Scripture: Romans 12:3-8

Praise God! At nandito po muli Tayo ka saya na nagkita Kita po Tayo. Amen!

in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many
members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form
one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace
given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him
serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the
needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing
mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

Paul spoke with authority. In verse 3 he says, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you”.

What he was saying was, “God gave me the power to tell you this.” Verse 3 continues: “Do not think of
yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance
with the measure of faith God has given you.”

Simply put, we should not overestimate or underestimate ourselves. Instead, we should rightly ASSESS
ourselves. The New Living Translation goes like this: “Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be
honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.”

We should not put ourselves up on a pedestal. We should not also put ourselves down. Overrating or
underrating ourselves is actually pride. A humble person knows where he stands. An honest evaluation
of yourself is seeing how God sees you. We are to become the way He meant us to be.

Note that God starts with you and me. We will not whine about people who are not here. We usually
think while listening to a sermon, “Brother so and so should be here. He really needs this message.”
When we say, “Pastor we should do this or have that,” we better ask, “Who does the ‘we’ refer to?
Who’s ‘we’?” Because there are times what we really meant by “we” is “you not me.” So, there will be
people who would say, “We should get involved.” But what they are really saying is, “You should get
involved. Me? I’ll just comment.” That’s the problem. We tend to comment but not commit. But before
God changes others, He starts with us. Yes, that means both you and me.

We are to see ourselves also as part of a bigger context, the Body of Christ, the church.
Let’s read verses 4 and 5. “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do
not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs
to all the others.” Note the last clause: “each member belongs to all the others”. We need each other.
Each one is complete in Christ. But we complete His body. Each one finds value as a part of the church.
That’s why we are not to compete against or compare with each other. We are to cooperate with one
another.

So, we must rightly assess ourselves. Thus, we should responsibly ACCESS our gifts, that is, make use of
our gifts properly. Let us look at the service gifts one by one.

Verse 6 talks about the gift of prophecy. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a
man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.” We already saw that to prophesy is to
preach.

First Corinthians 14:3 says that “everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening,
encouragement and comfort.” God enabled this person to proclaim His Word.

Now, in Romans 12:6, the clause “in proportion to his faith” can be translated “in agreement with the
faith”. That means he should preach God’s Word, the whole Word and nothing but the Word. The
person with this gift has the passion to declare the truth.

Verse 7 says, “If it is serving, let him serve”. First Corinthians 12:28 described it this way: “those able to
help others”. They help other people through their service. They meet practical needs such as ushering,
maintaining the church facilities and manning the tech room or the sound booth. But don’t limit it to
church activities or programs. Those of you with the gift of service can cook food for the needy people in
soup kitchens, for example. It does not even have to be a formal feeding program. You can babysit for a
couple who needs a break and has to go out for a date.

Example in our case we have this adjustments. We honestly need and praying for a help to tend
sometimes to our son. We need a labor of love. The person with this gift is always on a look-out for
needs that need to be met.
Verse 7 continues, “if it is teaching, let him teach”. We already saw that a pastor has to have the gift of
teaching. But a teacher does not necessarily have to have the gift of shepherding. They can teach
Sunday schools or facilitate discussion in small groups. But again it does not have to be a formal teaching
situation. She can mentor one on one or help another mature in the Lord. In the Great Commission, the
Lord commanded “make disciples of all nations… [and one of the ways of doing so is] teaching them to
obey everything I have commanded you.” The person with this gift has the burden to see people
understand and apply Biblical truths.

Verse 8 says, “if it is encouraging, let him encourage”. The person gifted with encouragement or
exhortation stimulates others to follow the Lord and strengthens the faith of those who are
discouraged. One way of using this gift is counseling. But you don’t have to be a professional counselor
to exercise your gift of exhortation. You can just care enough to lend a listening ear. We need people like
you to join our care team who would visit the sick, follow-up those who attended our church for the first
time or those who are absent in our worship services. People with this gift love to come alongside
people and cheer them up.

Verse 8 continues, “if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously”. This is the gift of
giving. Now, that doesn’t mean only those with the gift of giving can contribute because it is everyone’s
responsibility to support the needs of the church. That doesn’t mean also that only those who are rich or
only those with the capacity to give have this gift. Second Corinthians 8:1-3 gives us an example of
generous givers. “And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the
Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty
welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond
their ability.” People with this gift have an overwhelming desire to share their resources. There are
those who even live below their means just to support a missionary, for example. The clause “let him
give generously” can also be translated as “let him give with simplicity.” Those gifted with giving does
not want to call attention to what they are doing. They don’t want to make a big deal out of it

Verse 8 also talks about the gift of leadership: “if it is leadership, let him govern diligently”. They see
what needs to be done and leads people to do it. He is more of a CEO or a chief executive officer. First
Corinthians 12:28 mentions “those with gifts of administration”. Now, leadership and administration can
be one and the same. If combined in a person, he can organize or structure and lead that organization. If
a person has the gift of administration and not leadership, he is more of a manager, a COO or a chief
operating officer. You can coordinate or supervise activities. Again, don’t limit your gift to leading a
church or a fellowship or church activities. You can be a community organizer, for example. You can
work in a micro-financing NGO or non-governmental organization, gathering a group of partners or
entrepreneurs and helping them start and maintain their small or medium businesses.
Last but not least, verse 8 talks about the gift of mercy: “if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”
This gift is somewhat like the gift of exhortation. But the gift of mercy can do more than offer words of
encouragement. She can empathize or place herself in the other person’s place. She can really identify
with those who are suffering and neglected and find ways to make them feel better.

. Paul added the clause “let him do it cheerfully” because doing works of mercy can be stressful or
emotionally draining. People gifted with mercy pursue opportunities where they can care for people.

Conclusions,

There's a testimony in yuido Korea, they want to build a prayer mountain.

They pray and announce it again and again so they could raise the funds they needed for the project.
Then, an elderly woman went to Pastor Cho. She gave him her bowl and chopsticks, her only earthly
possessions. She told him that he can sell those and give the money for the prayer mountain. That
selfless act touched the entire church. Donations flooded in until the prayer mountain became a reality.
Now, that church is the biggest evangelical church in the whole world. Our selfless act of unwrapping
and using our spiritual gifts to serve people can trigger such a powerful impact.

And so, if I were to surmise a conclusion from what we have read and looked at so far, God has given to
each of us a measure of faith to use for Him and in His service, and that this faith is a gift that has been
given from which all the other gifts flow.

And therefore, we are to exercise these gifts by faith, and even if it isn’t a lot of faith, it is more than
enough to see the ministry excel into the stratosphere of heaven, because as we have seen, if we have
the faith the size of a mustard seed, we can do the impossible.

Therefore, it is in and through the grace of God that He gives us the faith we need to accomplish what
He has called for us to do.

Brothers and sisters, it is really great when the church is working right. We should rightly assess
ourselves and we should responsibly access our gifts.

Let us pray…