9/21/25
Anonymous Church – Message 6 – talents and gifts
My hope for this series comes in two parts:
1) To cultivate your desire to know God
2) To help you grow in your acknowledgement and appreciation of the blessing of God-given community
●7 Characteristics of the Early Church●
1) The early church was established as a community- know and be known.
2) The early church met in many places, teaching the Gospel at every opportunity.
3) The early church worshiped through communion, fellowship, breaking of bread, and the edification (building) of the body of Christ.
4) The early church worked to reach and teach its members exactly where they were, so that they could reach and teach others…everyone was a priest.
5) The early church was guided by scripture.
6) The early church shared their talents and gifts.
7) The early church worked diligently to be Holy. (One foot on earth/One foot in heaven).
Q: What is the greatest present that you ever remember receiving?
Q: What was it about this gift that made it so special?
Acts 2:42-47 (ESV)
The Fellowship of the Believers
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe[a] came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Is it possible that what we do with these gifts is actually more important than the gifts themselves? Consider this: Whatever gifts we have, are meant to be used within and for the the greater body of Christ.
Whether financial or functional…everything is intended to be used for the good of God’s people and the Glory of God.
Three Primary Points:
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God’s gifts have a specific purpose
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Each gift is indispensable
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Every Gift is meant to be used for our good and for God’s glory
1) Gifts with a purpose
Every good and perfect gift comes from God (our creator and sustainer)
This doesn’t just relate to monetary gifts or Birthday presents…this is about the characteristics and capacities that you have been blessed with and the reality that every gift that is given by God is intended to be used for a specific purpose.
●1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (ESV)
Spiritual Gifts
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
Yes, in Acts, Luke is speaking to the sharing of material possessions and the wealth that comes from their sell…but, this notion of using our gifts for the Body of Christ can be extrapolated across the fullness of every gift that we have been given (yes our material goods and wealth, but also our talents and capacities…everything should be used to bless the kingdom of God and its inhabitants).
Consider Paul’s statement in v.6-8:
Our gifts are varied (but all are rooted in God’s grace and the singular Holy Spirit)
In the letter to the Corinthians Paul is encouraging the letter’s recipients to share their God given, grace rooted, gifts including: wisdom, knowledge, faithfulness, healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, interpretation,
The notion here is that each of us is blessed with different gifts and capacities that we ultimately intended for use within the community of believers and that each of these gifts is, in fact, intended for use as a benefit and blessing of all believers. For instance: If you are called and equipped with wisdom your gift should be used to give wisdom to everyone and if you choose not to use your gift as it is intended then you are missing the opportunity to glorify God and bless your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Perhaps our lack of understanding or perceiving these gifts is greatly related to the minimal amount of time that we spend seeking and using them with intention.
Our appropriate use of these God given gifts requires practice and development. As with any talent, when it is neglected we fail to build and grow in our abilities and we fall short of God’s purpose in our equipping
In much the same way, when we neglect the gifts that God provides we fail to develop them. As a result they atrophy and wither.
Do either of these descriptive words sound like what Paul references? Do they seem to be what God is encouraging us to do in Paul’s letter.
You can bet when things are repeated, or built upon is scripture that there is a reason. The message that Paul delivers to the Romans is echoed in the 1st letter that he delivers to the Corinthians.
2) Each Gift is Indispensable
●1 Corinthians 12:12-20
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves[d] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts,[e] yet one body.
For many Christians, there is a mindset of comparison, whereby they often judge themselves or others as having some form of lack or want because they desire some other gifting. Consider this: Deep down are there things that others have that you want?
Maybe its financial independence, maybe its a job or the lack of a job, maybe its children, maybe in relationship to any of the giftings that we have discussed above (wisdom, knowledge, faithfulness, healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, interpretation, etc…).
On some level it is entirely normal for us to compare our lives to others, but this is not the result of God’s work within us…it is the work of our own human, self-centered, nature. This is what we are intended to throw off as we become new creations in Christ (remember the end of last week’s message…we are made new creations in/through/by Christ).
Our baptism unites us with believers throughout the ages, and with believers in our current age, and each of us is made with specific gifts and blessings for God’s specific purpose.
If we were all made the same, how would we accomplish the breadth of God’s intent for His body? Paul speaks directly to this question in the last three verses of this section:
1 Corinthians 12:18-20 (ESV)
18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts,[e] yet one body.
Translated as Chose – from the root θέλω (thelo) choose, wish
ἠθέλησεν (etheleseen) to purpose or will
The talents and gifts that you receive are not your by happenstance or chance…they are the will of God.
Your use of the gifts that God has given you allow the body to function properly and efficiently and effectively.
The implications are thus:
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Use the gift that you have been given for the sake of the entire body of believers.
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Stop neglecting your gifts.
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Stop coveting the gifts of others because you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” and you are part of God’s perfect will and plan.
3) Gifts to Glory
The body only works, as it should, when each part does its intended job.
Remember, and 18-20:
1 Corinthians 12:18-20 (ESV)
18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts,[e] yet one body.
And , v.7
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
God has created us and arranged us specifically and there is no way that the Body of Christ could work if we were all preachers or teachers or prophets or anything else…our gifts are complimentary. And yes, as we have seen this is for the benefit of the community of believers. But it is also more than that:
As Paul writes earlier in the book of 1 Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 10:31
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
And as Peter writes in 1 Peter:
1 Peter 4:10-11
10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Every gift is meant for use in the body and and every gift is meant to bring glory to God. Yes, there is the obvious function benefit of everyone doing their part but hear this: the faithful utilization of your God given gifts is also intended to honor and glorify God!!!!
Our service to each other brings even more glory to God. As we utilize our God given gifts we embody the purpose that God intends for us.
Our recognition of God’s gifts are imperative but our use of these gifts is doubly so.
Q: Have you considered the gifts that God has provided you?
Q: Are you actively pursuing their development and faithful usage?
How to?
Our recognition and thanks to God for what he provides is a great place to start.
From there we should seek His will for our use of these gifts: through prayer (ask and listen).
Then, like any newly developing skill we should work to utilize the gift with a continued recognition that it originates in God and the purpose that he has for us.
Questions:
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What have you been gifted with? How are you using it for the benefit of the Body and for God’s glory?
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How have you been blessed by the gifts of others? What was the benefit of these shared gifts?
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Do you see your gifting as indispensable to the Body? If not, why? Might this be related to our appreciation of and awareness of the gifts that we have?
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Are you content with what you have been gifted? Do you desire the gifts that others have received?
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In what way does the use of your God given gifts honor God and grow His Kingdom?
