Preaching, singing… these are not the only gifts the church needs. They aren’t even the most important gifts, necessarily. Sharing our talents is all about letting the Holy Spirit work within you to accomplish God’s will in the life of the body of Christ. It’s not about skill level. It’s not about flawless execution. It’s about surrendering yourself to be part of something that is precious to God.

God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

Romans 12:6-8Romans 12:6-8
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
6 . God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. ⁷ If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. ⁸ If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.

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God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. And with this list, God makes little distinction between gifts that are entirely supernatural and those that come from our genes, our upbringing, and our circumstances. Our personality, our social setting, our training, our passions – all of these can be used to benefit the people of God. Our whole makeup is unique, and God intends to work from the whole of who you are, not just one piece.

I, as many have, struggled with feelings of inadequacy when I was a youg believer. I still do at times. As we talked yesterday, there can be a feeling that someone else is more qualified. But God never makes it a point of comparison. He simply wants you to offer what you have. And we desperately need to challenge each other to make use of our gifts, our talents. If we don’t we can be sure something is missing.

But back to my first statement… We seem to get this idea that the useful gifts are the ones we see in “service”. Preaching. Singing. Dancing. Drama. Those without these leanings can see the modern church and think, where do I fit in? Do I have a role that is important? The thing to notice in Romans 12:6-8Romans 12:6-8
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
6 . God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. ⁷ If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. ⁸ If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.

WP-Bible plugin is that the gifts in mind are not “up front” gifts; they are “in between” gifts. They are gifts and talents that plant,  develop and protect community and the relationships within the body. A church can fill itself up on Sunday based on a short-list of people who can sing and shout the good news. I don’t mean to say it is all show, far from it; but it is not the whole picture. The life of the church is built on what happens throughout the week. Everyone has a role in the community of believers.

Prophecy, revealing God’s will and direction, is absolutely essential as the body accomplishes its mission of making new disciples, watching for the movement of the spirit inthe larger world. Serving others – helping them deal with a computer glich, cooking meals, watching kids so someone can make it to an appointment, helping them move – these are the things that close relationships are made of. Teaching is not restricted to Sunday morning or Sunday evening. We need the constant reminder from those with God-given talent, that we must ingest God’s word in order to fulfill the command to love God with our whole mind, soul and strength.

Encouragement, both uplifting and critical, helps keep us on the right course. We need the body surrounding us with advice, wisdom, thanks and appreciation. We need to be both givers and takers in this arena. Money – and anything we possess: if you have an ability to give, or to use money wisely, even cunningly, then use your gift! Fulfill God’s call and care for those who can’t meet the need. Resist the urge to fall back feeling “used”, instead looking at every opportunity to share as an opportunity to give to Christ himself.

Leadership is critical, and best played out when the leader recognizes the stewardship that God has given them. And kindness richly shows God’s love: caring for children, widows, those dealing with grief, humiliation and even death. It is about taking your past experiences and turning them into grace, forgiveness and hope for another individual. Where would the body be without those gifted with kindness?

In all of these is an expectation: that what God has given will be used. So what has God given you, and how are you using it? Are you a loner Christian, outside of active community? Or have you jumped in with both feet, accepting the call to use whatever you are for God’s glory and God’s people?

So, this week we finished up the last Sunday night episode in the R12 series. Rather than read much today, you have a task:

1. Pray, asking God to make our body a place where disciples are continually found, developed and sent out.
2. Write a letter to someone who has provided true, authentic community in your life. Tell them what their friendship has meant to you and how their life has had an impact on you. You may recognize this from the “Live It Out” section of our workbook, question 2.

If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen? And God himself has commanded that we must love not only him but our Christian brothers and sisters, too.

1 John 4:20-211 John 4:20-21
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
20 But if we say we love God and don't love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don't love the people we can see? ²¹ The commandment that God has given us is: “Love God and love each other!”

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Have you ever been in one of those moods? The ones where you think, “Nobody really cares about me.” Or, “There’s nothing special about me.” These are not God’s thoughts about us. This is not how God sees us. Each of us is important – uniquely designed by a loving creator. Though, as we are jokingly warned, some of us may have been created as a warning to others…

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up n the morning you are still with me!

