Message Notes:

1 Cor 12:1 (NIV) Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be

ignorant.

Learning About Spiritual Gifts

1 Cor 12:4-6 (NLT) 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.

 The Holy Spirit is the source and distributor of all spiritual gifts.

1 Cor 12:7 (NLT) A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

 Every believer receives/gets a spiritual gift to help each other.

1 Cor 12:8-11 (NLT) 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.

 There are many different kinds of spiritual gifts.

1. The gifts to say.

° Prophecy - Speaking a supernatural message that conveys a specific vision of God’s will for his people. Words of comfort, encouragement or challenge. Sometimes future related, but not always.

° Tongues - Supernatural ability to praise or communicate with God in a language never learned. The primary use of tongues is private for personal edification and making a connection with God, although sometimes it is spoken publicly when an interpretation is needed.

° The Interpretation of Tongues - The interpretation of tongues is the supernatural ability to interpret public messages that are spoken out loud in tongues. The interpretation gives comfort, encouragement or a challenge to the people.

2. The gifts to do.

° Healing - Supernatural ability to bring Christ’s healing power and deliverance to those who lack mental, emotional, physical or spiritual wholeness.

° Miracles - Supernatural ability to bring God’s power to bear on an “impossible” situation so that natural laws are suspended.

° Faith - Supernatural ability to go beyond general and saving faith, and to believe that the impossible will happen. When someone has the gift of faith, they just “know” God is in control and will intervene in the situation that is before them.

3. The gifts to know.

° Discernment of spirits - Supernatural ability to discern whether a particular manifestation comes from the Holy Spirit, the human spirit or a demonic spirit.

° Word of knowledge - Supernatural revelation, concerning a difficulty or need, of facts not known naturally to those involved.

° Word of wisdom - Supernatural revelation from God that gives a solution to a particular problem or crisis that is otherwise unknown by the people involved in the situation.

Other gifts found in Ephesians 4:7-13, Romans 12:3-8.

1 Cor 12:27-31 (NLT) All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it. Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages. 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!

1 Cor 13:2 (NLT) If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing.

 Spiritual gifts are to be demonstrated in love.

 Spiritual gifts can be abused and misused.

1 Cor 14:40 (NLT) But be sure that everything is done properly and in order.

1 Cor 13:8-10 (NIV) Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

1. Read 1 Corinthians Chapters 12, 13, & 14.

2. Ask for spiritual gifts.

1 Cor 14:1 (NIV) Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts…

3. Receive and use the gifts that God has given you.

Response:

1. Will you read 1 Corinthians 12-14 this week?

2. Will you ask the Holy Spirit for spiritual gifts?

3. How are you using spiritual gifts to help others now?