin, and his teacher is Miss Haney.
SPEAKER_01: The next person I want to introduce you to, if we go to the next slide, is Harrison Langston.
SPEAKER_01: Harrison is one of God's gifts here at First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_01: He's nine years old.
SPEAKER_01: He goes to Northwest Elementary School, and Miss Fulco is his teacher.
SPEAKER_01: His parents are Jason and Cindy Langston, and his big brothers are Landon and Spencer.
SPEAKER_01: And go to the next slide.
SPEAKER_01: Another one of God's gifts here at First Baptist Church is Zane Walker.
SPEAKER_01: Zane, he also is nine years old, and he goes to Northwest, and just like his buddy Harrison, his teacher is Miss Fulco.
SPEAKER_01: Zane's parents are Clint and Stephanie.
SPEAKER_01: He has one big sister.
SPEAKER_01: Her name is Zoe.
SPEAKER_01: Another one of God's good gifts here at First Baptist Church is Maddox Black.
SPEAKER_01: Maddox is nine years old.
SPEAKER_01: He goes to Hugh Goodwin.
SPEAKER_01: His teacher is Miss Robbins.
SPEAKER_01: Maddox and his family, he's the youngest.
SPEAKER_01: So he's got a big brother Connor, a big sister Clarabeth, and his parents are Candace and Leslie.
SPEAKER_01: So I just introduced you to four of God's good gifts here at First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_01: But now it's time for you to meet those four good gifts.
SPEAKER_01: So guys, come on out.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody wants to meet you this morning.
SPEAKER_01: You gonna come out, guys?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, the doors are moving.
SPEAKER_01: Come on out, guys.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody wants to meet you.
SPEAKER_01: You're looking forward to meeting you.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, here we go.
SPEAKER_01: Let's stand right here so everybody can see you.
SPEAKER_01: Alright, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Come this way.
SPEAKER_01: So this side of the sanctuary can see you too.
SPEAKER_01: Pretty cool.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, guys, this way.
SPEAKER_01: Follow the leader, numb the leader.
SPEAKER_01: Here we go.
SPEAKER_01: Numb wait, okay.
SPEAKER_01: Whoa, working with kids is awesome.
SPEAKER_01: Here we go, bo, you're right here.
SPEAKER_01: Alright, come this way.
SPEAKER_01: Alright.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Whoa, those are pretty awesome, dude.
SPEAKER_01: I like that.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: So these are uh four of my friends and four of your friends here at First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_01: And I asked these guys, uh, they are so awesome and so bold this morning, and I know Nate Davis wishes he was dressed up with them because he's a huge fan of superheroes too.
SPEAKER_01: I asked them to dress up as their favorite superhero.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna ask each of you guys the same question.
SPEAKER_01: Why did you pick the superhero that you picked?
SPEAKER_01: So let's start down here with Bo.
SPEAKER_01: So, Bo, let's pull this off.
SPEAKER_01: Confirmation, this is Bo Jones.
SPEAKER_01: Alright.
SPEAKER_01: So, Bo, why did you pick Spider-Man to be your favorite superhero and dress up like him this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Because he can shoot webs.
SPEAKER_01: Because he can shoot webs.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody got that?
SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
SPEAKER_01: Harrison with the amazing abs.
SPEAKER_01: He's been working out.
SPEAKER_01: He's Wolverine, right?
SPEAKER_01: You're Wolverine.
SPEAKER_01: Why did you pick Wolverine to be your favorite superhero this morning?
SPEAKER_01: Because he's brave, strong, and he's cool.
SPEAKER_01: He's brave, strong, and cool.
SPEAKER_01: And he's got this regenerative ability, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like he can break a bone and automatically heal himself.
SPEAKER_01: That's pretty awesome in my book.
SPEAKER_01: Alright, we've got another one, so I can't even I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: Like these masks, can we confirm this is someone we know?
SPEAKER_01: It is Zane.
SPEAKER_01: So Zayn, uh, tell me, why did you pick Spider-Man?
SPEAKER_01: Because he's helpful, strong, and brave.
SPEAKER_01: He's helpful, strong, and brave.
SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm hoping this is Maddox at the end.
SPEAKER_01: And can we confirm this is Maddox?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's got it off.
SPEAKER_01: So is this Spider-Man 2 or is this like a different Spider-Man?
SPEAKER_01: Spider-Man 2, like from Spider-Man 2, the movie.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't mean that, but yeah, like, is this Spider-Man as well?
