July 13th, 2025
Many are Called but Few are Chosen Series
Pastor Ray-ann Dela Fuente
July 13, 2025
Part 3: "Gifted"
1 Corinthians 12
Opening Verse:
“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” 1 Peter 4:10 NLT
Introduction:
Welcome to an amazing Sunday here at River of Faith! We are in third week of a new series that I entitled "Many are Called but Few are Chosen". In this series we will learn about the effectual calling of God to all humanity to repent and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. We will also learn about our individual calling, and spiritual gifts God has given us so we can use it for His kingdom!
Spiritual gift comes from the Greek word charisma which means gift or God-given. It is also very much related to the word grace which means something that is due to the grace of God. The synonym for gift is ability. We are going to define Spiritual gift as "God-given ability for service." Jesus through the Holy Spirit is the giver of our gifts and they are given to us for the purpose of building the Body of Christ.
Romans 12:6-8
(Basic functions in the church)
▪ Prophecy
▪ Service
▪ Teaching
▪ Exhortation
▪ Liberality
▪ Giving aid
▪ Acts of mercy
1 Peter 4:11
(Basic functions in the church)
▪ Speaking
▪ Service
Ephesians 4:11
(Offices in the church)
▪ Apostles
▪ Prophets
▪ Evangelist
▪ Pastor and Teacher
1 Corinthians 12:6-8
(Special abilities in the church)
▪ Wisdom
▪ Knowledge
▪ Faith
▪ Healing
▪ Working of miracles
▪ Prophecy
▪ Ability to distinguish spirits
▪ Various tongues
▪ Interpretation of tongues
Main Pointers:
“Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.”
1 Corinthians 12:1-7 NLT
1. The gifts are given for one purpose to help/edify others.
NATURAL TALENTS:
- Given by God through our parents
- Given at birth
- To benefit all of mankind
SPIRITUAL GIFTS:
- Given by God without our parents
- Given at our conversion
- To benefit the Body of Christ in particular
A. The main problem with the Corinthian church was its ties to the pagan worship of idols. Despite of all of that the church was very "gifted."
B. The Spirit had gifted the church with so many abilities but the challenge to the apostle Paul was to make sure that they fully understood what the gifts are for. It was solely to help and edify the body of Christ.
2. God is the gift-giver we are only the caretakers.
“To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.”
1 Corinthians 12:8-11 NLT
A. The keyword here is "The Spirit gives the ability..." unless you understand who gives you the gift and what it is for, it will fail to bring glory to God.
B. Paul had to emphasize to the Corinthian church the term "God-given." If it is God-given it is God-driven. If it's God-driven it is Spirit filled not performance based.
Performance-Based Servant
- Has to have all the answers.
- Has to be certain.
- Has to be in control.
- Operates as a symbol that takes center stage.
- Is easily threatened by others who know or can do more, he in turn threatens others because his identity is based upon keeping his own image or performance.
- Looks at events, measures mistakes, and hide his faults for fear of being exposed.
- Typically works alone.
- Will measure and demand authority by title or position: "I am the pastor" or I have a doctorate."
Spirit-Formed Servant
- Continually asks questions. His or her assumption is "I don't know the truth completely but by God's grace we can discover, obey, and grow together."
- Lives by faith with uncertainty.
- Facilitates learning and growth.
- Is a model who points to Christ and gets out of the way.
- Empowers others to grow and to serve.
- Looks for underlying structures that are causing patterns of problems. He or she is willing and ever ready to confess sin.
- Builds an interdependent team.
- Follows a call and practices gifts for the glory of Christ- "He must increase, I must decrease."
3. We should desire the most helpful gifts.
“Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.”
1 Corinthians 12:29-31 NLT
A. The point that the apostle Paul was making here is that everyone has a different gift based on what He calls them to do. We are not called because we are talented. We are called because of our obedience to the Lord!
B. The problem with the Corinthian church was that they became so obsessed with the special abilities they have that Paul had to show them what the greatest gift really was!
C. “Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy.”
1 Corinthians 14:1 NLT
Conclusion:
People want to know how they can find their spiritual callings or what God is calling them to do with their lives. They want to know the one, grand purpose God has for them, the one dominant spiritual gift that will reach hundreds or thousands or millions. The truth is, however, God doesn’t call many people to dedicate their lives to one specific area. And if He does, He does so in His own timing. What is important that we know that our ultimate goal is to love! The greatest gift is love! Without it we are only a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal.
