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Hello and welcome to the
Middletown Baptist Church Podcast,

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where we are proclaiming the
truth to the world.

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In this podcast series, we're
going to be looking into biblical

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words that have great
significance to our faith.

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The name of this series is
called the Word of the Week, where

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once a week we will dive
deeper into these words that we are

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familiar with in Scripture.

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So come along with me.

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Let's study the Word of the week.

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Pastor Josh here with another
word of the week.

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The word of the week is gift.

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We talked about gifts last
week, and we specifically talked

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about the greatest gift that
was ever given to us, and that is

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the gift of Jesus Christ, the
gift of salvation, the gift of the

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Gospel.

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The Bible says, for by grace
are you saved through faith, and

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that not of yourselves.

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It is a gift of God, not.

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Of works, lest any man should boast.

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And so the Bible tells us that.

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We as believers have received
and believed in the gift of grace.

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But you know what?

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As a believer, the Bible tells
us that as we have received that

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gift.

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Of grace in our salvation, we
also have received a gift of the

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Holy Spirit, meaning we have
been given something supernaturally

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so that we can use that gift
for a purpose.

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And so that's what we're going
to be looking at here this week.

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At least that's what we're
going to be starting with here this

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week.

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We will be looking at this for
the next few weeks.

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And that is the idea of
service within our Christian walk.

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What does it mean to use our
spiritual gift or spiritual gifts?

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The Bible says in First Peter,
Chapter 4, Verse 10, as every man

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hath received the gift.

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So the Bible tells us here in
First Peter, Chapter 4, that every

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believer has received at least
one gift, one spiritual gift.

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Now, I want to be clear that
this isn't talking about natural

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talent.

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This isn't talking about
something that we're inclined to

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be like.

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This is specifically talking
about a gift.

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That'S given to us through the
Holy Spirit, through the indwelling

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of the Spirit.

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So give you an example of this.

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The Bible does not say that a
spiritual gift in this case, in this

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definition would be like
singing talent or building something

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or being able to cook really well.

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That's not necessarily what
the Bible defines as a spiritual

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gift.

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Now, God does give individuals
gifts within their life, or we could

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call them talents.

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That would be musical talent
or a gift of cooking or the opportunity

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to.

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Maybe use their hands to build something.

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But the Bible says that we use
those natural talents for these supernatural

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gifts.

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So we'll talk a little bit about.

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That here in a few moments.

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But it says that everyone has
received this.

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And so if you are a believer
in Jesus Christ, if you have trusted

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in him in faith to save you
from your sins, you are indwelled

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by the Spirit.

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And in that indwelling of the
Spirit, we have been given a gift

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from God.

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We're going to see what that looks.

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Like here in a few moments.

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But it says that everyone has
received a gift, and then it tells

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us what we are to do with that gift.

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You know, I think a lot of
times in our life we think of a gift

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is something that we take.

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And we hold to ourselves.

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But actually it says here what
we are supposed to do with that gift.

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It says, even so, minister the
same one to another as good stewards

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of.

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The manifold grace of God.

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Now what does that mean?

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That means this.

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The gift was given to us to
use to serve God, to give to other

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people.

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So says, minister or serve the
same one to another.

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And so the gift is not given
to us to keep to ourselves.

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The gift is not given to us so
that we can get attention or that

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we can get praise.

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It says, no, we are given the
gift so that we would minister or.

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Serve one another as good stewards.

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And we've talked about
stewardship on this podcast before.

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But stewardship is essentially
using what has been given to us for

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the cause of the person that
has given it to us.

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So we've been entrusted with something.

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It's not ours to own, it's ours.

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To steward over, to manage over.

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So God has given you, pure believer.

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God has given me a gift or
gifts so that we would serve one

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another.

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And that is the proof of our
love for God.

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That is the proof for us
demonstrating our stewardship to

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God.

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So it says, do that as good.

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Stewards of the manifold or
the varied grace of God.

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Which means that there's
different gifts.

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You know, you might have three people.

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Sitting next to you in church, and.

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All three of those people
might have been gifted differently

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by the Lord.

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Maybe some have been gifted in hospitality.

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Verse 9 of First Peter,
chapter 4 says, Use hospitality one

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to another without grudging.

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So?

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So we also will see in Romans.

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Chapter 12 that one of the
spiritual gifts is hospitality.

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Now going back to that analogy
before, between the natural talents,

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or you could even say the God
given talents and the spiritual gift.

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Let's say, for example,
somebody was given the talent that

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they can cook really well.

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That's not the spiritual gift,
because an unsafe person can cook

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really well.

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But what we can see is that as
God has gifted us with those talents,

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we can use those talents in.

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The area of our spiritual gift.

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So in that analogy, God has
given me the talent of cooking, and

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he's given me the spiritual
gift of hospitality.

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Therefore, I can use that
talent of cooking with the gift of

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hospitality.