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's from Spider-Man, so he had a different costume in that movie?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I didn't even know that.
SPEAKER_01: Wow, learn something new every single day.
SPEAKER_01: So tell me, Maddox, why did you pick Spider-Man this morning to be your?
SPEAKER_00: Because he can jump from house to house.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what every little boy wants to do, if we're being honest with ourselves, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: The ability to jump from house to house and not hurt yourself.
SPEAKER_01: What an amazing uh skill that Spider-Man have.
SPEAKER_01: Let's give our friends another round of applause this way.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all go down and see what your mom and dad, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Alright.
SPEAKER_01: So here's the thing, and what we should think about this morning is that it's not just kids who love superheroes.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Each of us has a favorite superhero, both the young and the young at heart.
SPEAKER_01: Uh maybe uh your favorite superhero and the way you know that you love superheroes is you always make sure and go to the opening night of the latest Marvel movie.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe uh you show that you love superheroes and your love goes back a few years.
SPEAKER_01: You liked watching Christopher Reeves, uh, Christopher Reeve play the role of Superman, or your love for superheroes goes back even a few more years, and you loved watching Adam West as Batman fighting the Joker and the Penguin and the Catwoman?
SPEAKER_01: Who is your favorite superhero?
SPEAKER_01: I think all of us probably have one.
SPEAKER_01: Most of us do.
SPEAKER_01: We have a memory associated with it.
SPEAKER_01: And like uh the boy said, so often the reason we have a superhero that we like is a result of their strength.
SPEAKER_01: They're strong.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, who wouldn't want to be someone like the incredible Hulk who can like lift a tank over his head?
SPEAKER_01: Like nothing is outside of his strength.
SPEAKER_01: Or another reason um I think we like superheroes is that every superhero, if you pay attention to their story long enough, what you learn about them is that they're not perfect.
SPEAKER_01: Every superhero has a flaw.
SPEAKER_01: But no superhero allows that flaw to define them.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, every superhero identifies that flaw and then they grow.
SPEAKER_01: They grow and they become a better person.
SPEAKER_01: They're aware of their failures, they don't let them hold them back.
SPEAKER_01: And we're also inspired by every superhero's desire to do the right thing.
SPEAKER_01: Even if that right thing comes with a high personal cost.
SPEAKER_01: The reason why a superhero can always grow out of his failures, and the reason why a superhero has this ability to always do the right thing no matter the cost, is because a superhero has a certain mindset.
SPEAKER_01: A superhero knows this.
SPEAKER_01: Superhero knows I am gifted for the greater good.
SPEAKER_01: Hear that one more time.
SPEAKER_01: I am gifted for the greater good.
SPEAKER_01: The greater good, that names a good that extends far beyond an individual person.
SPEAKER_01: The greater good privileges we above me.
SPEAKER_01: The greater good, that's a good that seeks to help and to serve other people.
SPEAKER_01: And that focus and knowledge and willingness to serve the greater good, it's so important to the life of a superhero because that's what separates a superhero from a villain.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, a villain has a different mindset.
SPEAKER_01: A villain says this I am gifted for my good.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gifted for my good.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gifted, in other words, to make my life better and to make my life easier.
SPEAKER_01: I am gifted so I can look out for myself above anyone else.
SPEAKER_01: I am gifted.
SPEAKER_01: And because of that gift, I either expect or I can force people to serve me and to take care of me and to do what I want them to do.
SPEAKER_01: Now, here's how your favorite comic book really begins to impact and speak to your life.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not because you want to be able to jump from house to house safely.
SPEAKER_01: I think all of us in this room, we aspire to be a superhero.
SPEAKER_01: But we too often settle for and act like a villain.
SPEAKER_01: We aspire to be a person who sees their gifts in service of the greater good, but when life happens, we first and foremost look out for my good.
SPEAKER_01: And this disconnect between aspiration and action has grave consequences, not just for your life, but for the life of we the church.
SPEAKER_01: This is our third week in our series, We the Church.
SPEAKER_01: If you've been with us either of the first two weeks, you know that this series of messages is focused on reclaiming the biblical vision for God's local church.
SPEAKER_01: To reclaim that biblical vision, what we've said in weeks one and two begins by defining the word church correctly.
SPEAKER_01: All too often we think church means a place.
SPEAKER_01: When in fact, according to the Bible, church means a people.
SPEAKER_01: And when it comes to church, the difference between it being a place and a people is monumental.