Psalm 139:13-18Psalm 139:13-18
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
13 You are the one who put me together inside my mother's body, ¹⁴ and I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me. Everything you do is marvelous! Of this I have no doubt. ¹⁵ Nothing about me is hidden from you! I was secretly woven together deep in the earth below, ¹⁶ but with your own eyes you saw my body being formed. Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do. ¹⁷ Your thoughts are far beyond my understanding, much more than I could ever imagine. ¹⁸ I try to count your thoughts, but they outnumber the grains of sand on the beach. And when I awake, I will find you nearby.

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All joking aside, these verses say a mouthful about what God thinks of us. Most of us only approach these verses with a mental association to anti-abortion rhetoric, but the intended message is much richer. More than just an argument against killing an innocent, the Psalmist beautifully illustrates his thoughts into God’s creative activity. As he thinks about how God has prepared him, guided him, protected him, he is left in awe.

Consider this: The writer of this poem could have chosen any time of his life to illustrate God’s loving care and concern. He could have pointed out a time when he was sick and God healed him, or a time when he did not know which way to turn, and received a word from God’s Spirit to direct him. So many other moments he might have shared – yet he chose this one, one he can’t even remember! When you think about it, it is one moment in life when we are completely dependent on someone else. At any other time in our life we might boast in some skill, some power, some innate ability that pulled us through. But in the womb we are utterly helpless. Yet God is present and at work. He not only sees, but carefully charts out the days of life in advance, that we can rest in his promises. We have nothing to fear, even in our weakest day.

That God would choose to play a part tells us that we are valuable to him. He may appear difficult to approach in our sin, but he is not aloof. Even the most hardened in sin receives the benefits of God’s loving provision. How much more the one who is carefully following, making the most of every opportunity to offer the good news about Jesus. Such a one can be comforted in any circumstance by the knowledge of God’s presence.

That is what “identity” should really remind us of as followers of Jesus. Presence. Our identity is bound up in the fact that the Spirit is a constant presence in our lives. Our “purpose” is wrapped up in doing the same works, and greater, that Christ did. We were even prepared to do them. We need only ask ourselves how the Father would respond to those around us, and we know what we must do. This is how we know who we are. It is not possible for us to separate our activity from our being. They are wrapped up together.

Turning to the end, the writer offers: “And when I wake up in the morning you are still with me.” It is like a sigh of relief. A thank you. It represents a whole life made whole by God, having recognized that if God was present and involved at birth, he is still present.

Still active.

There are two consistent responses that are natural to man when faced with a challenge – fight, and flight. This is true with our circumstances, our relationships with others, and even our relationship with God. As we think about our identity, and measuring ourselves against Christ, we find that we are not exactly comfortable with our position. We can choose to engage him in battle – though if we do it with honesty we should come to it with a sense of impending failure. Or we can choose to run – an equally humiliating venture without the slightest hope of success.

God’s strength is surely greater than our own. A head on assault on God ends as it did with Job:

Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Do you know how its dimensions were determined and who did the surveying? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

Who defined the boundaries of the sea as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and thick darkness? For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, “Thus far and non further will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!”

Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? Have you ever told the daylight to spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness? For the features of the earth take shape as the light approaches, and the dawn is robed in red. The light disturbs the haunts of the wicked, and it stops the arm that is raised in violence.

Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you walked about and explored their depths? Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!

Where does the light come from, and where does the darkness go? Can you take it to its home? Do you know how to get there? But of course you know all of this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!

Job 38:1-21Job 38:1-21
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
38 The Lord Speaks From Out of a Storm ¹ From out of a storm, the Lord said to Job: ² Why do you talk so much when you know so little? ³ Now get ready to face me! Can you answer the questions I ask? ⁴ How did I lay the foundation for the earth? Were you there? ⁵ Doubtless you know who decided its length and width. ⁶ What supports the foundation? Who placed the cornerstone, ⁷ . while morning stars sang, and angels rejoiced? ⁸ . When the ocean was born, I set its boundaries ⁹ and wrapped it in blankets of thickest fog. ¹⁰ Then I built a wall around it, locked the gates, ¹¹ and said, “Your powerful waves stop here! They can go no farther.” Did You Ever Tell the Sun To Rise? ¹² Did you ever tell the sun to rise? And did it obey? ¹³ Did it take hold of the earth and shake out the wicked like dust from a rug? ¹⁴ Early dawn outlines the hills like stitches on clothing or sketches on clay. ¹⁵ But its light is too much for those who are evil, and their power is broken. ¹⁶ Job, have you ever walked on the ocean floor? ¹⁷ Have you seen the gate to the world of the dead? ¹⁸ And how large is the earth? Tell me, if you know! ¹⁹ Where is the home of light, and where does darkness live? ²⁰ Can you lead them home? ²¹ I'm certain you must be able to, since you were already born when I created everything.