Pastor Ray-ann Dela Fuente
July 13, 2025
Part 3: "Gifted"
1 Corinthians 12
Opening Verse:
“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” 1 Peter 4:10 NLT
Introduction:
Welcome to an amazing Sunday here at River of Faith! We are in third week of a new series that I entitled "Many are Called but Few are Chosen". In this series we will learn about the effectual calling of God to all humanity to repent and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. We will also learn about our individual calling, and spiritual gifts God has given us so we can use it for His kingdom!
Spiritual gift comes from the Greek word charisma which means gift or God-given. It is also very much related to the word grace which means something that is due to the grace of God. The synonym for gift is ability. We are going to define Spiritual gift as "God-given ability for service." Jesus through the Holy Spirit is the giver of our gifts and they are given to us for the purpose of building the Body of Christ.
Romans 12:6-8
(Basic functions in the church)
▪ Prophecy
▪ Service
▪ Teaching
▪ Exhortation
▪ Liberality
▪ Giving aid
▪ Acts of mercy
1 Peter 4:11
(Basic functions in the church)
▪ Speaking
▪ Service
Ephesians 4:11
(Offices in the church)
▪ Apostles
▪ Prophets
▪ Evangelist
▪ Pastor and Teacher
1 Corinthians 12:6-8
(Special abilities in the church)
▪ Wisdom
▪ Knowledge
▪ Faith
▪ Healing
▪ Working of miracles
▪ Prophecy
▪ Ability to distinguish spirits
▪ Various tongues
▪ Interpretation of tongues
Main Pointers:
“Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.”
1 Corinthians 12:1-7 NLT
1. The gifts are given for one purpose to help/edify others.
NATURAL TALENTS:
- Given by God through our parents
- Given at birth
- To benefit all of mankind
SPIRITUAL GIFTS:
- Given by God without our parents
- Given at our conversion
- To benefit the Body of Christ in particular
A. The main problem with the Corinthian church was its ties to the pagan worship of idols. Despite of all of that the church was very "gifted."
B. The Spirit had gifted the church with so many abilities but the challenge to the apostle Paul was to make sure that they fully understood what the gifts are for. It was solely to help and edify the body of Christ.
2. God is the gift-giver we are only the caretakers.
“To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.”
1 Corinthians 12:8-11 NLT
A. The keyword here is "The Spirit gives the ability..." unless you understand who gives you the gift and what it is for, it will fail to bring glory to God.
B. Paul had to emphasize to the Corinthian church the term "God-given." If it is God-given it is God-driven. If it's God-driven it is Spirit filled not performance based.
Performance-Based Servant
- Has to have all the answers.
- Has to be certain.
- Has to be in control.
- Operates as a symbol that takes center stage.
- Is easily threatened by others who know or can do more, he in turn threatens others because his identity is based upon keeping his own image or performance.
- Looks at events, measures mistakes, and hide his faults for fear of being exposed.
- Typically works alone.
- Will measure and demand authority by title or position: "I am the pastor" or I have a doctorate."
Spirit-Formed Servant
- Continually asks questions. His or her assumption is "I don't know the truth completely but by God's grace we can discover, obey, and grow together."
- Lives by faith with uncertainty.
- Facilitates learning and growth.
- Is a model who points to Christ and gets out of the way.
- Empowers others to grow and to serve.
- Looks for underlying structures that are causing patterns of problems. He or she is willing and ever ready to confess sin.
- Builds an interdependent team.
- Follows a call and practices gifts for the glory of Christ- "He must increase, I must decrease."
3. We should desire the most helpful gifts.
“Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.”
1 Corinthians 12:29-31 NLT
A. The point that the apostle Paul was making here is that everyone has a different gift based on what He calls them to do. We are not called because we are talented. We are called because of our obedience to the Lord!
B. The problem with the Corinthian church was that they became so obsessed with the special abilities they have that Paul had to show them what the greatest gift really was!
C. “Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy.”
1 Corinthians 14:1 NLT
Conclusion:
People want to know how they can find their spiritual callings or what God is calling them to do with their lives. They want to know the one, grand purpose God has for them, the one dominant spiritual gift that will reach hundreds or thousands or millions. The truth is, however, God doesn’t call many people to dedicate their lives to one specific area. And if He does, He does so in His own timing. What is important that we know that our ultimate goal is to love! The greatest gift is love! Without it we are only a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal.
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