May 1, 2022 SUNDAY MESSAGE
JOIN US AT 10 AM TODAY!
Transcription Notes:
Last week we started a new teaching series about the Gifts of the Spirit and I explained that we will be focusing our time on the more debated gifts.
Three things:
Take a spiritual gifts Survey
Survey good
Community best
“All can do these things if the spirit chooses but some are given an extra measure, a gift, to operate more in them.”
Mention the videos as mini-lessons
Review the survey results
RAISE YOUR EXPECTATIONS
Megan Keyes’ Donut Story.
Think about the potential effect that had on this woman!
It was SUPERNATURAL in that it displayed knowledge that Megan had absolutely no possible way of knowing.
It was PERSONAL so it hits dramatically different than, say, a general encouragement.
It told this woman: “God hears you, God SEES you, God CARES about you!”
It was MISSIONAL in that:
she was searching spiritually and God answered her prayer even though it
It crossed from a theological framework that was non-christian (we know that right?) and spoke to the concern but answered it biblically
And, though we don’t have the rest of the story, the trajectory is that this woman’s interest was likely piqued to seek out more of what the bible said…after all, Churches are NOT hard to find in the ATL.
NOW, I think…it is possible, that some of us, in this room, have heard of stories of this happening and , perhaps some of you can give a testimony of something similar that happened to you personally…and:
It shaped your faith positively or
It altered the trajectory of your life in a way that bore fruit!
It’s EVEN POSSIBLE that you have had something like this come to mind, enter into your thoughts, and you weren’t sure what to do with it, how to process it, where and IF to share it!
This is the kind of thing we are looking at today and asking the Lord to pour out on our congregation if He is willing to do so in our day...
The Bible calls it a word of wisdom or a word of knowledge.
Thanks again to Hattie for setting us up but I want to dig into this a little more through 1 Corinthians 1…go ahead and turn there now.
1 Cor. 12:7
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of WISDOM, to another a message of KNOWLEDGE by means of the same Spirit,
There are a couple MAIN words in the original language for “WORD” being:
LOGOS
This Greek word has various meanings (refers to Christ as the living word who became flesh in John 1) but one of the main ones is in reference to the scriptures, God’s written word. As we started today, we want to interpret everything through God’s word and establish our understanding of all of this through that lens.
Dezi Baker - really weird guy who operates prophetically that I was learning from and told me stories about supernatural events that would cause most people to question if he was just exaggerating or unstable.
DB: “It’s important for you to know that I didn’t ask for this, it just started happening. I believe in the sufficiency of scripture wholeheartedly. In fact, if God stopped today, there is more than enough for us to do and accomplish in scriptures to fill up many lifetimes, but for some reason, he decided to speak more directly.”
So, the bible is our foundation and, if you hear anything that is contrary to this, you’re wrong…it’s that simple.
Ways of reading God’s word:
Study
Devotionally (this will come into play later)
RHEMA word is the Spoken word, used in Greek philosophy to refer to a sentence but often has a
Couple DEFINITIONS in christian circles:
Charismatic - Rhema is distinctly for a word in season.
Evangelical - Rhema and Logos are essentially synonymous
Inconclusive for me…
But, I want you to hear this more specifically. If you want to hear Rhema words, or ANY supernatural word from God,you need to become VERY VERY familiar with this word.
If you believe you are hearing from God, and you have access to this, but you are NOT reading it, don’t come at me with a word from God.
The two phrases used in greek here in 1 Cor. 12 are:
“Logos Sophia” and
“Logos gnōseōs (pr. “gNosis”).”
Let me give you general definitions to start us off…
Logos Sophia is an “utterance, message, or word of Wisdom”
Lit Gk: Wisdom meaning having the capacity to understand and function accordingly, wisdom.
JNT: Supernatural wisdom about how to solve a practical or spiritual problem. A homey example: my wife has what I playfully call the “gift of finding”; although she has plenty of sekhel (common sense) in knowing how to look for a lost item, not infrequently, in response to prayer, God reveals to her supernaturally where the missing item is located. (I provide her many opportunities to exercise her gift, since I seem to have the “gift” of losing.)
Faithlife Study: The Greek phrase used here, logos sophias, likely alludes to Paul’s discussion from 1:17–2:16 and should be understood in light of his teaching about wisdom from the Spirit in 2:6–16. The emphasis is not on wisdom itself but on the word or message produced by that wisdom. Wisdom is characterized by observing the natural order of things, or cause and effect. Biblical wisdom involves discerning what God would have someone do as a result of that observation
Logos Gnosis is an “utterance, message, or word of Knowledge”
Lit Gk: Knowledge is the Comprehension or intellectual grasp of someth., knowledge as possessed by God
JNT: Word of knowledge, supernatural knowledge relevant to understanding a situation. Example: a pastor expelling demons from a woman was told by the Spirit that the demons were connected with “smell of mother”; it seems unlikely that hours of questioning the subject would have revealed that in times of stress she would smell the pillows her deceased mother once used.