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And so there's that ultimate
purpose behind it, right?

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The purpose behind that
cooking would be to be hospitable

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to someone in the name of
Jesus Christ, so that they can know

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him or they can grow in him.

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So it says there, every person
has received the gift, so minister

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the same one to another as
good stewards of.

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The manifold or the varied
grace of God.

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That word manifold just means different.

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And so that's the beauty of God's.

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Gifting when it comes to these spiritual.

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Gifts is that not everybody is
gifted the same way.

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Some people are gifted in the
same way, but other people are gifted

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in a very different way.

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Some people have been gifted
in multiple areas.

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Maybe another person isn't.

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But nonetheless, we are called
to exercise, to live out those things

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in our life so that we can be
good stewards of the grace of God,

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the gift of God.

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Now, I have heard people say,
well, you know what?

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I haven't been gifted in this area.

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So therefore, I don't need to
think about this.

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I don't need to grow in this.

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No, the Bible says that we're
to grow in all these areas.

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But it does very clearly say
that we are gifted in certain areas

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so that it comes more
naturally to us in our lives.

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And then we see verse number
11 in First Peter, chapter 4.

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It kind of speaks of two
different categories of these service

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gifts.

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It says, if any man speak, let
him speak as the oracles of God.

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So we see that there is an
element of a more public ministry,

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a more public gift.

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So speaking that that could be someone.

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Who'S maybe preaching at your church.

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You know that individual has
that gift of preaching, right?

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The gift of.

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And we'll look at Romans,
chapter 12 about these gifts, teaching,

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maybe.

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But it says that there is a
category of these spiritual gifts

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that are.

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More public, more of the
public speaking element.

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So let him speak as the
oracles of God, Meaning he's going

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to use this gift of public speech.

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It is going to be done in the
name of God.

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It needs to be done in the
power of God.

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It needs to be done in the
will of God.

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So there is a stipulation to that.

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I'm not just using this gift
for my own glory, but for the glory

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of God.

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Then it says if any man minister.

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So this is, this is the idea
of service.

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This would be the category of
things behind the scenes.

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Maybe not a public display of
this gift, but maybe a, a private

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display or maybe a display to
only a few people.

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Says, if any man minister, let
him do it as of the ability which

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God giveth.

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Meaning we can't serve unless
we are trusting in the power of God,

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trusting in the strength as
God supplies it.

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You know that verse,
Philippians, chapter 4, verse 13,

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I can do all things through Christ.

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That verse is talking
specifically in context about things

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that God has allowed to come
up into my life, opportunities that

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God has brought into my life
or allowed into my life.

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He's going to give me the
strength to do that.

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So let him do that as the
ability which God hath given him,

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that God in all things may be
glorified through Jesus Christ.

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And so we see that the
ultimate goal for these spiritual

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gifts would be to give glory
to God through Jesus Christ.

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And so we will explore this
thought a little bit more next week.

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But the understanding about
this is that the wrong way to go

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about these spiritual gifts
would be to be doing it for ourselves,

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be doing it for.

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Our own cause, be doing it for
our own glory.

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But the right way, the
spiritual way, the biblical way,

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would be to do these gifts, to
live out these gifts, I should say,

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in a way that glorifies God.

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And then it goes on to say.

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To whom be praise and dominion
forever and ever.

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So the motive behind these
gifts would be to give honor and

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glory to God.

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So let me summarize it this way.

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If you are a believer, you are gifted.

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You are gifted with the grace
of God.

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So it's not something that you
have earned.

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And God in his discretion, God
in his love has given you a specific

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gift or gifts.

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Now, as he has given that
gift, he has also given you a reason

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to have that gift first and foremost.

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That is to serve others.

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But to serve others in the
name of the glory of God.

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And so we use our gifts to the
point where we help people, yes,

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we encourage people, we
educate people, we challenge people.

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But we do that in the name of service.

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But we do that also in the
name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus

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Christ, to the glory of God.

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And so that is the overall principle.

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Of the spiritual gifts.

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Now, next week we will look more.

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Into those specific spiritual
gifts, specifically in the book of

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Romans, Romans chapter 12.

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We call them the ministering
gifts, the service gifts.

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And there's a list of gifts
given there in Romans chapter 12

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that explains.

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These different gifts and how
we are.

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To go about living out these
gifts to other people around us.

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Now, there's a lot of debate about.

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The different list of gifts in Scripture.

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There's three different lists.

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There's the list of
ministering gifts that we see in

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Romans chapter 12.

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That's the one we're going to
spend the most time on because we

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see this passage in First
Peter, chapter four, really speaking

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of that ministering.

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And so these are the
ministering gifts.

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There's also the gift of the
miraculous gifts that we see in the

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Book of Acts and in certain
elements of the New Testament.

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And so those are the
miraculous gifts.

