20th January 2013 Epiphany 2
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Epiphany 2 (Year C)
20-1-2013
Pastor Lester Priebbenow
The "Gift" and the "Gifts" of God's Spirit
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Now, concerning what you wrote about the gifts from the Holy Spirit. I want you to know the truth about them, my brothers and sisters. You know that while you were still heathen, you were led astray in many ways to the worship of lifeless idols. I want you to know that no one who is led by God's Spirit can say 'A curse on Jesus!', and no one can confess 'Jesus is Lord', unless that person is guided by the Holy Spirit.
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served. There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service. The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all. The Spirit gives one person a message full of wisdom, while to another person the same Spirit gives a message full of knowledge. One and the same Spirit gives faith to one person, while to another person he gives the power to heal. The Spirit gives one person the power to work miracles; to another, the gift of speaking God's message; and to yet another, the ability to tell the difference between gifts that come from the Spirit and those that do not. To one person he gives the ability to speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the ability to explain what is said. But it is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person.
During the weeks immediately after Christmas the 'customer service' departments of many retail stores