Holy Spirit | Part 2

61 min

Pastor Pat McCalla · Aug 10, 2020 · 4 min read · 61 min listen

Spiritual gifts are God-given abilities given to us, not for us — the Holy Spirit indwells every believer and gives each one a gift meant to serve the church, not just ourselves.

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Scripture in this message

Big Idea

The church is not a place to be a consumer — it's the gathering of people Jesus said not even the gates of hell could overcome. When the Holy Spirit came to indwell every believer, He brought each one a gift, and that gift was never meant for self, but to strengthen and serve the whole body.

Key points

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1Jesus built His ecclesia at Caesarea Philippi, a pagan stronghold, promising the gates of hell would never overcome it
Pastor Pat retells the journey of Jesus and the twelve disciples 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee to Caesarea Philippi, a site with a temple to the false god Pan built over a cave known as the Gates of Hades. There, after Peter's confession, Jesus declares He will build His church on this rock, a statement Pastor Pat argues was deliberately spoken in the shadow of that pagan gate.
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2The word 'church' actually means 'ecclesia' — a gathering of people called out, not a building or a show to watch
Pastor Pat explains that Jesus never used the English word 'church' but two Greek words meaning a gathering of people called out, and that this meaning carries through every New Testament letter. He warns that our consumer culture has turned church into something we merely watch rather than a movement we belong to.
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3Paul writes to a messy, divided Corinthian church to teach them about spiritual gifts
Pastor Pat gives background on 1 Corinthians, describing a church fighting over favorite preachers, suing each other, and tolerating sexual immorality. Paul turns to spiritual gifts in chapter 12 specifically to draw this divided group toward unity.
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4There are many different gifts but one Spirit, one Lord, one God who gives them all
Working through 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, Pastor Pat highlights Paul's repeated refrain of different gifts flowing from the same source, comparing it to a teaching technique of repetition to drive home the point that diversity of gifts comes from the unity of God.
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5The body illustration shows every gift is necessary, even the ones nobody praises
Pastor Pat unpacks Paul's illustration of the human body, using his own injured, non-bending thumb as an example of an overlooked part that is still essential, and the Pixar film Monsters, Inc. to picture how strange a body of only one part would be. He notes how we praise eyes but never intestines, yet both matter deeply.
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6Four principles of spiritual gifts: God decides, gifts are given to be given, we need each other, and it's a divine design with purpose
Pastor Pat summarizes the passage into four takeaways: God alone assigns which gift each person receives, gifts exist to serve others rather than ourselves (illustrated with a hypothetical hundred-dollar bill given to bless someone else), no one gets every gift because we are meant to be interdependent, and each person's gift is a unique 'fingerprint' placed intentionally by God for their specific church, family, and workplace.

Application

Pastor Pat's challenge is to stop being a spectator and go discover the specific gift God gave you to serve this gathering of people.

Take the spiritual gifts assessment
Pastor Pat points to a link on screen for a free spiritual gifts assessment and challenges anyone who can't name their gift to go take it and find out what it is.
Stop treating church like a consumer product
Recognize that showing up to watch and then leaving misses the point; you are part of the gathering of people, not a spectator at a show.
Use your gift to serve others, not yourself
Remember your gift was given to help this local church, your family, and your workplace, not to be spent only on yourself.
Value the gifts of others, even unseen ones
Stop ranking gifts as more or less important, and recognize that the quiet, behind-the-scenes gifts are as essential as the ones everyone praises.

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“Matthew 16 verse 18. Jesus says this, and I tell you that you are Peter. Listen. And on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it”
Read the whole chapter →
From the transcript
“Now that verse is still on the screen, Matthew sixteen eighteen. And I wanna tell you what Jesus did not say. Jesus did not say, and on this rock, I will build my church”
From the transcript
“you're probably looking at the bottom of the screen going, hold on. Matthew sixteen eighteen says it says it right there. That Jesus said, and on this rock, will build my church”
From the transcript
“The Bible actually has several places where it talks about spiritual gifts, Roman chapter 12, Ephesians chapter four, first Corinthians chapter 12”
From the transcript
“The Bible actually has several places where it talks about spiritual gifts, Roman chapter 12, Ephesians chapter four, first Corinthians chapter 12”
From the transcript
“The Bible actually has several places where it talks about spiritual gifts, Roman chapter 12, Ephesians chapter four, first Corinthians chapter 12. But we're not gonna look at all of those today. We're gonna focus on first Corinthians 12”
From the transcript
“Bill introduced it last week that if you've put your faith and trust in Jesus, the spirit of God indwells you. Romans eight nine tells us that”
From the transcript
“first Corinthians 12 verse one, this is how Paul starts the chapter. Now about the gifts of the spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed”
From the transcript
“skip down to verse four, one Corinthians twelve:four. Paul says, there are circle this word in your Bible. There are different you're gonna see him use this word a bunch. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same circle that word. The same spirit is the source of them all”
From the transcript
“jump down to the next verse, verse five. There are there's that word again, different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us”
From the transcript
“Verse seven, a spiritual gift is given to each of us so that we can help each other. Now hang on to that principle. I'm gonna come back to that in a little bit”
From the transcript
“I want you to jump down to verse 11. Watch this, here he goes again. Watch these words. It is the one and only spirit who distributes all these gifts, plural. He alone decides, he decides, another principle I'm gonna come back”
From the transcript
“Jump down to verse 13 and look what he says. But we, he's talking to Jesus followers, you and me today, but we have all been baptized into how many bodies? One body by how many spirits? One spirit, and we all share the same spirit”
From the transcript
“Jump down to verse 18. Paul continues with this thought. He says, But our bodies, remember he's using the illustration of the human body, But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where He wants it”
From the transcript
“Paul lands the plane in verse 27, jumped down there. First Corinthians 12 verse 27, he says, all of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it”
From the transcript
“everyone has one. We're told that very clearly. Everyone has one. First Corinthians chapter 12 verse 11 says that each of you was given one”
From the transcript
“Gifts are given to be given. Verse seven speaks about that. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. Your gift is not about you, it's about me”
From the transcript
“You're probably wondering why I haven't given the list of spiritual gifts. First Corinthians 12 gives some, Ephesians four gives some, Romans 12 gives some, but not really my point today to give you the list”
From the transcript
“First Corinthians 12 gives some, Ephesians four gives some, Romans 12 gives some, but not really my point today to give you the list”
From the transcript
“First Corinthians 12 gives some, Ephesians four gives some, Romans 12 gives some, but not really my point today to give you the list”