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Those are different than the
ministering gifts.

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I believe different people
vary on that opinion.

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But then we also see that
there are ministerial positional

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gifts.

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Right?

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There's a passage in Ephesians
that talks about on pastors, teachers,

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evangelists.

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And so we're going to be
focusing this in this series on the

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ministering gifts, the service
gifts that are mentioned in Romans

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chapter 12.

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And so I encourage you to
follow along with this series.

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If you've never identified
what your spiritual gift is, this

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could be an opportunity for
you to study along with us and see

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where you fit in that.

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Because the Bible does say
very clearly, if you trust in Jesus

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Christ as your Savior, if you
have the Holy Spirit indwelling you,

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he's given you a.

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Grace, and that he's given you a.

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Gift, not just in salvation,
the greatest gift of salvation, but

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he's also giving you a gift to
use to those for those around you

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for the cause of the Gospel.

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So back in First Peter,
chapter four, he starts in verse

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eight and he says, and above
all things have fervent charity among

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yourselves.

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And so the heart of this is
love for each other.

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And for charity shall cover a
multitude of sins.

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Use hospitality one to another
without grudging.

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So he really is demonstrating
there in that passage that these

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gifts are all about service.

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These gifts are all about
helping others and not helping yourself.

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These gifts are all about
pointing people to Jesus Christ.

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And so I encourage you to
think about that.

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As in the month of December,
we're thinking about gifts here at

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Middletown Baptist Church.

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We're thinking about
ultimately the gift of God's grace

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and his salvation that he
extends to all.

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But then we also think about
as he has gifted us with that salvation,

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he's also gifted us in service.

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And many times we don't see
service as a gift.

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We see salvation as a gift,
but we don't see service as a gift.

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We see Service sometimes as an inconvenience.

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Or we see service sometimes as
something we have to do, even though

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it might not be as pleasurable
as we would like it to be.

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But actually the biblical way
to see it is joyful.

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The biblical way to see it is
coming to it with excitement that

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we.

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Get to serve God because He
has gifted us.

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And so I would really
encourage you to think about that

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when we come to these
spiritual gifts that we're going

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to be talking about next week.

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And I hope that it can be
clear in Scripture where God has

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you to be serving within the
ministry that you are a part of.

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And I hope you are part of.

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A local body of believers, a church.

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If you want to know more about
the church, we have a series on what

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the church is, the definition
of church, and what that looks like

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back in our Word of the Week podcast.

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And I encourage you to look back.

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On that in the catalog there.

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And I hope that would be a
blessing to you.

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So it might not be Middletown
Baptist Church that you attend, but

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I would encourage you to think
about a church that you can be a

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part of and serve in and give
glory to God through your life.

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Now, certainly your gifts are
not designed only for the church.

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I mean, obviously there are.

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There are people that you can
impact outside of the church.

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But I would say that there is
a strong element in the scriptures

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that that really include the
idea of assembling together, edifying

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each other.

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That means building up,
exhorting each other.

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That means challenging, and
then certainly evangelizing, bringing

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the loss to Christ.

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But we also do know that there
is that element of education within

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the church.

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And we're not talking about
just head knowledge, we're talking

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about head knowledge.

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Yes, but also heart knowledge.

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And so all of these elements
kind of fall into that idea of the

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spiritual gift.

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Some people are encouragers.

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Some people are those that are
going to exhort, they're going to

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challenge.

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There's going to be some
people that are going to teach.

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There's going to be some
people that are going to, you know,

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edify each other and build
each other up by.

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Certain areas of service.

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And so I hope that this will
be a time not just for you to understand

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the spiritual gifts, but also
to understand how it looks in your

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own life.

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So thank you so much for being
here this week, listening to this

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podcast.

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We're looking forward to
coming back next week and looking

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more at these spiritual gifts.

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And I encourage you to seek
the Lord in this desire to serve

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him to the best of your ability.

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God bless you.

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We will talk to you next week.

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Have a wonderful week and take care.

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Hey, I really appreciate that
you listened to the Word of the Week

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00:15:27,331 --> 00:15:28,095
podcast.

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00:15:28,435 --> 00:15:32,035
If you have any questions
about the podcast or about our church,

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00:15:32,075 --> 00:15:35,267
Middletown Baptist Church, you
can find more information about us

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00:15:35,291 --> 00:15:37,103
on Facebook, Facebook or YouTube.

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00:15:37,199 --> 00:15:42,759
Or you can find the podcast on
NBCPodcast.org you can contact me

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00:15:42,807 --> 00:15:47,927
directly at Josh
Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch.org stay

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00:15:47,951 --> 00:15:51,183
tuned for future Word of the
Week episodes where we dive deeper

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00:15:51,279 --> 00:15:54,815
into words that impact our
life according to Scripture.

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Thank you so much.

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God Bless.

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We'll talk to you soon.