Day 1 Gifted to Build: Gifted for the Good of All

Morning Manna | Tuesday, October 27, 2026 Series: Gifted to Build | Day 1 of 12: Gifted for the Good of All

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OPENING Good morning, Cornerstone family, and welcome to Morning Manna.

It's Tuesday, and today we start something new. For the past two weeks, we looked hard at the seven deadly sins, the things that tear a life down. For the next three weeks, we turn to what God gives to build His church up.

Our new series is called Gifted to Build. Open your Bible to First Corinthians, chapter twelve. We'll read verses one through seven.

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SCRIPTURE READING Hear the Word of the Lord from 1 Corinthians 12, verses 1 through 7.

"Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, 'Jesus be cursed,' and no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."

This is the Word of the Lord.

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TEACHING Paul opens with a sentence worth hearing twice. "Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed."

Notice who Paul is writing to. Corinth had gifts everywhere. Teachers. Prophets. People with deep knowledge. People who spoke in tongues. Back in chapter one, Paul told them they did not lack any spiritual gift.

Corinth was also a mess. They had divisions, lawsuits, pride, and believers looking down on each other at the Lord's Supper.

So Paul teaches us something on day one. A church full of gifts is not automatically a healthy church. Gifts without direction cause damage.

Look at verse two. Paul reminds them where they came from. Before Christ, they were led astray to mute idols. Think about the word mute. Those idols never spoke. They never gave anything. They only took. The Corinthians brought offerings to gods with nothing to offer back.

Our God is different. He speaks. He gives. And He gives first. Every gift you hold today came from a God who opened His hand toward you before you ever lifted yours toward Him.

So Paul starts with Jesus. Verse three tells us no one says "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. Before Paul talks about what you do, he settles who you belong to. Every gift starts at the confession of Jesus as Lord. If you have made that confession, the Spirit lives in you. And where the Spirit lives, the Spirit gives.

Now listen to the rhythm of verses four through six. Different kinds of gifts, same Spirit. Different kinds of service, same Lord. Different kinds of working, same God.

Spirit. Lord. God.

Paul shows us the Trinity at work in the church. Our God is one God in three persons, perfectly united and wonderfully varied. So the church He builds looks like Him. United. Varied. Never cookie-cutter.

God has done this before. Turn back in your mind to Exodus thirty-one. God filled a man named Bezalel with His Spirit. For what? To work with gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood. God gave him skill to build the tabernacle, the place where God's presence lived among His people.

Today the church is God's dwelling place. And God still fills His people with His Spirit to build it.

Then comes verse seven, the anchor verse for this whole series. "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."

Hear those two phrases.

"To each one." Paul did not say to the pastor only. Not to the deacons only. Not to the people holding the microphone. To each one. If you belong to Jesus, God has gifted you. You are on this call this morning as a gifted person.

"For the common good." Your gift was never meant for you alone. God gave it to you for the people around you. Your gift has an address, and the address is the body of Christ.

Gifted for the good of all. Hold onto that phrase for the next three weeks.

Over these days, we will look at where gifts come from, what they look like, how to find yours, and how to use it in love. And on our final day together, we will commit our gifts to the work God has given Cornerstone. Working together, we exist to make disciples through the love of Jesus Christ.

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TODAY'S STEP: Thank a Gifted Saint Here is your step for today.

Think of one person whose gift has blessed you. A Sunday school teacher who made the Bible make sense. A friend who cooked when you were sick. A saint who prayed for you without being asked.

Before today ends, call them, text them, or tell them face to face. Name the gift you saw in them. Then thank God for it out loud. If they have passed on to glory, say a prayer naming them specifically, for what they poured into you while they were alive.

When you do, you are practicing verse seven. The Spirit gave that person a gift for the common good, and you are part of the common good they blessed. People need to hear their gift matters.

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CLOSING PRAYER Father, thank You for Your Spirit poured out on Your people.

Thank You for Jesus, our Lord. We confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and we thank You for the Spirit who made that confession possible in us.

Lord, open our eyes over these next three weeks. Show each one of us the gift You placed in us. Where we have buried it, stir it up. Where we have compared it, forgive us. Where we have kept it for ourselves, turn it toward others.

Bless the person we thank today. Let them hear Your voice in our words.

Build Cornerstone into a body where every member serves and every member matters. Make us a church full of gifts and full of love.

We pray in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

Have a blessed Tuesday, church. I'll talk with you tomorrow.

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