Faithlife Study: This gift appears to specifically address the Corinthian overemphasis on knowledge while highlighting the pride that characterizes their knowledge (e.g., 8:1–7). It likely has to do with enriching others, particularly in light of the testimony of Christ working among people (1:4–6).
Ken’s Definitions
Q: how do we know this actually talking about something supernatural and not just a generally wise and knowledgeable person?
No..this is why:
It’s definitely referring to something earlier in the text from chapters 1-2
Let’s to to 1 Corinthians 2:6-16
1 Cor. 2:6-16
6 We do, however, speak a MESSAGE OF WISDOM among the mature, but NOT the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare GOD’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
First, this establishes that there is an UNCOMMON wisdom, and UNCOMMON knowledge, from God, to be known.
It’s beyond the “rulers of this age” and “it’s what no eye has seen nor ear has heard and no human mind has conceived” and it is “something revealed to us by his Spirit.”
Now, to be clear, the example of this knowledge, in the context of this section, is directly referring to the revelation that Gentiles will be included or GRAFTED IN to the Kingdom of God with the Jews through the covenant (Not NEW knowledge bc it was being foretold in the OT but we unable to decipher it maybe bc God didn’t reveal it yet).
But it’s couched in a broader sense that there is uncommon knowledge and this is one example (A huge reveal to be sure!) but there is more to be tapped into.
Listen to the language used to describe it like. It continues like this in verse 10:
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
So, if we have the “mind of Christ”, and we are bathing ourselves in the word of God AND we are attentive to the voice of the Holy Spirit, we SHOULD be able to step out in faith knowing that we have some access to the things of the Spirit…
which knows beyond conventional wisdom,
which sees beyond human limits,
which extends outside physical timelines.
BECAUSE IT IS SPIRITUAL IN NATURE!
This is all assumed from the beginning of the Letter to the Church at Corinth so, when Chapter 12 comes along, we realize it is referencing this AS WELL AS pointing out a CONTINUED use of the gifts of wisdom and knowledge that taps into the Spirit of God.
This is how I think “words of wisdom” or “knowledge” can happen.
Sometimes it’s simply reading a verse or scripture and it happens to apply specifically to the moment or season you are in. In other words, it’s “timely” for you or your circumstances specifically.
Sometimes, it is the recalling of a scripture or biblical wisdom that you need to know in a moment to guide you.
The supernatural recollection of biblical principles while you were making a decision or about to make a bad decision.
Sometimes is a thought, word, or phrase, even a direction, that gets you where you needed to go to hear something, meet someone, witness to someone, at the right moment.
Often, I think, hearing a word of wisdom from God is being given information that supercedes the limitations of your humanity and you are meant to just trust god with it because you know His ways are not our ways and thoughts are not our thoughts.
Standing atop a mountain.
Stepping out in faith and sharing it with others:
No “Thus Saith the Lord”
Open handed b/c you could be wrong
This is one of the first things I ask:
where is this is in the bible already?
Let me ask this same question in a couple different ways so you understand what I’m getting at:
In other words: “Is there are likeness of what I’ve heard already in the scripture?”
How does it pan out?
What does God do with it?
Does this seem to align with the way God operates?
Why am I asking it this way? Because the exact situation that I am dealing with may not be present in the bible…so you are qualifying what you have heard based on a “scriptural likeness.”
A few possible answers:
If it moves contrary to the scripture, you’re wrong
If it is not contrary, then you are “OK’ed” to speak, share, operate in it with a measure of confidence.
Does it align itself with the character of who God is in the scripture?
My mind tends to think, practically, along the lines of an X and Y Axis with “Risk/Certainty” like this (refer to Picture):
Low Risk / Low Cert.
Ex. “God loves you.”
Say it!
Like Encouragement
I’ll say “I think God told me to tell you something” or
Low Risk / Hi Cert.
Say it.
Like Encouragement
I’ll say “This MIGHT be from God.”
High Risk / Low Cert
Ex. “You are going to get pregnant on _____.”
Don’t say it!
Ask for confirmation that moves to a less risky situation like, they
You are likely going to hurt
Is this unfaithful? Maybe but I try to do it
High Risk / High Cert
I MIGHT say it or I might not.
Discern it with community and Godly Counsel.
Look for Confirmation.
QUESTIONS:
1. What if it doesn’t fit cleanly in the extremes?
It likely won’t! But this gives a framework for you to process the things you are discerning.
