Take your Bibles this morning with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse one, Paul says, now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you to be ignorant. Then he says, verse four, now there are diversities of gifts but the same spirit. And then in verse seven, But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all. Let's just bow for a moment in prayer. Father, instruct us from your word today. Help us to grab hold of the truths that you give to us. We're thankful for the Spirit of God who inspired the Bible. Thank you that the pages of the books we hold are not just the words of men, they are actually the words of God. Help us to receive them as such today. In Jesus' name, amen. I woke this morning to fog. It was thick. I let the dog out, and there was something. Something in the fog. There were birds. And they were singing. Why would they be singing today? wet, damp, dark. But they were singing. In fact, every day we wake up to a smog, don't we? A smog that covers the entire earth, the smog of sin. We live in a world cursed by sin, but with people like us who are sinners. There's days you may see it clearer than others. Other days, maybe you've gotten used to it. You don't notice it as much anymore, but we all contribute. We contribute to the sin in this earth. Our selfishness, our pride, our lust. The student whose teacher asked, did you read your assignment? And they said, I did, and they didn't. They sin and contribute. The hate in the heart or the lust in the eyes. They all contribute. a critical word that we spoke to our spouse. Anger you had towards mom and dad. We all contribute to the smog of this earth and it's covered. Let's just pretend, since we're using our imagination this morning, that there was a great mountain here outside of Lima, okay? I'm not talking just like a little hill, I'm talking about a mountain, snow-capped peak, okay? from where you could see the entire world from its peak. And you went there to meet God. And God was there, and you said, what are you gonna do about all of this? He said, I've already done something. And then you maybe would ask, wait a minute, now, where are the scales? I've always thought there were scales with you, like the good on one side and the bad on the other. Where are they? And God would say to you, all that there was of the bad, I put my son as the fulcrum of that scale and I poured on him my judgment and wrath on the sin of all mankind. He was innocent. He was just. And yet he suffered on a cross for the unjust so that all of the good could proceed from the hearts of those who receive him. And so what's the answer, Lord? What do we do about all that smog of sin? And he says, I'm gonna give you two things. I'm gonna give you a song in your heart. I'll put my spirit within you and a song to sing. And I'm gonna also give you wings. and you're gonna go back down the mountain, and you're gonna go back into that smog, but I'm going to gather you into flocks, and together you will sing, and together you will fly. Together, you will praise my name. And one by one, as you faithfully sing, and as you faithfully fly, I'm going to gather others into your flocks, which will make up my large flock. And though you will not live in a world without that smog at present, there's coming a time when I'm gonna call all of my songbirds home. And I will deal justly, completely, entirely with that smog of sin and it will be eradicated. And so your job is to gather and to use your wings and to lift your voice to stay with your flock, birds of a feather flock together. You'll fly in symphony, as a symphony led by the Spirit of God. Your songs and your service united. There's gonna be a temptation though. While you live in this earth, you're going to be tainted from time to time with that smog. You're gonna need to retreat to me in the mountaintop. where my words will speak and I'll wash you, I'll cleanse you, and I'll send you back. But there's gonna be a temptation because your flock will be flying day by day, you'll be singing in the smog. There's gonna be a temptation that some may resist. Some may not fly. Some don't want to follow the leading of the Spirit of God. You ever seen a flock of birds fly through a farmer's field? And they make these most amazing shapes. And they fly in perfect unison. I think that's what the Spirit of God would want of us as a church. He gives to you and I a song. He puts His Spirit within us to praise Him. But He also gives us gifts. Wings, you could say, by which we can fly together. There's a song and there are wings that the world doesn't have. But we as his children gather together, we unite in him and we exercise those gifts, our wings, to bring him pleasure and glory and to help him extend the gospel message that others may be added to the flock. Spiritual gifts are what's discussed in First Corinthians chapter 12. He says, now, Concerning spiritual gifts. Paul has used that expression before. Now concerning. I believe this is the sixth or the seventh time he's said it thus far in the book. Now concerning. He's talking to a church that had been saved, but they had been divided. They were true children of God. They were very gifted. In fact, in 1 Corinthians chapter one, it tells us in verse four, I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ. Verse five he says, that in everything ye are enriched in him, in all utterance, in all knowledge. Then he says in verse seven, that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, every spiritual enablement that God would give, could give, should give, They had, they were a gifted