Spiritual Gifts

This Last Sunday at Kingsfield Church we started a series on Spiritual Gifts. We've been working our way through the book of 1 Corinthians and have finally come to chapter 12.  I'm excited about the next couple of weeks as we tackle the subject and seek to line ourselves up with Gods word concerning the issue of Spiritual Gifts. 

I love that Paul starts the whole thing off with... "now concerning spiritual things, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant."  Go figure...  It seams that the confusion in Corinth is the same confusion that we have today... esteeming people above others based on their gifts, teaching that a "true believers" must have certain gifts, teaching that "any spiritual movement" is a "holy spirit movement", and all the others. Paul deals with them head on, and therefore so will we

Going into the subject I realize that there are many people who become very leery when you begin talking about Spiritual Gifts.  In part I don't blame them because there has been so much abuse.  Some crazy things have been said and done under the banner called "a movement of the Holy Spirit". 

It amazes me how sly the enemy is.  To think that God has gifted the church in such a way that we could have maximum impact and effectiveness as we act in those giftings.  Then to think that the enemy goes and makes "Spiritual gifting", through mimicking and distorting, an uncomfortable and undesirable element with in the church... pushing believers away from what God would desire to do in and through the church as they would engage in their spiritual giftedness. 

It's my prayer that as we move through 1 Cor. 12, 13 and 14 that God would stretch each one of us.  That we would not be ripped off or held back from how God would desire to move in our lives as individuals, and in our church corporately.  That in our study, Gods Word would answer the questions, challenge our hearts, bring balance to our views and mature each of us as believer. 

Chris