#7 Uncover Your Role in God’s Plan

 


Time Stamps

  • 00:00 - Welcome from Matt and Will (now on Instagram too!) 

  • 04:30 - Talk: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit with Dave Connolly 

  • 07:32 - Nine Supernatural Gifts Explained 

  • 11:05 - Examining Our Motives for Pursuing Spiritual Gifts 

  • 14:15 - The Connection Between Gifts and Fruits of the Spirit 

  • 28:33 - Conversation Street: How Spiritual Gifts Change Through Life 

  • 40:15 - Starting Small and Growing in Faith

Understanding the Gifts of the Spirit

As we continued our "Becoming Whole" series this week, Dave Connolly explored one of the most fascinating yet often misunderstood topics in Christianity – the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In our first-ever Instagram livestream, we dove into what these supernatural abilities mean for our journey toward spiritual wholeness.

The Divine Toolbox

Dave began by reading from 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, a passage that outlines nine supernatural gifts that the Holy Spirit distributes among believers:

"Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of service but the same Lord, and there are varieties of activities but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."

These gifts come from a single source (the Holy Spirit), they're given to everyone in the body of Christ, and they're always intended "for the common good."

Dave highlighted how the Spirit "descends, decides, and gives" – meaning the Holy Spirit knows exactly what each community of believers needs and distributes gifts accordingly. "Each church will have unique people but not unique needs," Dave explained, "and the Holy Spirit will exercise his authority to manifest the gifts in the people of God for that church and for that season, for those needs."

The Nine Gifts Explained

Dave provided helpful explanations for each of the nine spiritual gifts mentioned in the passage:

  1. Word of Knowledge – Supernatural insight into things we would not or could not naturally know

  2. Word of Wisdom – Supernatural ability to correctly apply knowledge to a situation

  3. Prophecy – Receiving a direct word from the Lord, usually to give to someone else

  4. Faith – A supernatural measure of faith to trust God for a specific situation

  5. Healing – The supernatural ability to pray for someone to receive healing

  6. Working of Miracles – The supernatural ability to perform divine acts that reveal God to people

  7. Discerning of Spirits – Supernatural insights involving other spirits (angelic or demonic)

  8. Different Kinds of Tongues – Supernatural ability to speak in a natural foreign language or heavenly language

  9. Interpretation of Tongues – Supernatural ability to interpret the heavenly language

During Conversation Street, Matt and Will emphasised that while these gifts may sound extraordinary – even intimidating – they're meant to be part of normal Christian experience.

"If all it is, we just go to church and listen to a self-help sermon..." Matt noted, Christianity isn't merely about good advice; it's about experiencing the supernatural power of God working through ordinary people.

The Heart Behind the Gifts

Perhaps the most important aspect of Dave's message was his emphasis on examining our motives for pursuing spiritual gifts. He referenced the story of Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8:4-24, who offered money to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, seeking the gifts "out of a place of jealousy for personal gain and benefit."

Dave posed a challenging question: "Do we desire to manifest the gifts to make our name known? Or do we really deeply love the Church?"

This theme of motivation continued as Dave turned to 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, where Paul writes that even the most impressive spiritual gifts – prophecy, knowledge, faith that moves mountains – amount to nothing without love.

"The Holy Spirit is our lifelong companion," Dave concluded. "We should strive to develop our ongoing relationship with Him. We should want to see the evidence of His fruit in our lives as we grow and seek to make our heart a home."

An Interesting Connection

Dave highlighted a fascinating numerical observation: there are nine fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) and nine gifts of the Spirit. The number nine in the Bible symbolises divine completeness.

"Where the nine fruits show God's importation of his divine nature into us, the nine gifts are a manifestation of his power working through our lives," Dave explained.

This connection between character (fruits) and power (gifts) reinforces a critical truth – spiritual gifts should always flow from a Christ-like character. Power without love can be destructive or self-serving.

Common Questions About Spiritual Gifts

During Conversation Street, Matt and Will tackled some common questions about how spiritual gifts work in practice:

Can spiritual gifts change throughout different phases of life?

"I think you can have different spiritual gifts at different times of the day," Matt responded. "You can have different gifts depending on who's in front of you as well."

Will agreed, adding that this variability "keeps us humble, keeps us listening, keeps us walking with Him... It's going, 'Well, what do you want me to be operating in at this time?' rather than just saying, 'Oh great, I'm a prophet, that's what I do.'"

How do you know if a spiritual gift is genuine?

"Test the spirits," Will advised, referencing 1 John 4:1. "If they come from the same Lord, we can look at the character behind the gift... If it doesn't match up with the character of God as we understand it from the rest of scripture, then I think that's a really good test."

Matt added that the proof is in the fruit: "It's not for me to stand up and say 'I'm a prophet'... but it's for the Spirit of God to bring that gift through me and bear the fruit of that which bears testament to that."

For someone new to Christianity, why should they care about spiritual gifts?

Will offered this perspective: "They are supernatural. They are something that you do not have ability to do... We all have those moments daily, weekly, when we're at the end of our ability. And [spiritual gifts] are given to us by God in his grace and mercy for those very situations where we can do nothing."

Starting Your Journey with Spiritual Gifts

For those interested in experiencing these gifts in their own lives, Matt and Will offered practical advice:

  1. Start by asking God – Pray specifically about spiritual gifts, asking which ones God might want to manifest through you

  2. Read about them – Study the book of Acts and Paul's letters to understand how these gifts functioned in the early church

  3. Pay attention to what resonates with you – As Matt put it, "Where is it? Where is God leading you?"

  4. Take small steps of faith – "Step out in faith and take [opportunities]," Matt advised. "And when you don't step out in faith because you're a little bit nervous, a little bit anxious, don't waste that, but learn from it."

Will shared a powerful story from his own experience, when his small group offered to pray and listen to God for strangers on Liverpool's docks. Despite their nervousness—"God, you gotta say something because I'm gonna feel just such a fool"—they saw remarkable results as God spoke specifically into people's lives.

One woman on crutches received a word about dancing, which caused her to burst into tears as she revealed her childhood dream of being a dancer—something the person praying couldn't possibly have known. "That just showed her something of God's father heart for her," Will explained.

Moving Forward

As we continue our journey through the "Becoming Whole" series, we'll be exploring the fruits of the Spirit next, examining how these character qualities work together with spiritual gifts to form us into the people God designed us to be.

Whether you're new to the concept of spiritual gifts or have been experiencing them for years, the invitation remains the same: to pursue a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to work through you for the common good of the church and the world.

 
 

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See, Touch, Believe: The Reality of Easter's Miracle