Tenth Sunday of Pentecost
The Holy Spirit Brings Many Gifts
to Us
1 Corinthians 12: 9 -11
Romans 12: 6 - 8
Ephesians 4: 11 - 12
1 Peter 4: 10 -11
While the fruit of the Spirit are ways of recognizing Christian character, the gifts of the Spirit are vocations, ways of serving the Lord.
We receive many gifts from the Spirit: Prophecy, Service, Teaching, Preaching, Encouraging, Healing, Giving, Leadership, and Mercy are among them.
The Holy Spirit challenges us to recognize which of these gifts have been given to us individually and then to use them to the glory of God in our lives at home, at school, at work, and in the community.
Prophecy is the gift of being able to see far ahead, to see the prize and then to focus our eyes on it.
Service is the gift of dedicating our lives to others and to God's creation, becoming caregivers like the Good Shepherd.
Teaching is the gift of speaking with knowledge, sharing what we and those who have gone before us have learned.
Preaching is the gift of speaking with wisdom, sharing the riches of the wisdom of God.
Encouraging is the gift of coaching, of bringing the best out of others.
Healing is the gift of making people whole when they have physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual ailments.
Giving is the gift of making sure that others who are doing the work of the Lord have the right resources at the right time.
Leadership is the gift of showing the right way to God.
Mercy is the gift of going beyond fairness, of standing up not only for justice, but also for kindness.
No single person receives all of these gifts. But all these gifts together, in the bodies of the people to whom they were given, make up the communion of saints, the whole body of the Christian community.