Church of the Resurrection Belfast

As we returned to our series on spiritual gifts, Danielle shared from 1 Corinthians 12. She encouraged us to have the faith and expectation that we will see the hand of God move in a way that a human hand cannot, interrupting the natural order in a way that the human eye and brain cannot explain other than by His divine, powerful presence. She explained to us that the working of miracles today, that the gift of miraculous powers, is God's way of Continuing the ministry of Jesus Confirming the word of God Remind us that this world is not our own.

Here’s Danielle sharing on Jesus’ last 40 days on Earth we drew our Easter series, ‘Mercies Crown’ to a close. In Palm Sunday we saw a Jesus who was a humble king. In Good Friday we come to see Jesus glorified as King as He dies upon a cross. In Easter Day we celebrated that we have met the Risen King Jesus. Now Danielle helps us to consider what Jesus was most keen to impress upon His dear friends before ascending into Heaven to reign as King with His Father. Jesus words to us are the same… come to me, sit and eat with me, trust in me, find peace in me and live for me.

Here's James sharing from John 20:1-18 as we celebrated Christ's victory over death at our all age service on Easter Day.

We took a pause from our series on spiritual gifts to journey through Easter and celebrate the wonder and majesty of King Jesus, who in His death on the cross and rising from the grave has set us free from the powers of sin and death and raised us to new eternal life with Him. Here's James sharing from John 12:12-36, where we see Christ's procession into Jerusalem turns the whole world upside down. And our divine King Jesus still changes everything today when we call upon His name and invite Him to reign in our lives.    

Here's John Alderdice helping us explore the spiritual gift referred to as the “word of knowledge,” that we find in 1 Corinthians 12:1–11.   John unpacks the difference between information and real knowledge. How real knowledge goes much deeper than facts. It shows us that some things about God remain beyond us. So as followers of Jesus, we are called to stay curious, open, and willing to learn, rather than acting like we have everything figured out.   When it came to the “word of knowledge” itself, John describes it as those moments when God gives someone insight they would not naturally have, whether through a thought, an image, or a strong sense of understanding.  He stresses that any “word” we hear should line up with Scripture, reflect Jesus’ character, and be shared in a way that builds others up. Even when something is challenging, it should still come from a place of love and wisdom.   As we listen to what John shares, let's not to shy away from this gift out of fear of getting it wrong. Learning to hear God’s voice involves stepping out and sometimes making mistakes. The key, he says, is to stay open, humble, and grounded in love. Drawing on 1 Corinthians 13, we were reminded that we only ever see in part, but as we grow, we can become more aware of God at work in our lives and more willing to join in with what He is doing   ------ As part of John's talk he used a testimony shared by Simon Ponsonby. The recording of this story was put together by Streams Studio and can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvAT1Xuc01o . No copyright infringement intended. Streams Studio is a crowdfunded non-profit. If you would like to contribute financially towards their work, please visit https://www.streams-studio.com/ for more information.

In week 10 of our series on spiritual gifts we explored the gift of the utterance of wisdom. Together, we distinguished between two types of biblical wisdom: 1. There is a skilful form of wisdom that each of us need to cultivate over time as we grow as disciples of Jesus.   2. And there are those moments when the Holy Spirit gives you clarity for a specific situation. That clarity is helps us to know the way forward and it is the type of wisdom Paul is referring to in 1 Corinthians 12:8. This form of wisdom relies solely on God revealing some of his heart for a human heart in need. Thus, God speaks a word of wisdom to an individual for another person. We want this gift for the benefit of one another. And we also want this gift for the benefit of our church as a whole, just like in Acts 15.

On Sunday we looked at the spiritual gift of faith. The way the Bible describes faith is rich and beautiful. Faith is always a gift from God. He wants us to be deeply rooted, unshakeable, steadfast and He does not expect us to get there by human works or personal will power. Faith is a gift God wants us to fully enjoy and make the most of, but a gift that we often struggle to explain, especially when it features in a list of spiritual gifts.   James helped us to see three main ways we experience faith in Christ, including the spiritual gift of faith. He encouraged us to make the most of whatever faith God has given to us. He challenged us to consider how we might take greater care and appreciation of the spiritual gift of faith, knowing that the body of Christ is only truly healthy, whole and growing when we are all using our gifts together.

Danielle shared on the spiritual gift of leadership as part of the “Gifts of Grace” series. Leadership in Scripture was not primarily about office or position but about influence within the body of Christ. Drawing from Romans 12:3–8, we can see that leadership was one gift among many, given by grace for the building up of the church. Leadership is: More than a Title Deeper than Skill Nothing less than Surrender True spiritual leadership flows from surrender to Christ. A leader is not simply someone with followers, they are first and foremoresomeone led by Jesus, shaped through prayer, humility, and dependence on the Holy Spirit. The heart of the gift of leadership is the ability to discern God’ s will for a people in a particular season and courageously guide them in that direction for the strengthening of the Church.

On Sunday, we thought about how spiritual gifts enable us to display the many-coloured wisdom of God. God cannot be displayed in monochrome, so He needs His whole church to be filled with His love, filled with spiritual gifts, surrendered completely to Him and united as one healthy body. James read from Acts 8, which shows us so much about the gift of teaching; that God-given ability to open up scripture in a way that enables others to experience the presence and ministry of Jesus in an undeniable way.

This week, Freya led us in looking at the spiritual gift of exhortation. Originating from the word parakeleó which means 'to call to one's side, to exhort, to encourage, to comfort and to urge,' this spiritual gift focuses on three aspects:   1. Drawing in: Exhortation is all about relationship! Exhorters draw in to people's real and messy lives and walk closely beside them. Ultimately, exhorters draw in just as God draws in to us.   2. Calling out: We are called to 'walk in a manner worthy of God' (1 Thessalonians 2:12) and sometimes we miss the mark. We need exhorters to lovingly call out where our hearts need aligning back with Christ's. They have the hard conversations because they want people to look more like Jesus, and they offer hope through the Word.   3. Building up: We live in a very discouraging world. Exhorters have the incredible gift of drawing alongside people and putting the courage back into them. Encouragement reminds people who God is and who they are in light of that. Building people up strengthens and heals the church, and when exhorters encourage, discouragement loses a foothold on the church.   Ultimately, we exhort through the power of the ultimate exhorter.

Here's James Collie sharing from Romans 12, John 13 and Philippians 2 as we continued our new series, 'Gifts of Grace'.   We hope this journey through some, but by no means all, of the spiritual gifts, will help to unlock and encourage more of us in the supernatural gifts that God has given us. So that the church may be strengthened and the world blessed.   When we practice the gifts God gives; the gifts that are beyond any human talent or skill, it is evidence of God's power and love. Through practising our spiritual gifts, we hope and pray many people would come to know the Lord Jesus and the love and power that He possesses. 

On Sunday, we began a new series exploring spiritual gifts, helping us think about how God equips every follower of Jesus to serve in unique ways. This is an important topic or us to dig in to, since scripture makes it clear that every believer has at least one spiritual gift, and these gifts are meant to be exercised within the Church and beyond. Danielle shared the difference between natural talents and spiritual gifts, explaining that being skilled at something doesn’t automatically mean it’s a gift from God. Throughout the series we’ll be look at Romans 12 and 1Corinthians 12:1-11. We looked at spiritual gifts are not earned or a mark of greater holiness, but rather manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s power given to equip us to build up others. Gifts flow from God’s power, not human effort. Spiritual Gifts are about displaying the character, ministry, and glory of Jesus, and as we yield to the Holy Spirit, both our lives and our community can be transformed.