church. They were a saved, believing church. They'd understood their sinfulness. They'd humbled themselves before the cross of Jesus Christ, trusted what he did on the cross for them, and were saved. But they were fighting. They weren't flying together in flock formation. They were resisting, they were breaking up. They were causing dissension amongst other Christians. And so, when we come to chapter 12, understand, Paul is talking to a divided church, and he's going to speak to them about something that very well could make them more divided. Or, or, it could be the one thing that God planned to unite them. And so he says, concerning spiritual gifts, what are spiritual gifts? These are something that are entrusted to true believers, those who have the Holy Spirit of God. When you acknowledge before God, I'm guilty, that smog that's in the earth, it's in me, it's in my lungs. I'm coughing and hacking in sin every day. I am a sinner, and I live in the midst of sinners, and I have no hope. When you come by faith to Jesus Christ, you acknowledge not only your sinfulness, but that that sin has been an offense to a holy God. and you trust what Jesus Christ, his son, did on the cross for you, believing on him, and he takes away that smog from the lungs. He gives you the hope of an eternal abode forever, singing and flying in praises to God in heaven. There's hope in him, but that does not mean that we're not going to struggle here. Doesn't mean that we're not going to live with challenges here. And so everyone who is born again, born from above, has been given by God the Holy Spirit of God. God himself has moved inside of you, like actually inside of you. He's taken up residence in you. Chapter six, verse 19 and 20, he tells us that we're a temple of the Holy Spirit. So he's taken up residence inside of me. but he's also come, he hasn't come empty-handed. He came with gifts for you, like more than just your personality, more than just your natural aptitudes or talents, more than that. The gifts he's talking about is something that God gives specifically to those who are saved, those who are Christians, those who have believed on Jesus Christ. They get the Spirit, but they get gifts. And what these are are supernatural enablements for gospel purposes. Like, really, like they're spiritual gifts, like they were given to you by the Holy Spirit, and they're beyond human ability. They're beyond personality. They're endowed to you and I as believers by God and they're gifts, they're to be exercised for God, to be used by Him. They're spiritual enablements for gospel purposes. They're not just for you to enjoy yourself, they're for you and I to enjoy and use together and in our ministry to reach the world. There's three reasons I'm gonna show you this morning from this passage that I believe that God gives us spiritual gifts. Number one, God gives these gifts. They're like the wings in my illustration this morning. He gives them for unity, number one. He gives these gifts for unity. He says in regard to these spiritual gifts, I don't want you to be unknowledgeable. I want you to be aware of them, that there is such a thing, that true believers have them. And not only should you know that they exist, you should understand that you have one. And it's important for you to understand that one or many gifts that you may have, understand what they are and how God intends to use them. Why has God given gifts? Number one, for unity. He's given these for unity. Verse two, he says, now, know that you were Gentiles carried about unto these dumb idols even as you were led. That's how they had grown up. They were raised in a pagan community. They were religious, but they were not trusting God. They were worshiping idols, man-made pieces of craftsmanship that pointed to some form of deity. Now, we learned earlier in chapter 10 that those, that deity they were worshiping was actually satanic. It was demonic. And he says, this is how you grew up. You grew up and you followed after these Idols. And he says, even as you were led, by the way, Ephesians chapter two verses one and two tells us how we are led. We are born into this world sinners and we're born following Satan. I mean, the smog and the analogy here is Satan's leading and directing a world to follow him against God. Verse three, he says, wherefore I give unto you, give you to understand that no man speaking by the spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed. This is interesting here. Ultimately, anybody who has not trusted Christ, any religion or any cult that has formed which does not acknowledge Jesus Christ as the one and only way to God, the sinless Son of God, the way, the truth, the life, the only one, anyone who doesn't see Jesus as exclusively The only Savior, ultimately they're saying this, He's accursed. He's the curse. He's the scourge. He's the problem. And there may be those who believe in Jesus and something else. Maybe it's good works or church attendance, or maybe they believe in Jesus and believe He's a prophet with many other prophets. Or maybe they believe that He is a God amongst millions of gods. There are people who believe these things, but they do not believe in the exclusivity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, the life. And ultimately, anybody who is not believing in Him that way is saying, essentially, he is accursed. He is not enough. He may be part of what I believe, but he's not all of what I believe. And you may be here today, and that's you. You say, I have no issues with the Bible. I have no issues with God. Even the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have