SPEAKER_01: Because those two differing definitions point us in opposite directions.
SPEAKER_01: They give us two different mindsets.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, if church is a place, it's really easy to have the mindset of a villain.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gifted for me and me alone.
SPEAKER_01: I am here for me and me alone.
SPEAKER_01: But if we remember that church is a people, our mindset can change.
SPEAKER_01: And our aspiration and our action can come in alignment with one another.
SPEAKER_01: Because when we realize that church is a people, we're more willing to say this: I am gifted for the greater good, for the good of we the church.
SPEAKER_01: And listen, every person who's called on the name of Jesus, every person who has received the seal of the Holy Spirit, that person has been gifted for the greater good.
SPEAKER_01: For the greater good of the local church.
SPEAKER_01: You've been gifted to serve in the church, to serve the people who sit around you today.
SPEAKER_01: And you've been gifted to minister alongside the church, outside the walls in our community.
SPEAKER_01: Church family, if we truly desire for we the church to flourish into the future, our aspiration and action must be in alignment with one another.
SPEAKER_01: We must say together, I am gifted for the greater good, for the greater good of we the church.
SPEAKER_01: And in the context of we the church, today's big idea means that every follower of Jesus, every life that's empowered by the Holy Spirit has been given spiritual gifts.
SPEAKER_01: Check out what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says this a spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.
SPEAKER_01: A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.
SPEAKER_01: I'm given the gift with you in mind.
SPEAKER_01: Not me in mind, with you in mind, and with you in mind, and with you in mind, so we can help each other.
SPEAKER_01: Every time I read 1 or 2 Corinthians, I am forever grateful.
SPEAKER_01: I am grateful because, listen, Paul's two letters that we have in the New Testament written to the church at Corinth, they put the problems of the contemporary church into perspective.
SPEAKER_01: The Corinthian church reminds me that God's people have always and will forever, always face issues and struggles that will be a bit of a hot mess.
SPEAKER_01: And we would be even a hotter of a mess if it were not for Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: If it were not for the power of the Holy Spirit that brings us together.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone in Corinth, because of the culture around them, focused on self-promotion and self-congratulation of taking care of me.
SPEAKER_01: Me was privileged over the we.
SPEAKER_01: So long before there were social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, people in Corinth, listen, they were posting updates and sharing pictures that promoted themselves.
SPEAKER_01: They were climbing the social ladder because they wanted to make their lives easier and better.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna climb this ladder, I'm gonna make this statement, I'm gonna make this claim in public so that uh people view me as above them.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna make this claim, I'm gonna make this statement in public, I'm gonna view this person in that way from this perspective, and I'll climb a ladder, and then I can expect them to do what I asked them to do and to serve me no matter what it may cost.
SPEAKER_01: And this was one of the mindsets, this culture of self-promotion and self-congratulation, of climbing a ladder at the expense of other people.
SPEAKER_01: It was one of the primary factors that was completely ripping apart the church at Corinth.
SPEAKER_01: And the Apostle Paul, like a concerned father, he sees what's happening, he hears what's happening from afar, and he writes this letter to his wayward child.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, guys, guys, what is good and true, you need to know.
SPEAKER_01: Return to it, understand what you have been given.
SPEAKER_01: Paul writes, 1 Corinthians, to change the mindset of that church.
SPEAKER_01: He wants that church to remember, I am gifted for the greater good.
SPEAKER_01: For the greater good of we the church.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gifted so that I can serve you and then I can minister alongside of you for the sake of the gospel in the city in which we've been placed.
SPEAKER_01: That's why Paul says spiritual gifts have been given to you so that you can help one another.
SPEAKER_01: That's a definition of a spiritual gift.
SPEAKER_01: It's just one way you can understand it.
SPEAKER_01: Spiritual gifts are supernatural powers given to followers of Jesus by the Holy Spirit in order to serve inside the church and to minister outside the church.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just think about that definition just briefly.
SPEAKER_01: Spiritual gifts are supernatural powers, they are evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in your life because you're able to do something that with your natural power you would be unable to do.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes a spiritual gift, it just opens up a door you had never seen possible in your life.
SPEAKER_01: It helps you see a gift that you weren't even aware of.
SPEAKER_01: Other times, a spiritual gift, what it does is the Holy Spirit and his supernatural power comes into your life and he amplifies a gift that you already know is present.
SPEAKER_01: But not everybody, listen, receives a spiritual gift.
SPEAKER_01: It's not like we're passing out candy at the door to whoever comes up on Halloween.
