Manifestation of the Spirit

In one paragraph

This message was the opening week of a multi-week study on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12. Pastor Ray worked through verses 1 through 13, taking it slowly and deliberately because, as he said plainly, this section of scripture has divided churches and he wanted to lay a careful foundation before getting into the harder questions. The single verse he kept coming back to was verse 7: the...

Read together

1. Psalm 19:1 opened the service, heavens proclaiming the glory of God
2. 1 Corinthians 12:1-13 main passage for the sermon on spiritual gifts
3. 1 Corinthians 12:7 central verse repeated throughout: manifestation of the spirit given to each one for the common good
4. 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 list of spiritual gifts including wisdom, knowledge, faith, healings, miracles, prophecy, tongues
5. 1 Corinthians 12:11 one Spirit distributing gifts to each one individually as he wills
6. 1 Corinthians 12:12 body is one and has many members, compared to E Pluribus Unum
7. 1 Corinthians 12:13 all baptized into one body, Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, made to drink into one Spirit
8. Ephesians 4:11-12 pastors and teachers equipping the saints to do the ministry of the church
9. Jude 24-25 benediction, God able to keep you from falling away, all glory to him alone

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray pointed out that Paul uses the word 'ignorant' to describe the Corinthians when it comes to spiritual things, and says he does not want them to stay that way. Where do you feel most ignorant when it comes to your own spiritual gifting, and what has kept you there?
2. Pastor Ray said that when we were still 'tribal,' still with our allegiance somewhere else, we were continually being led away to things that were not God. Can you think of a time in your own life when you were being carried away like that, and what did it look like when the Holy Spirit began drawing you back?
3. The sermon keeps returning to one phrase: the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the common good. Pastor Ray said that if a gift is dividing the body of Christ rather than building it up, it is not being used appropriately, and may not be from God at all. How does that standard change the way you think about how gifts should look in practice?
4. Pastor Ray mentioned people in the congregation who said they did not think they had a spiritual gift, partly because they were comparing themselves to gifts that are more visible. He used Francis Solomon, who quietly serves by cleaning and setting up, as an example of a gift that goes largely unseen. What makes it hard to recognize or own a gift that does not put you in front of people?
5. Pastor Ray described the Fiesta Navidenia as a picture of 'out of many, one,' where people with no natural reason to be together came together because they are all members of one body. He also said this church has people from very different backgrounds on the subject of spiritual gifts, and his hope is to come through this study with people firing on all cylinders rather than splitting. What would it take, in your own heart, to stay at the table with someone whose understanding of spiritual gifts is very different from yours?