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“God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.”
(1 Corinthians 12:28)

Last Sunday we looked at three specific gifts of the Spirit: Gifts of healings, miraculous powers and prophecy. 
1) God brings healing for many types of sickness whether physical, mental, relational or situational. 
2) The miraculous acts we read of in the Bible frequently met a great need on behalf of Christ’s body. Often it was to move some obstacle, whether human or otherwise and continue spreading the gospel. 
3) One theologian describes prophecy today as “a word from the Lord through a member of His body, inspired by His Spirit and given to build up the rest of the body.”

The three gifts we looked at are all gifts that each of us as members of Christ’s body can lay claim to. As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:11 the gifts are “the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” and they are gifts we should desire. That means we can ask for them and if it is within His will then any of these gifts could be given to any of us. They may be given to us permanently or just for a particular time or situation. But if God gives us any of these gifts He will do so for one reason only and that is to build the body of His church. The gifts are there, they are available, and we worship a God who wants to use us. Let’s do all we can to seek these gifts for the building of His body, His Kingdom here in Canterbury and then who knows what we can achieve
in His name.