Sermon Tone Analysis

Gal 5:22-23

Love Agape All believers who have the Holy Spirit should manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit in their daily lives.

Fruit of the Spirit is developed through the believer’s walk with God.

God purifies us to use us.

Christians whose lives are consistent and unfettered by carnality will be free from condemnation.

They will have a good reputation.

They will be powerful.

Spiritual maturity means a greater understanding of the Spirit of God and the needs of people.

Then we can best exercise gifts.

Maturity develops sensitivity to the Spirit, so one might understand how the gifts operate and when they are needed.

We will see the balance and not move to extremes

Systematic Theology: Revised Edition (The Exercise of the Gifts)

When we do not understand the nature and purpose of gifts, we focus on the wrong issues.

The question is not primarily what my gifts are, but how to exercise gifts to build the Church.

Rom !2:6 , !cor 12:4, 9,28, 30-31.

My opposition to spiritual gifts was also energized by fear—the fear of emotionalism; the fear of fanaticism; the fear of the unfamiliar; the fear of rejection by those whose respect I cherished and whose friendship I did not want to forfeit; the fear of what might occur were I fully to relinquish control of my life and mind and emotions to the Holy Spirit; the fear of losing what little status in the evangelical community my hard work had attained

Sam Storms, The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers: a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014), 11.

Spiritual gifts are nothing less than God Himself in us, energizing our souls, imparting revelation to our minds, infusing power in our wills and working His sovereign and gracious purposes through us.

Spiritual gifts must never be viewed deistically, as if a God “out there” has sent some “thing” to us “down here.”

Spiritual gifts are God present in, with and through human thoughts, human deeds, human words, human love

Sam Storms, The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers: a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014), 12.

Is anyone struggling financially with few prospects to get them out of the hole?

Do something courageous.

Give them your last $50 and trust God to supply your need.

Do you know people who are confused about some verse of Scripture they just read in their devotional time?

Perhaps you’re just as befuddled as they are.

Pull out a concordance, a study Bible, perhaps a commentary from the church library, and study a bit.

Then sit down with your friend(s) and put your heads (and hearts) together and pray for the Spirit to shed light on your thinking.

Is anyone struggling with sin? (Well, of course they are!) Offer to pray for them.

But before you do, sit quietly together and ask the Lord to guide your thoughts and speak words of wisdom to your soul.

If you sense something, or a thought comes to mind, share it with them.

It might be the key that opens the door to their hearts and brings freedom from bondage.

Does the person you just prayed for report hearing voices in his or her head?

Does this person struggle with paralyzing shame, virtually bombarded on a daily basis by accusing thoughts and self-contempt?

If so, speak the Word of God over him or her with authority.

In the name of Christ, command any demonic spirits to leave and never to return.

Pray for this person to be filled afresh with the Holy Spirit.

Do you know anyone overwhelmed by the clutter in their garage and that ever-increasing mountain of dirty laundry?

Offer to spend Saturday with them, helping out, picking up, washing, drying, folding and putting away clothes.

None of this sounds especially spectacular.

(Well, maybe some of it does.)

So what am I getting at with these questions?

Simply this: If we spend less time searching to identify our spiritual gift(s) and more time actually praying and giving and helping and teaching and serving and exhorting those around us, the likelihood greatly increases that we will walk headlong into our gifting without ever knowing what happened.

God will more likely meet us with His gifts in the midst of trying to help His children than He ever would while we’re taking a spiritual gifts analysis test.

Sam Storms, The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers: a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014), 201–202.

earlier raised the question of whether there might be spiritual gifts beyond those explicitly mentioned in the New Testament.

I’m inclined to believe there are potentially as many gifts as there are needs in the life of the Church and in the experience of individual Christians.

So, look for a need and meet it.

Find a hurt and heal it.

Be alert to the cry for help and answer it.

Listen for the voice of God and speak it.

Identify someone’s weakness and overcome it.

Look for what’s missing and supply it.

When you do, the power of God—the energizing, enabling, charismatic activity of the Holy Spirit—will equip you, perhaps only once, but possibly forever, to minister hope and encouragement to those in need.

So, if you’re still wondering what your gift(s) might be, act first and ask later.

Sam Storms, The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers: a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014), 202–203.

Jam5:13-18,