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Sermon Notes
THE GENEROUS LIFE
Week 2 · September 20
What You Hold Was Never Just Yours
Exodus 31:1–6; 35:30–35; 1 Peter 4:10–11; 1 Corinthians 12:4–27 (ESV)
- Widen the category.
- What are spiritual gifts?
- Spiritual gifts
- Natural abilities
- Vocations all count.
- If it’s good and it’s yours, it came from God.
- Provided and Empowered. (Exodus 31, 35)
- God filled Bezalel with His Spirit for craftsmanship.
- One offered skill mobilized a whole community.
- Received to give away. (1 Peter 4:10–11)
- As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another.
- The body needs you, and you need the body. (1 Corinthians 12)
- No one is exempt.
- No gift is too small.
This week
Name one ability, skill, or gift you have quietly written off as too ordinary to matter.
Ask God to show you one way to offer it, this week, for someone else’s good.
Reflection/Application Questions
Exodus 31:1–6; 35:30–35; 1 Peter 4:10–11; 1 Corinthians 12:4–27 (ESV)
- When you hear the word “gifted,” who or what comes to mind? Has that word ever made you feel like your own abilities didn’t count?
- Read Exodus 31:1–5.
- God fills a craftsman with His Spirit for metalwork and artistry. Does it surprise you that skilled, practical work can be Spirit-filled work? Why or why not?
- Read Exodus 35:21, 25–26 and 36:5–7.
- How did one man’s willingness to use his ability affect the whole community? What happened to their generosity once they saw the work being done well?
- Read 1 Peter 4:10–11.
- Break the verse into its pieces: received, use it, serve, God’s strength, God’s glory. Which piece is hardest for you to actually live out?
- Read 1 Corinthians 12:14–16.
- Have you ever thought or said some version of “I’m not gifted, so this isn’t for me”? What did Paul say to the foot that tried to say the same thing?
- Read 1 Corinthians 12:21–26.
- What does it mean that the parts we’d consider weaker are indispensable? How does this apply beyond church, to your family, workplace, or friendships?
- Name one ability, spiritual gift, or vocational skill you have. Be specific, it does not have to sound spiritual.
- Where have you been holding that ability privately, using it only for yourself, rather than offering it?
- What would it look like to offer it this week?
Prayer
Ask God to show each person in the group one specific way to use what they have been given for someone else’s good this week. Pray for the courage to actually offer it.
Time of Response
Take a few minutes of silence. Allow your own thoughts to quiet and be still. Where does the Holy Spirit want you to decrease so that Christ could increase in your life? What part of your life, if reduced, would make more room for you to thrive spiritually?
QUESTIONS TO ASK WHILE READING SCRIPTURE
What does this reveal about God?
What does this reveal about you in relation to God?
What do you need to do about it?
The Covenant Prayer from John Wesley's Covenant Service, 1780 (adapted)
I am no longer my own,
but Yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing,
put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for You or laid aside for You,
exalted for You or brought low for You.
Let me be full,
let me be empty.
Let me have all things,
let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to Your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
You are mine,
and I am Yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
I HAVE A QUESTION
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(On occasion, questions answered following Sunday.)
How Can I Be Intentional When Reading Scripture?
One Method To Use When Reading Scripture:
The S.O.A.P.S. Method
S.cripture: Write down the Bible passage you will be studying.
O.bservations: Examine the text and write down what you notice and see. Start with the obvious and move to the deeper.
A.pplication: Apply God’s Word to your life in a practical way. What is God saying about Himself, about you and about what He is calling you to?
P.rayer: Respond to God’s Word with your own words.
S.hare: Commit to share what God is showing you with someone else.
- Inductive Bible Study:
- Observation (what does the passage say?)
- What is happening in the passage?
- Who is involved in the passage?
- What happened before and after the passage.
- Where are they located and how is that influencing the passage.
- Interpretation (what does it mean?)
- What is the passage saying considering everything I have observed and what I know from the rest of Scripture
- What does the scripture say within context of the entirety of Scripture?
- Application (how does it apply to my life?)
- What does the passage say about God?
- What does the passage say about me and to me?
- What am I being called to DO because of the passage of Scripture?
How do I talk with God?
WAYS TO PRAY
One Way to talk with God is to:
Pause.
Rejoice.
Ask.
Yield.
ANOTHER OPTION
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication: Requests