no issues with that. But I've not yet put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone. Talked to a man the other day, and he said that to me. He says, I know all these things you're telling me, but I've never, I know that I've never done that before. He says, it's not that I'm unwilling, I just haven't done it yet. Well, where was he? Which side, I mean, Was he a child of God or a child of the devil? Because belief in Jesus Christ is putting my confidence in my faith, not just in the fact that there is a God, but I'm trusting Jesus Christ and his payment for my sin alone. I'm resting in his finished work on the cross. There's nothing I can add to it. There's no good work that's gonna tip a scale to get God's favor on my behalf. It's impossible. All sin. First sin I remember committing was stealing a peanut from the corner grocery store. Went with my brothers and sisters. They had a big giant barrel of peanuts by the front door. They had bags, you could load them up and they would weigh them and you'd buy your peanuts. I walked out and I was eating a peanut. My sister said, Jason. I was five. Where'd you get that peanut? She knew where I got that peanut. I stole it. He said, well, God would never send you to a Christless, eternal hell for stealing a peanut. Oh, yes, he would, because he is a holy God. He is a righteous God. In every sin, small or large, whether you've commanded armies that have committed atrocities, that have evacuated or eliminated thousands upon thousands of people, that person is just as guilty as Jason Knight with a peanut in his hand. Guilty before a holy, just, and righteous God. And God looks down and He sees the sin-cursed earth. And out of love, He sent His own Son to live a blameless life. A sinless life. And what did they do to this blameless man? They were jealous of him. They were critical of him. They would scourge him, tear out his beard, put a crown upon his head of thorns. They would kill him. They would crucify him. And maybe that day they thought to themselves, we're done with this curse. He's finished. But that day, because of what they did, God poured out his wrath on his son that day. And Jesus Christ took the payment for my sin, for the peanut. For the dictator who evacuated thousands upon thousands, he eliminated them. Jesus died for the sins of all mankind that day. In the garden, he said, Father, not my will, but thine be done. What was the Father's will? That his wrath be poured out on his sinless, just, holy son. For all mankind. For that thought you had 10 minutes ago. For that word you said last week. The selfishness he showed. He died for it. And he offers to us his Son. The Spirit of God, because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross, is given to us as a gift, the Spirit of God. And what does he allow us to do? He tells us in verse three. He says, and that no man should say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost, to say that Jesus is exclusively the only one, the only savior, the spirit of God who saves, enables this. He enables us to no longer say that Jesus is a curse, he's useless, he's nothing. We now know he's everything. And we can say Jesus Christ is Lord. He is my Lord. Then in verse four he says, Because of what the Spirit of God has done in you, now there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit. God gives us unity as a church through gifts. He does it by the Gospel. He also does it by the Trinity. We see in verse four, by the same Spirit. In verse five, he says by the same Lord, speaking of Jesus. And in verse six, but is the same God. We see God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit all bringing us to a unity to these gifts given to us by God. And each part of the Trinity was part of giving you those spiritual enablements, those supernatural gifts, those superpowers for service. I like to call them gospel gifts. Because I think that's the Holy Spirit's intent. Not that you and I have some ability that makes you look better than your brother or your sister or your friend or your neighbor. God gives these enablements for his purposes. And God's ultimate purpose for all man and all time and all the universe is that he calls out a people for his name. Because of what Jesus Christ has done. To cure us from our sin disease. And to bring us into his flock. Into his family. It says in verse four, now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but the same God, which worketh all in all. God grants unity because of the gospel, because of the Trinity, and also because of the church. When he says all in all, we have a picture here of what God intends for these gifts. Therefore, the building up of one another so we can extend the kingdom of God. It's our calling as a church to help God build up each other and to reach a lost world. That's our privilege. God gives gifts for unity, that we would come together. We're told in Ephesians chapter four of the things that we have in common, it says, In verse four, there is one body and one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father, who is above all and through all and in you all. We are united in Jesus Christ. We are united in the gifts that God has entrusted to us. It isn't to divide us. It's to unite us. The church at Corinth had a problem. While they had all of these gifts, there was one particular gift that they had raised up far above all the others. And if you didn't have that gift, you weren't exercising that gift, you were nothing. And the Holy Spirit of God is gonna set us straight. Paul, as he wrote this letter, is setting the church straight. These gifts are not given for division. They're given to you for unity. They're also given, we find in verse seven, for harmony. What's the difference between unity and harmony? A few moments ago, we heard a beautiful quartet, and each of them had parts. Together, their individual parts came together to form, you know that sound, don't you? That beautiful sound. That harmony. Different voices, different notes, but yet one voice. Look what it says in verse seven. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. It's harmonized. That word profit withal is interesting. It's an expression you might not catch all the meaning there. The word is, I've gotta see if I can say it right, St. Pharaoh. And it's the word from which we get the idea of a symphony. And that's what the Holy Spirit of God does with our gifts. He brings us all together, like he's the conductor. And he's leading us, and he's telling us when to come in, and when to be loud, and when to be soft, and how to exercise our gifts. The Holy Spirit of God gives gifts, first of all for unity, but also for harmony. He doesn't just want us to be all singing at the top of our lungs in our own note and our own voice, in our own way, it would be gross, right? God wants to make us something beautiful. That's what he intends with the church, that we, using our gifts, come together not to fight, not to divide, but we unite around the conductor, the Holy Spirit of God. What is the sheet music? What's the Word of God? We obey and follow the Word, we listen to the voice of the Spirit. Before long, not only were we making beautiful music, but we're flying like those flocks in the field, in perfect symmetry, perfect harmony. That's what God intends for us. The gifts are given to us to benefit every one of us, to build each other up, to strengthen each other, so that we can be more effective at the last thing, ministry. God gives gifts for unity, for harmony, and then for ministry. Beginning at verse eight, verses eight, nine, and 10, he begins to list spiritual gifts. This list is not conclusive. There are several lists in the New Testament you're going to come across. Some of the gifts that he mentions here were active in the church at Corinth. It was in the early church. Some of those are no longer in use today, but let me just walk through and explain them. Rather than get lost in the giftings, I want you to focus your attention on the Spirit of God. See if you can find him in these verses as we read through these verses. And notice what he's doing. It says, for one is given the spirit of the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit, to another the gifts of healing by the same spirit, to another the workings of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another diverse kinds of tongues, To another, the interpretation of tongues. Look at verse 11. But all these worketh that one in the selfsame spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. Let's just walk through these for a moment here. Word of wisdom. The word, word, is a speaking gift. Someone who is gifted by God in a supernatural way to speak wise words. to needy situations, to offer discernment to the body of God. There's the word of knowledge. Again, the word word is a speaking gift here. Someone who is called of God to understand and speak deep truths that they share with someone else. It was a supernatural gift. It wasn't just like, hey, that person's pretty, he's a sharp cookie. He knows a lot of things. No, this is a spiritual enablement to be able to understand deep scriptural truths and share them with others. There's the gift of faith. You can only become a child of God by faith. For by grace are ye saved through faith, right, by believing what Jesus did for you. So all Christians are called to exercise faith. Hebrews 11 says without faith it's impossible to please God. So every one of us is called to have faith. But this is a, again, a supernatural, this is a super spiritual gift. It was something God gave, great faith, to believe him, to trust him in impossible circumstances. It is a spiritual gifting of faith. Healing, this is a gift given to the apostles and their associates in the early church, and they could actually do healings, which has since passed away. Miracles, along the same line. It's temporary, they are signed gifts to validate the gospel before the word of God is completed, but there were those who were given the ability to do healings and to do miracles. The next is prophecy. This is declaring the purposes of God. And before the scriptures were concluded, before the canon was completed, there were those who had the ability to foretell truth that had not yet happened. What happened when the word of God was completed? We'll get to that in chapter 13. But he tells us that they've come to a close. So prophecy, it's a preaching gift, declaring the purposes of God. Then the discerning of spirits, that's the ability to be able to identify the counterfeit, Satan, mimicking, imitating, seeking to divide or hurt the church, bringing about heresies and false teachings. And this person who has this gift of discernment is one who can identify that, hey, that's not true, that's not right. That's not in line with Scripture. They're gifted by God in a supernatural way with this ability to discern, hey, that's not the Spirit of God, that's the Spirit of Antichrist. That's what we were told in 1 John. And so it's a gifting by God. And then the gift of tongues. These diversity of tongues, speaking of those who were enabled by God, gifted by God to speak, with supernatural