SPEAKER_01: A spiritual gift is given to a follower of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It's evidence of a life that says, Jesus is my savior and Jesus is my Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And through that spiritual gift, I'm able to serve and to minister in a way that says, What?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is alive.
SPEAKER_01: His power is at work in my life.
SPEAKER_01: Based on the way that I serve, I tell you that it is true.
SPEAKER_01: Based on the way that I minister, I declare that it is real.
SPEAKER_01: That's what a spiritual gift is.
SPEAKER_01: But it's not enough to know what it is if we don't see the gift and the gifts that God has put in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to what Paul says later on in 1 Corinthians 12.
SPEAKER_01: He says the human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body, so it is with the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.
SPEAKER_01: If the foot says I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand, that does not make it any less a part of the body.
SPEAKER_01: And if the ear says, I am not part of the body because I am not an eye, would that make it any less part of the body?
SPEAKER_01: If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear?
SPEAKER_01: Or if the whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
SPEAKER_01: But our bodies have many parts.
SPEAKER_01: And God has put each part just where he wants it.
SPEAKER_01: I love what he says in verse 19.
SPEAKER_01: How strange a body would be if it had only one part.
SPEAKER_01: I think that's from the Adams family, right?
SPEAKER_01: Thing or whatever, the hand that crawls around.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.
SPEAKER_01: The eye can never say to the hand, I don't need you.
SPEAKER_01: The head can't say to the feet, I don't need you.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.
SPEAKER_01: Beginning in verse 12, Paul, by way of illustration, explains how every member of a local church is gifted for the greater good.
SPEAKER_01: Each family member has been.
SPEAKER_01: Given a gift.
SPEAKER_01: A gift to serve inside and to minister outside.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul, to make his point and to drive it home, he uses the image of the human body.
SPEAKER_01: And he just begins with this undeniable fact, something no one could argue with.
SPEAKER_01: Your body and my body, everybody's body has many parts, and everybody nods in agreement.
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01: I agree.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, those many parts of your body and my body and everybody's body, they come together and they form one whole body.
SPEAKER_01: And everybody nods in agreement.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're right.
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't take anatomy class to know that, Paul.
SPEAKER_01: What's the point?
SPEAKER_01: And so Paul he offers a point of clarification that points to application, and he just adds this single phrase.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, Yeah, you know how a human body's made up.
SPEAKER_01: One body, many parts.
SPEAKER_01: And then he says, so it is with the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And that's the moment where it all makes sense.
SPEAKER_01: That's the moment where he grabs their attention.
SPEAKER_01: And once he has that attention, he goes on and says, Listen, each of you has a unique role to play.
SPEAKER_01: Just like every part of the human body has a unique role to play.
SPEAKER_01: Each unique part can serve the greater good.
SPEAKER_01: No one would argue that the foot can do the work of the eye, or an ear the work of the nose.
SPEAKER_01: In every body part, no matter seemingly how small or insignificant it may seem to your eyes, it plays an important role.
SPEAKER_01: Here's his point.
SPEAKER_01: For a human body to be fully functioning and fully at full health, all the body parts need to be present and operational.
SPEAKER_01: So it is with the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Which is why we say, I am gifted for the greater good, for the greater good of we the church.
SPEAKER_01: Some of us, though, when we consider we the church, we think to ourselves, oh, they don't need me.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, somebody else can do that.
SPEAKER_01: And if that's you, I just want to be as kind and as clear as possible.
SPEAKER_01: You're wrong.
SPEAKER_01: That's not how God shapes the local church.
SPEAKER_01: If you call First Baptist Church home, your church needs you.
SPEAKER_01: If you call First Baptist Church family, then we need you to use your spiritual gift to identify it and use it for the greater good of we, the church.
SPEAKER_01: So which body part are you?
SPEAKER_01: So when you're a child, uh, did you have one of these guys?
SPEAKER_01: Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Potato Head?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we did have one, didn't we, Spencer?
SPEAKER_01: You had like this giant one.
SPEAKER_01: I've been able to find those recently.
SPEAKER_01: Uh this is young Jack Sawyers.
SPEAKER_01: He's not here today.
SPEAKER_01: He would also have been a superhero this morning, but he's not here today.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is his Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Potato Head.
SPEAKER_01: Um if you didn't have one, maybe your child or grandchild did.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Potato Head, the idea is simple, right?
SPEAKER_01: It's a small plastic potato.