2. BUT, If God told you to say it, you HAVE to say it!
Maybe I lack the faith to say/do it and I’m hiding it.
God is perfect but I’M NOT and I have to consider that I may be wrong.
OBSERVATIONS:
You don’t have to attach God to it at all.
Sometimes you want someone to know that it had that weight though so they can properly discern.
I will often distinguish between what I thought came from God and what was me (Paul does this in the scripture too).
Doesn’t mean you can’t say it - simply sow the word or image out there and just wait to see what it does. If the HS is on it, it will plant and bear fruit.
When you sow, you don’t always find out the landing or the fruit but I think you should continue to be faithful.
You don’t always speak everything you are told (sometimes it’s just for your awareness)
I want to give you permission to both:
Practice this, and receive this gift
Test what you hear and discern it to make sure it’s from God
Discover your gifts through the practicing
Come to our next Encountering God Night where we make room for listening in community and exploration of the gifts as we worship and pray.
We have access, with a renewed mind, to engage with God and each other with a kind of wisdom and knowledge
that supercedes the wisdom and knowledge of the world
that supercedes every “best practices” within every field, business, and sector.
That supercede even YOUR ability to reason things out on your own.
Why wouldn’t we engage it??
STORY: Carter Proclamation
A few weeks ago something happened here at CGNE that I believe was a word of knowledge.
Ken was prepping for his sermon and wasn’t sure if he would use a part of it that focused on the next generation (which wasn’t the primary topic) but it seemed like a good way for the church to get to know a little bit about him, we talked briefly the week before, as he was deciding and kept it in leading to moment of prayer for our churches children!
Then, Jonathan Acker was leading worship and mixed things up a little and there was just something DIFFERENT that morning…
Carter comes up to me with a “word.” He humbly said, I think God has a word for me to declare to the congregation. How do you feel about that?
I know Carter well enough to have trusted him AND he had proclaimed something at an encountering God night.
So, I stopped and listened.
You’ve been praying for this!
The Word: “God is preparing the fattened calf because prodigals are going to come home.”
He highlighted a part of the sermon which was something pastor Ken had already taught.
He used scripture in the declaration and it was a graphic representation of the thing Ken had done.
It was a beautiful moment for our church!! THEN…
The next week, I heard that there was a woman who was visiting that was intending to go to another church but felt like they were supposed to stop at CGNE while driving by to that church.
This part, in particular, that Ken spoke was profoundly the message she needed to hear that morning and HS Spirit ended the service by pouring the anointing of the Spirit all over it!
Maybe some of you needed to hear it too!
SO, there was a TEACHING gift with an ear attentive to the HS, an EXHORTATION gift through worship with a listening ear to the Spirit, a leading gift with an attentive ear to the Spirit, AND a word of KNOWLEDGE gift with an attentive ear to the spirit, and someone who needed to hear a word from the Spirit.
Now, catch this because, doesn’t it seem to fit the descriptions that Paul says in the previous verses:
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
each one with something different but EACH ONE in alignment with the same God and, Common Ground Northeast, we got a special glimpse of heaven here on earth.
Common Ground, let’s come ready hear, listen, and see greater things than we have had in our past. I don’t think it has to be we should be a casually supernatural people sown out into the world to do the Lord’s work everywhere we go.
My encouragement to you: Let’s come to the table hungry and expectant that the Living God will actually encounter us here as we gather, all week long as we are scattered, and bear witness to the power of God in us!
COMMUNION:
(1 COR. 11:23B-26)
“The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
PRAYER REQUESTS:
We are hosting prayer team meetings for both the congregation at large and individuals to sign up for individual prayer.
SUGGESTIONS FOR WORSHIP:
“Praise & Worship” Spotify playlist and “Praise & Worship” YouTube playlist (slightly different from each other), both of diverse music that are being constantly updated!
Bethel Music :
Bethel Music’s hours of live music YouTube Playlist, also being constantly updated
Bethel provides chords to most (if not all) of their songs here (just have to register email, but free!)
Live worship moments from the Upper Room YouTube Playlist
Journal writing! (I’m a writer too, so sometimes creative writing and writing my thoughts to God is my form of worship.)
Declare and worship with truth by singing and praying scriptures.
WORSHIP NIGHT! Dedicate a night to worship with friends and family, your house church or neighbors, those who need prayer, love worship, or just enjoy music through a video chat platform like Zoom. You can have one person leading at a time (switching off to whoever else wants to lead) while others sing along, pray, or prophesy, etc.
Serving your community, both online, in person, or both, is a great way to worship God, from spreading encouragement and God’s Word online to physically serving food to others. If you are able to go out and serve, click here for opportunities.
COMMISSIONING:
As Jesus said in John 20:21,
"Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
Go, be the Church!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.