Sermons / July 26, 2026

Theme: “Spirit”ual Gifts in Worship Services Passage: 1 Corinthians 14:1–25 Directives for “Spirit”ual gift usage in corporate worship: 1.       Build others up (1–5). a.       Uninterpreted tongues speak to God; prophecy edifies others through encouragement and comfort (2–3). b.       Tongues builds up self; prophecy builds up the church body (4–5). 2.       Communicate meaningfully (6–12). a.       Clarity in speech is essential (6–9). b.       Without clarity, communication among us is lost (10–12). 3.       Seek Intelligibility (13–19). a.       Tongues disconnects the mind from the communication (13–15). b.       Tongues causes others to miss the message (16–17). c.       Edification trumps experience (18–19). 4.       Communicate the Gospel (20–25). a.       Be mentally mature about this (20). b.       Tongues tends to enable unbelievers to dismiss the Gospel (21–23). c.       God’s Word matures believers and brings salvation to unbelievers (24–25). Main Idea: When gathering for worship, zealously pursue the clear communication of the Gospel over personal experience and gratification. Application Questions: ·     In vv. 1–25, what key words or phrases serve as motivations for our use of spiritual gifts in worship? What principle(s) can be drawn from these motivations as to how we conduct worship services? ·     How can we apply Paul’s call for us to pursue gifts like prophecy today (1, 5)? ·     What are Paul’s primary issues with speaking in tongues? ·     From what has been said about tongues, does it still have a place within the life of the believer and church today? Should we be utilizing tongues more? Why or why not? ·     What does v. 20 indicate about spiritual maturity? What indicates childish behavior, and what demonstrates adulthood spiritually speaking? ·     How can we take the 4 directives of this passage and apply it to corporate worship beyond the specific issue of tongues?