SPEAKER_01: And to Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Potato Head, you can attach a mouth, you can attach eyes, you can attach arms and feet.
SPEAKER_01: Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Potato Head has many parts that make up one whole body.
SPEAKER_01: And to use Paul's phrase from 1 Corinthians 12, so it is with the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe someone needs to write a children's translation of 1 Corinthians 12 that uses Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Potato Head.
SPEAKER_01: But let's put together Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Potato Head this morning just so you can think through some possible ways that you have been gifted by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: You've been gifted by the Spirit to serve inside and to minister alongside.
SPEAKER_01: First, we can give uh Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Potato Head a mouth.
SPEAKER_01: Mouth, that's how he speaks.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: So maybe you have the gift of teaching God's truth and God's word, and you want to use your mouth to do that.
SPEAKER_01: But uh, you know, another thing you can do with a mouth is you can sing.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's your gift, singing.
SPEAKER_01: Or another thing you can do is a specific way that you speak.
SPEAKER_01: It could just be you are a person who has the gift of encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: Man.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you, your gift of encouragement is overwhelming.
SPEAKER_01: And every time I speak to you, I leave and I am like lifted up.
SPEAKER_01: It's like I can't imagine my day without hearing that word because you are so gifted and you put that gift to use to encourage your pastor.
SPEAKER_01: And we say, thank you for doing that.
SPEAKER_01: You know, the other thing about Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Potato Head, and another piece you can add to him, um, you can uh give him an ear.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and the first thing I think of when I think about an ear is just the gift of listening.
SPEAKER_01: We have people in our church that have been trained to be Stephen ministers.
SPEAKER_01: Um, a Stephen minister listens, they offer confidential Christian encouragement by listening to a person who is going through it.
SPEAKER_01: Checking up, calling in.
SPEAKER_01: They're there and they're using their spiritual gift to serve within the church.
SPEAKER_01: Let's put this other ear on.
SPEAKER_01: You know, one of the cool things that we've seen over the last year and a half, um, now that we have a you know a bigger online presence and we have people worshiping with us online, it became really, really important that we had a really great mix that could go out over the internet so that it felt as much like possible you're singing songs with your church family.
SPEAKER_01: That takes the right sort of ear to hear it all and to put it all together.
SPEAKER_01: Or Nate in the sound booth, or Trey who works in the sound booth too.
SPEAKER_01: Like there's so many who just have an ear for sound, and that's really important when you're using microphones and speakers, but they're using their spiritual gift, something God has given them to serve within the church.
SPEAKER_01: When you think about the arms, one arm of potato, I think about this arm as an arm that guides.
SPEAKER_01: An arm, a hand that can be put on someone's shoulder, maybe the shoulder of a child or a student to guide them and point them towards Jesus, just the role of a volunteer in their life, the role of a mentor in their life.
SPEAKER_01: We've mentioned this statistic recently several times, that um now it's believed that every child needs five adults in their life outside of their parents to be pointing them continually towards Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Spiritual gift of being a mentor, of a guide in someone's life.
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think of this arm we put it on, and I think of just the guys in our church, our property team, and how they work to take care of our campus.
SPEAKER_01: They don't mind climbing on roofs, climbing up in the like the attic of the sanctuary to change light bulbs, helping us figure out problems that Brian and I or Dustin don't understand.
SPEAKER_01: They are here to help and here uh to serve.
SPEAKER_01: We give you know potato heads and feet as well.
SPEAKER_01: Put those on him.
SPEAKER_01: He's got feet and feet, that's what allows you to walk, to go.
SPEAKER_01: I'm excited about those people who already volunteered in the spring to go, right?
SPEAKER_01: To go and to minister outside our walls.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm excited about the people who I know are gonna volunteer to go in a week out to the soccer fields or go to scare on the square, uh, just to take and go with them, take with them the light of Christ to our community and just to be the presence of Christ outside of these walls.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe we can give uh potato this hat, and I think of um how this hat covers his head.
SPEAKER_01: I think about the people whose spiritual gift in this room is the spiritual gift of prayer, where they cover our church family in prayer on a daily basis, specifically our intercessory prayer ministry that covers the families and the children of our church praying for the next generation in this church and in our community.
SPEAKER_01: If you have the gift of prayer and you're not a part of our intercessory prayer ministry, or maybe this morning, listen, God's saying, and he helps you identify in just a moment, like prayer is my gift.
SPEAKER_01: Like, we need more intercessors.
