Community, Gifts, and Fruits by Brother Curtis Hansen

         This morning's primary scripture reading will be from the book of Matthew chapter 18. We will start reading with verse one and go to verse 11.

        At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

        2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,

        3 And he said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

        4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

        5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receives me.

        6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

        7 Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!

        8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee; it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

        9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee; it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

        10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

        11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

        The first point of the message this morning is regarding community. The term community is more than just the town in which you live. It's the church you attend. The people you sit among with are your brothers and sisters of God. In the letters of Paul, you read he wrote on several different commandments from Moses except for the one regarding the sabbath. If you are truly living every day for God, every day is the sabbath. Jesus fulfilling the law moved us past the law. God will instruct you how to conduct yourself in the church as well as other public places. The community in the church is to support and lift one another up. You treat one another as brothers and sisters in church rather than a stranger. Some families are built with an established overbearing and obnoxious head when we are call to treat one another as a brother or sister in Christ.

        In the early years of the church we saw that Paul had issue with the fears of man being the head of the church, while Peter was more prone to go with the flow, low risk type of believer. If you can't live in community, you shouldn't carry Jesus' name in public. You have no credibility in public if you cannot live among others in harmony when it comes to the community of the church. There are wats to treat one another in community that are Biblical.

        The Lord said he was going to build a church and then instructs the church how to handle themselves in this scripture. You are to be child like. One reason is children have no pride in themselves. They are dependent on a caretaker. As a believer you should have the same mindset. You should be void of pride and filled with humility. The one who has humility is the greatest in heaven. You can never truly come to Christ without humility.

        When Jesus spoke of offense then, his word applies today. The world and the church seem to be fueled by offense. It could be appearance to language to just about anything you can think of and someone is offended. Many things are self centered and ego driven. You carry yourself and identify your character by what influences you. Before you can go out in the world to witness, you need to live and be peaceable with our brothers and sisters in the church community. Singularly, just ourself is the part and not the whole.

        As apostolic we spend a lot of time preaching and teaching on the gifts of the spirit. 1 Corinthians 12: 1-31 speaks in detail on the diversity of the gifts. You don't have all the gifts listed. There isn't one man who has prophecy, tongues, interpretation and so on. You may have one of the gifts but the whole community may have the gifts to operate as the church.

        What are the gifts? There is wisdom, knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment, speaking of tongues, interpretation of tongues. Why are speaking in tongues important for the believer?

        22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not; but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.

        So, the question begs to be asked; Who are the unbelievers? It's the people in your community. Tongues don't equal prophecy. Prophecy is a separate gift an for the believer and not the unbeliever.

        The frustration lies in meeting someone with self control in their life and you're suspect of their walk. Just because they don't react emotionally to something you do doesn't mean they aren't on the path. When we think of the Holy Spirit we think of the gifts but hardly the fruits. The fruits are listed in Galatians 5:22-24. Note of interest, faith is both in the gifts and fruits. You can exhibit the gifts in church or your prayer room, but if you show no fruit in the world, your faith is mere vanity. We can preach and hammer on grace but are we showing or experiencing patience? Think about today and through the week. What happens to you when you're shaken by life? Are you displaying the fruits of the spirit? Are you overcome and reacting in your emotions?

        You may have the gifts but if there is no fruit of the spirit, it is time to examine where you are in your walk. One is not greater than the other without love. Without love you have nothing. Search yourself and see what areas of your life you are short on fruit.