power languages actual known languages that they had never studied or learned he says diverse kinds of tongues that eliminates those who would say well this is some kind of an angelic language something that they would do We're already told that each of these gifts are for the purpose of building up the body. That's what it says back in verse seven, to every man to profit with all. So it's a gift. All of these are going to glorify God. All of them are going to be able to build up the church and all of them are going to be able to help enable us to spread the gospel. Some of the other gifts that you might come across are gifts of leadership or administration, gift of helps or gifts of service, gifts of mercy. While these ones aren't mentioned here, there are actual giftings given to us today as children of God that he intends for us to use together for his glory and the spread of the gospel. And then he continues, not only the tongues, those who were enabled by God, just like in the day of Pentecost, they could speak, Languages, God enabled them to speak in languages that they had not studied. Languages they had not learned. Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China, and he had been there for many years when a group of seven young Cambridge students had launched out into their own missionary careers. They were famous. These guys, they traveled not only around England, they traveled the United States. They were getting prayer support. They were enlisting volunteers. Let's go get the gospel to the Chinese. And while they were there, they were on a boat with this famous missionary, Hudson Taylor. And the Cambridge Seven got in their mind, you know what, it's a very difficult language. It'd be very difficult for us to each learn the Mandarin language. Why don't we just pray and ask God to give us the gift of tongues so that we could speak in Mandarin? And so they were praying, they were having a prayer meeting. And veteran missionary hero, Hudson Taylor, comes over and puts his arm on their shoulder and he says, excuse me, brother, it might be better that you start to study. This gift has since ceased. It was a temporary gift to validate the scriptures, to validate the messiahship of Jesus Christ. Then what always went along with it? The interpreter, it says, the last gift given at the end of verse 10, he says, in the interpretation of tongues. So there was always somebody present who understood what they were saying. Now, they didn't know that language either, but they were enabled by God to understand that language and tell everyone else so it could be a benefit. So they were given the gospel, to people who spoke other languages, but there were those in the church who would need to hear what was being said. Chapter 14, we'll talk more about this. But one of the key verses of chapter 14 in this relation, it says, let all things be done decently and in order. And so, what people would call the gift of tongues today is rarely decently done and in order. So these were supernatural enablements. I don't want you to get hung up in the gifts for the moment, okay? Understand the purpose, right? They're given by God for unity, they're given by God for harmony, and they're given by God for what? For ministry, right? So we're to use our gifts together in concert, to get the gospel out, to build up the church, to help fellow believers see dangers and cautions, and we do these things together. Now what happens if one Christian says, no thanks, uh-uh, I'm not gonna use my gift, or I'm gonna use it my way, I wanna use my gift for people to look at me and think I'm something wonderful. Well then the Holy Spirit of God isn't being able to lead, has he? He's being quenched. And even these supernatural spiritual enablements can be something that could be divisive, and that's exactly what was happening in the Church of Corinth. These gifts, this very gifted church, had turned on one another. And rather than rise above the smog, they had been consumed by it. Though they were saved, and though they were united together in a church, and though they had the Holy Spirit and were gifted by him, They reeked of the stench of the sin smog to their divisive spirit, their divisive nature. The church is really a simple machine. It's not that complicated. What God has called us to do today in our world isn't complicated. I mean, simple machines like the pulley or the screw, the lever. The wheel and axle, all of these, these are simple machines. They've been around. I mean, the Greeks studied them. Copernicus wrote of them. And then years later, Galileo was fascinated by simple machines. And we come to our present day. And most every invention in the world has something, some simple machine to thank. A simple concept that makes a difficult task easy. And whether you're mowing the lawn or planting flowers with a shovel, you may not realize it, but you're using, day by day, you're using some kind of simple machine to get work done. God's work is done in the world through something that's actually pretty simple. It's the local church. It's made up of individuals who have been saved. They've repented of their sin and come to faith in Jesus Christ. They've believed on God. They've been given the Spirit of God and they've been given these gifts to exercise together. You say, well, that's it? I mean, does it require a multi-billion dollar budget to reach the world? Well, it might require some leaving one flock and going to a place and starting another one. It might mean you're going to a foreign area. But our mission is still the same, and the process is very simple. Spirit-filled