“MISSION POSSIBLE…HEART”

Romans 10:9-10

God’s Gifts In You

October 8, 2006

PASTOR NATHAN J. THOMPSON

Have there been times in your life when you were asked, or you volunteered to work on a project, and you just couldn’t get into it?  You just weren’t motivated or excited about being involved.  And as a result, you didn’t work hard.  You procrastinated and put these duties off.  There wasn’t much joy or satisfaction.

And yet, on the other hand, have there been times in your life when you got involved in a project and you were totally into it?  You were so motivated and excited that you invested everything you had.  You made the project a priority, and you gave more time and effort than was expected.  And you were filled with much joy and satisfaction by being involved.

The difference between these two opportunities, of course, is whether your heart is in what you do.  The difference is whether you have a passion, a fire in your belly, a consuming urge, that comes deep from within.  When your heart is in it, it is infectious.

As we are focusing this fall on our spiritual gifts, and on the places we should use them, the reality is that your heart is also an important part of this discernment process.  For to use your God-given gifts in the best ways, there needs to be a passion for what you are doing.  There needs to be a passion that motivates you to share, develop and grow your gifts.

The Bible, of course, has many things to say about the importance of our hearts in what we do.  Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”  And Psalm 51 says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”

Jesus says in Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  And the Apostle Paul says in Romans 10:9-10, “If you declare with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

This is why the Holy Spirit calls you and I to commit our hearts to Jesus by faith, and why he calls you to live in your faith, to renew your faith, to focus your heart each day on him.  For when your heart is filled with Jesus and his promises, and when you are amazed by his grace, it is then that your heart will be filled with a passion to use your gifts in Christ’s mission.

The problem, however, is that it is easy for us to take God’s love for granted.  It is easy to put other things, or other busyness in front of Jesus, and to lose our focus on what is really important.  It is so easy to settle into a routine, no passion involved…period.

Rick Warren shares how the ones who are often the most passionate about reaching out and inviting others to church.  And those who are the most passionate about worship, and small groups, and missions, are often the new believers in Jesus Christ.  As God has changed and renewed them, they just can’t hold it in.

On the other hand, it is often the person who came to faith many years ago, or who grew up in the church, or has been a member for five years or more, who can easily lose their heart and passion for Christ’s mission.  They can easily allow their faith and involvement to be more routine, or nominal, or more of a duty, or more focused on themselves.

That is why it is so important that each one of us keep our focus on Jesus, and that we keep growing each day in his grace and forgiveness.  For it is only as we are touched and renewed each day by God’s life-transforming power that the Holy Spirit can fill us with a passion for worship, for growing in faith, and for using our God-given gifts for his mission.

Now as God’s Spirit fills your heart with a passion to serve him, it is important to realize that God can also give each one of you a heart and passion for the places and ways you will want to use your spiritual gifts.  Ways you will want to invest yourselves for Christ.

For example, you may have a love or passion for children or youth, and you feel called to use your spiritual gifts in this ministry.  Or perhaps your love and passion is for mechanical things, or for serving and helping the poor, or for music and creative arts.  Then you need to use your gifts in that area.

The historic problem in the church, however, is that sometimes people have been frustrated when others haven’t shared the same passion they have for something.  Some have been frustrated why everyone hasn’t shared their same heart and passion for certain music and worship, or for a certain ministry project, or for a certain mission outreach.

And sometimes this has led church people to be judgmental of others who share different passions, or frustrated that everyone doesn’t see things their way.  And yet we need to remember that just as God has given each one of us different and various gifts, in the same way he also gives us different hearts and passions.

That is why it is so important that our hearts, and passions, and gifts are centered first of all in Jesus Christ through his Holy Spirit.  For our passion should never be in say…a certain project, or a certain ministry, or in a certain music alone. 

It is only as God and his mission is at the center, and as the power and motivation comes through him, that we keep our gifts and passions in the right perspective.  And it is only then that we are able to affirm how every gift, and every passion, and every person, is an important part of Christ’s body, the church.

Now one more important thing to realize about your heart and passions is that you may not know what is going to touch your heart, or what is going to fill your passions, until you step out in faith and try some ministry area.  You are often not going to get excited about places where God may use you until you experience those possibilities.

Oh, I know there are some who easily get the attitude that they don’t have the heart or passion for much of anything.  Some may say that they are afraid of trying something new, or they just know that they won’t like being involved in a certain mission outreach.  Or some have just made up their minds that they could never be in a small group, or whatever.

But, my friends, you won’t know unless you try it.  You won’t know unless you step out in faith and test your gifts and passions.  You won’t know unless you go into it with a positive attitude trying to learn as much as you can.  For God often has bigger plans and possibilities for each of us if we only venture out in faith.

I can think of so many people I have known through the years who had simply made up their minds they couldn’t do something.  They had simply determined that they didn’t have the gifts, or they thought they didn’t have the heart or passion to be involved in a certain area.  But then when they actually tried it, even when they were sometimes dragged into it kicking and screaming, the light and passion went on in them.

I have known people who had never been involved in a mission, or mission project, who somehow tried it out and got involved, and now are on fire for that mission.  Some have gone to Tanzania, to Honduras, to wash feet at Listening House, to help with Habitat or Feed My Starving Children, and they are now filled with a heart of passion for missions.

Bringing Stephen Ministry to my last church, and to Shepherd, I have seen so many people who thought they could never be a caring listener to others.  They thought they could never pray with someone, they could never touch another life in this way.  And yet when they stepped out in faith, their life has never been the same again.

In fact, I remember people giving excuses for not doing Stephen Ministry, as well as other ministries and projects, by rationalizing they just don’t have the time to do this.  And yet once they got involved, and their heart was ignited, they have set this now as a priority.  And most can’t imagine what they would do without these regular meetings or small group times.

I have seen countless people who have had their hearts and passions ignited in being in small groups, in work with children, in using an administrative or leadership gift in church, in becoming a ministry leader, in serving behind the scenes, in using a musical gift, in becoming a passionate giver.  God wants to set your hearts on fire for ways you can serve, so that then you can use your special gift with all your heart and soul.

So, my friend, the Holy Spirit is calling you to focus your faith on Jesus and his life-renewing power.  And then he is calling you to venture out in faith and try new things, so that you can follow your heart, and will put your passions, your energy, and will use your gifts, to impact a mission or ministry for Jesus Christ.

For when you are involved in ministries you have a heart and passion for.  And when you are investing your spiritual gifts in these places, there will then be much joy and excitement in your whole being.  You will truly give that ministry and effort all that you’ve got.  And God, and God alone, will get all the glory.