Paul’s main point in these 25 verses is to stop the Corinthians from filling their church meetings with publicly given tongues that are not then interpreted, but rather to encourage them to eagerly desire the intelligible gifts of the Spirit, such as prophecy, so that everyone can understand what’s being said. Therefore, he argues, a publicly given tongue should be interpreted, so that everyone can understand the essence of what was said, whether by someone else or the tongue giver themselves, if no one else interprets it.

Love gifts from the Holy Spirit that we are to eagerly desire! To operate in an atmosphere of love… "follow the way of love and eagerly desire". They are Gifts for a purpose. To build up the church (1 Corinthians 14:12) and empower the church to fulfil its commission.

we will unpack today, that if the love of God isn’t the underpinning of these gifts, then we are in danger of misusing or even abusing them, as appeared to be the case in the church in Corinth. As with all things that God entrusts to His people, if we are going to handle them well, the actual gift is not of primary importance, but the character of the one receiving it is.

As we will keep reminding ourselves when talking about Spiritual Gifts – they are gifts to give away for the blessing of others. Is the giver also blessed in the giving – often yes. But gifts and ministries exist for the good of the community, not the aggrandisement of the one ministering. I am not a big fan of the word “ministries” but in scripture, the root of this word is the word servant and the verb to serve. It serves us well to remember that when Jesus teaches his Apostles on leadership he equates greatness in the Kingdom with servanthood not position. We must guard ourselves against seeking a platform and or putting someone on a pedestal.

I've been asked to share my story with you today. And I am happy to do that, not because it is my story and I want people to know me - no, but because it is God's story in my life, and I love talking about God. And my prayer is also that while you're listening to me telling God's story in my life, God will encourage you about His story in your life. What He is doing, what He has been doing and what He will do. As I was praying together with Erich, my husband in preparation for this talk, he had the impression that God was saying; I see you. And my prayer is that as you hear me share a little bit of God in my life, you will know that the God who saw me, the God who sees me, is the God who sees you.

Are you eagerly desiring God to do something in your life? Embracing spiritual gifts, learning about them, asking God for them, and being active in the way you’re practising them - is where purpose and faith flourish. It’s how the Church is equipped and built up. And most importantly, it’s one of the key ways that the glory of Jesus shines through our lives.

A healthy church is a church that experiences the full array of spiritual gifts. A church where everyone has something, and no one has everything. Where no gift is universal, and no gift is missing. When someone brings a spiritual gift, rather than thinking, “I wish I had that gift”, ask the Holy Spirit, “What complementary gift do you want me to grow in?”

We can say church is about many things: social action, community life, music, evangelistic outreach, emotional health, freedom. right living. They are all important, but we mustn’t make them idols. They are secondary, they are the consequence, not the cause. The focus and purpose of our gatherings above everything else is to encounter God to experience his presence amongst us – the fulfilment of the ancient Exodus promise – they will be my people and I will dwell amongst them. Everything flows from the presence of God amongst his people when they gather. That is what we eagerly desire above everything else.

How do our vision and values and Jesus’ instruction to “seek first the Kingdom of God” work out in the busyness of life. One of the reasons that we get distracted from a Kingdom vision and onto the stuff of life, is because the stuff of life keeps coming at us. How do we hold on to the truth that Jesus reminded us of last week? We have to be intentional.

Our vision shapes how we live. How we spend our: Time, Talent, and Treasure. We recognise that we can be so easily distracted and deterred from our identity and Kingdom calling by the stuff of life. We looked at Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount in which he seeks to recalibrate us around our eternal identity as children of the living God. It is that identity which enables us to prioritise our relational purposes in God.