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Confronted head-on by God, Job covered his mouth. What could he hope to say in defense, let alone offense? So it seems only natural that we so often choose flight when confronted by God. Hiding, running, trying to escape from his presence – as Adam did, along with Eve. Only, Psalm 139 is clear – there is no escaping from God. Wherever you might hope to hide, he is already there.

I can never escape from your spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night – but even in the darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are both alike to you.

Psalm 139:7-12Psalm 139:7-12
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
7 Where could I go to escape from your Spirit or from your sight? ⁸ If I were to climb up to the highest heavens, you would be there. If I were to dig down to the world of the dead you would also be there. ⁹ Suppose I had wings like the dawning day and flew across the ocean. ¹⁰ Even then your powerful arm would guide and protect me. ¹¹ Or suppose I said, “I'll hide in the dark until night comes to cover me over.” ¹² But you see in the dark because daylight and dark are all the same to you.

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I like how God has brought the thoughts of these passages together. Both share so many elements; They both consider light and darkness. Both consider the effect of dawn, its constant approach, along with our inability to reach it. They both consider death. They both look at the extent of the oceans, an earthly feature both majestic and forbidding. They both highlight the dim awareness we have about the immensity of what God has created and our own place within it.

The essential difference in these two passages lies not in the elements of light, water and boundaries, but in the response God offers. To the one in flight, God offers constant presence. He simply cannot be avoided. To the one who fights, God offers incomprehensible reach. In both God’s call is to look at creation and our own wisdom and knowledge. Any place we might run to avoid God, he created. The lines blur between his absolute presence and his absolute power.

God does not want us to endlessly pursue a battle with him. And he doesn’t want us to live all our days scurrying away from him in fear and shame. He wants us to come to the point where we will submit our lives to him, to be used in the way we were created to be used. Both fight and flight are a waste of what God has given us: time, energy and potential.

So which do you struggle with more? Do you fight against God, putting up barriers to his will and purpose in your life? Or do you just run, hoping to avoid God’s presence and activity in your life? Or do you swing back and forth, one moment challenging God to a duel, the next minute dashing off hoping to outrun him?

Take off the running shoes. Put your fists down. Ask God to daily show you who you really are, the way he intended.

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know!

Psalm 139:1-6Psalm 139:1-6
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
139 The Lord Is Always Near ¹ You have looked deep into my heart, Lord, and you know all about me. ² You know when I am resting or when I am working, and from heaven you discover my thoughts. ³ You notice everything I do and everywhere I go. ⁴ Before I even speak a word, you know what I will say, ⁵ and with your powerful arm you protect me from every side. ⁶ I can't understand all of this! Such wonderful knowledge is far above me.

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What a comfort to be known so intimately by one who cares so deeply!

The writer of this Psalm was wise to recognize that this knoweldge was too much for him to grasp. We can only begin to imagine the depths of God’s wisdom and understanding. We look at our lives one moment at a time. We can guess at cause and effect with our actions, but can never be sure that the future is certain or definite. Often, what we expect to be our future never sees the light of day.

God sees our life from an entirely different vantage. He does not have to react moment by moment as things come up. Nothing takes him by surprise. He doesn’t have to fret over his next move – as we often do, so unsure of what direction to take. That he is concerned at all for us is a great mystery – so insignificant and yet so valued.

Today, I want you to consider your trust of God’s direction. Is it a struggle following his leading? Do you find yourself clinging to your own way of doing things, fighting against him? Do you find yourself not really fighting, but not really following either? Has a change in your heart occurred to where you follow whole-heartedly, submitting your entire life to his lead?

God knows the words of our mouths before they have even been spoken. Our hearts lay equally bare. God wants us to turn our whole lives over to him so that we might find our value in Him. Rather than being torn up by a world out of touch with his values, rather than trusting in what those around us can do, rather than look for the next compliment or marinate in the the latest slander, we must look to God to understand what it is we are here for.