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Day 1

Jesus did not say He might build His church, or that He hoped to. He said He would. That confidence changes everything about how we understand what the church is and what we are doing when we show up together. The Greek word behind 'church' is ecclesia — a gathering of people who have been called out. Not called out to be separate from the world in a distant, detached way, but called out with a purpose, the way someone is called out of a crowd because they have a specific role to play. This is the movement Jesus declared He would build — and then backed that declaration with the most audacious promise in history: not even the gates of hell would stop it. Pastor Pat pointed out that gates are defensive structures. Hell is not on the offensive here; it is trying to hold its ground. The church, gifted and gathered, is the one advancing. That reframes everything. When the body of Christ shows up — knowing who they are, using what God gave them, for one another — they are participating in a two-thousand-year-old promise that has never once been broken. You are not just attending something. You have been called into something.

For reflection

When you think about the local church, do you see it primarily as something you attend or something you belong to and participate in building — and what is the difference in how that feels?

Pray

Pray for a fresh sense of what it means to be called out and called together as part of what Jesus is building.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message explored a single, striking idea: Jesus didn't just promise to save individuals — He promised to build a movement, and He equipped every person in it with exactly the gift that movement needs. Take a moment to think about what first comes to mind when you hear the word 'church.'

Discussion questions

1
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus uses the word 'ecclesia' — a Greek term for people who have been called out — when He says He will build His church. What does that word choice suggest about what Jesus had in mind when He made that promise?
2
First Corinthians 12:7 says a spiritual gift is given to each believer 'to help each other.' What's the difference between treating a gift as something that belongs to us personally versus treating it as something that belongs to the body?
3
First Corinthians 12:11 says the Holy Spirit decides which gift each person receives. What does it mean for how we think about one another in the church when we recognize that no one chose their own gift — and no gift was accidental?
4
The body-of-Christ picture in 1 Corinthians 12 highlights that even the unseen parts are necessary. What happens to a body — and to a church — when some of those less-visible parts stop functioning?
5
Pastor Pat challenged us to be able to finish the sentence, 'The gift God gave me to serve others is ___,' and pointed to a free spiritual gifts assessment as a starting place. Why do you think discovering your gift matters not just for you personally, but for the people around you?
6
This message described the shift from 'consuming' to 'contributing' as the next step for every person in the body. What might that shift look like practically — in a family, a workplace, or a church community?

Pray together

Ask God to reveal the gifts He has placed in each person in your group, and for the courage to use those gifts in service to the body He is building

Ask Rewind about this message

Scripture in this message

Holy Spirit | Part 2

Big Idea

Key points

Application

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

7-day devotional

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Small-group discussion guide

Open

Discussion questions

Pray together

Go deeper

Love Defined | Week 4

Essentials | Week 3

JESUS FOR MESSIAH | Week 1 | Sermon

COUNTER CULTURE | Week 3 | Sermon

GREATEST OF ALL TIME | Week 2 | Sermon

Rebrand | Week 7 | Bill Bush

Holy Spirit | Part 2

The big idea

Ask Rewind about this message

Scripture in this message

Big Idea

Key points

Application

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

7-day devotional

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Small-group discussion guide

Open

Discussion questions

Pray together

Go deeper

Love Defined | Week 4

Essentials | Week 3

JESUS FOR MESSIAH | Week 1 | Sermon

COUNTER CULTURE | Week 3 | Sermon

GREATEST OF ALL TIME | Week 2 | Sermon

Rebrand | Week 7 | Bill Bush