SPEAKER_01: It's our goal to have every family who has children in their home that have an intercessor who prays for them on a daily basis.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, next, we can uh give him a nose like this.
SPEAKER_01: You know what you do with the nose?
SPEAKER_01: You smell.
SPEAKER_01: And I with my nose, I especially like to smell really good food.
SPEAKER_01: And I think of um the people in our church whose gift is hospitality, especially when we extend that hospitality to uh folks in our church who are grieving and we prepare that meal for them.
SPEAKER_01: Or I think of the guys who are um cooking uh at these events coming up, how they just love to cook and see that food as a way that we can reach out and connect with people.
SPEAKER_01: And then we can give Potato Head just his eyes.
SPEAKER_01: And those eyes allow him to see.
SPEAKER_01: And there are people in our church who just have this keen ability to see um needs, to see and identify needs, needs that maybe I'm unaware of, or I don't see, or Brian doesn't see, or Dustin doesn't see.
SPEAKER_01: They've been given that gift of like keen sight, of this attentive faith to the movement of God, and they see a need, and then they have this ability to rally people around them to go and address that need.
SPEAKER_01: A couple of those rally points coming up as Ray leads his team, right?
SPEAKER_01: We're grateful for our friends at Open Hearts as they lead a team down to South Louisiana to minister in the hurricane uh relief efforts.
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm also thinking about as we get back on the campus at Mermill Education Center to be a part of that team and to see those needs and to address them and just to be the presence and the light of Christ in those moments.
SPEAKER_01: What's your spiritual gift?
SPEAKER_01: Is it one of the things I've mentioned that's just how people put them to use?
SPEAKER_01: Or is it something else, something that's unnamed in this moment?
SPEAKER_01: You may not be any of these parts.
SPEAKER_01: You could be something else.
SPEAKER_01: But listen again, hear it again.
SPEAKER_01: If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, if you've received the seal of the Holy Spirit, you have received a spiritual gift that allows you to serve in this church and minister alongside of this church.
SPEAKER_01: But now let's close this way.
SPEAKER_01: Just a word of thank you, a word of um celebration to the many men and women and teenagers who already know and already take it so seriously, the idea, and they have this superhero mindset I am gifted for the greater good.
SPEAKER_01: And they've already are putting their gifts to work in this local church.
SPEAKER_01: They are the sanctified superheroes of First Baptist Church, and they don't want any praise.
SPEAKER_01: Some of them are better described as like unpaid part-time staff, the hours they devote to the workings and the ministries of our church.
SPEAKER_01: And to those men and women and teenagers, thank you for using your gift for the greater good of we the church.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for setting the pace and being a benchmark which we can all look to, giving us something to aspire to.
SPEAKER_01: Like there is nothing wrong to say I have a hero in this faith, and that hero in the faith sits on the pew beside me.
SPEAKER_01: And and and heroic not in the sense of like everybody knows them, heroic not in the sense that um everybody sees them in the community and thinks, oh wow, look at them, but heroic in the fact that they know their gift and they use it for the greater good of we, the church.
SPEAKER_01: And for us to be a healthy, flourishing church, hear it again, we have to align our aspiration and action.
SPEAKER_01: Because all those who call on the name of the Lord Jesus and are empowered by the Holy Spirit must agree together and realize together that I am gifted for the greater good.
SPEAKER_01: Not my good, for the greater good.
SPEAKER_01: For the greater good of we the church.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_01: As you're seated with your heads bowed right now, would you just thank God for First Baptist Church?
SPEAKER_01: Thank God for the people who you already see using their gifts for the greater good.
SPEAKER_01: For the greater good of we the church.
SPEAKER_01: If you're unsure how you've been gifted, or if you maybe want to know if there's other ways you've been gifted, ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to help you identify that supernatural power he has given you as a follower of Jesus so that you can serve and minister.
SPEAKER_01: And now, Holy Spirit, we ask you to give us a vision of the future.
SPEAKER_01: A vision of the day when all God's children at First Baptist El Dorado used their gift for the greater good.
SPEAKER_01: Give us a vision of what life would be like if each of us used our gift in this church to serve.
SPEAKER_01: Used our gift so that we can minister alongside the church.
SPEAKER_01: Used our gifts not for just my good, God, but it would just be all about the greater good, the good of the body of Christ in the witness of this church.
SPEAKER_01: God, give us a vision of what could be if we took seriously your word, your teaching on spiritual gifts today.
SPEAKER_01: In Christ's name we pray.
unknown: Amen.