saints using spiritual gifts for gospel purposes, that's what God intends. So don't fly away from it. Don't quit flying. Don't fly your own way. Be careful not to get soaked in smog, the smog of sin. What did the church at Corinth need? I mentioned that they were divided. They needed to grow in the gospel, grow in their understanding of who God is and who they were and what a church was to be. They were to grow in unity and service. And so, as Paul has been writing this letter, now we're already to chapter 12, but all along he's dealt with a number of these issues, but for the last few chapters, chapters 12 and 13 and 14, he's gonna be talking about specifically spiritual gifts. And then we get to chapter 15, he's gonna be talking about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and our future resurrection. And in these chapters, Paul is bringing a divided church and he's bringing them together. And kind of the beginning of this, how do we come together as a church? Well, in chapter 11, he gave us one thing. Communion, we call it. When we gather around the Lord's table to remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We do that, we did it last week. as we observe communion, but he also introduces them to one other topic, community. It's us working, serving God together, and he intends it to bring about unity in the church, to accomplish his purposes. But what's interesting in chapter 12, we see these gifts, there's a lot of gifts, and there's many that aren't mentioned there. These gifts are not given to divide us, they're actually given to unite us. Next week we'll look at the fact that they're like parts of a body, or like different parts of the same body. Each believer, I wanna give you four simple truths to close this morning. Number one, each believer has a gift. If you've trusted Christ as Savior, you have a spiritual gift, or gifts, maybe more than one. You have one. Number two, God intends that you understand and use your gift. God wants you to know about it, to use it, to exercise it. Number three, God's gifting are his enablings for gospel ministry and Christian unity. God's giftings are his enablings. So if God has gifted you, if you're saved, you have a gift, God has gifted you for gospel ministry and for Christian unity. Never to be divisive, never to cause contention. It's to unite us. in service, and the greatest act of service that you and I can participate in is what? Is helping to get the gospel to a sin-soaked world, right? And so our giftings, though they may be different, you have a gift of mercy and compassion, and you can empathize. That is a gift that God wants to use for gospel purposes. Maybe it's helping a hurt or wounded or broken fellow believer. and getting them back in shape, getting them back on track, helping them to look to the Lord and trust in Him so that they can get back to giving the gospel. If you have the gift of administration or gift of leadership, maybe God has given you that spiritual gifting to help you to involve and engage other people in spiritual service. Perhaps you have a gift of faith or a gift of giving Or perhaps you have the gift of teaching or preaching. These are God-given gifts, supernatural gifts, not just aptitudes, not just talents. These are given by God and are to be used by God's people for God's glory. Lastly, ministry is the best method for discovering your spiritual gift. So when there's a need, you see a need, you jump in and you help out. And you know what happens along the way is you fill in where there's needs. Hey, we need some people to help here. We need some people to help here. You see a need, hey, I can help with that. You jump in. What happens over time is you're going to be able to, it's gonna hit you like, oh, I really enjoy this. I'm not so great at that. This is something that's, I feel like I can really be a help to other people. Or God's given, I feel like this is a gift God's given. Or perhaps your brother or sister in the Lord puts their arm around you and say, boy, you know what? That's really a blessing. I think God's gifted you in that to be a help to his church. Praise the Lord for that. And it's a right thing for us to encourage one another, to help each other discover our giftings, our gospel giftings. The best way to discover your spiritual gift is to get involved in serving, find a place to serve, join a church, join a flock, unite with it, gather together, serve together, for good or ill, say for God's glory, I wanna make sure that we can sing in the smoke. Father, I thank you for your word today. Thank you for what you've told us about spiritual giftings. Rather than this be a passage that confuses us, I pray that it would be a passage that clarifies who we are and what we're called to be and do as a church. There's one here who has never trusted Christ. You're told this in Romans 9, they don't have the Holy Spirit, they're not yours. But it's not that you don't want them. In fact, you sent your son Jesus to die for them. And you will save them today. You will send your spirit to live within them. If they'll repent of their sins, if they'll turn in faith to Jesus Christ and believe on him as the only way, the only truth, the only life, you'll forgive them, you'll cleanse them. Welcome them into your eternal family. And Father, I pray that we would then, as a church, be united, that we would be in harmony, and that we would not lose sight of the fact that we're here on this earth. We are living in the sin smog today for ministry purposes. To lift our voice in song, but to flap our wings in service. In Jesus' name, amen.