SERMON TITLE: Gifts of the Spirit: Prophecy Part 2
SCRIPTURE: Romans 12:4-8 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 3-9-25
Sermon Discussion Guide
Take notes here
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend but we’re in a series within our Romans series. For Paul has mentioned spiritual gifts in his letter — and we’re taking time to explore the spiritual gifts so we all understand what these gifts are and how they’re to be used in our faith family. And here’s the definition we’ve been using: Spiritual gifts are abilities given to individual believers by the Holy Spirit in order to equip God’s people for ministry, both for the edification of the church and for God’s salvific mission to the world. - Lexham Survey of Theology
And here’s what Paul says about the gifts — we’re in Romans chapter twelve — beginning in verse four. There we read…
Romans 12:4–8 ESV
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Today’s sermon is a continuation of last week’s sermon where we explored the spiritual gift of prophecy. Now — Christian or not — prophesy is something most people seem to be interested in and nervous about — at the same time. We explored much about this spiritual gift last week — but knowing that this gift is one that’s often confusing, unfamiliar, and divisive — I thought we’d take a second week to better understand what this gift is and how it can be a blessing to us as a faith family.
Let’s start by looking at some examples of the gift of prophecy from the book of Acts — which is a historical record of the early church. In Acts chapter two we read…
Acts 2:17–18 ESV
17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
These words were spoken by the apostle Peter as he preached his first sermon. He quotes from the Old Testament prophet Joel who said…
Joel 2:28–32 ESV
28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
And — if you happen to be thinking, “That last verse in Joel sounds pretty familiar” — well that’s because Paul quotes it in Romans chapter ten.
Romans 10:12–13 ESV
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
So Paul and Peter both use this passage in Joel and apply it to the time in which they lived. And — specifically — to the time period that’s called the “last days” in the Bible. I’ve preached on the last days before — for now I’ll keep it straightforward and simple: We’re living in the last days. For the last days is the time period from Jesus’ first coming to earth and his second return — which is still to come.
So — with that in mind — that we’re living in the last days — listen to Peter’s application of Joel’s prophecy again.
Acts 2:17–18 ESV
17 “‘And in the last days (which we’re living in today) it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
Question. Do we believe that the Spirit of God is being poured out upon people today when they believe in Jesus? Absolutely we do! Then we need to consider Peter’s words about what it means to be people whom the Spirit of God has been poured out upon. For the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy includes sons and daughters and male and female servants prophesying — meaning the gift of prophecy will be a sign that we’re living in the last days and that the Holy Spirit has come.
Now — as we saw last week — we don’t have many examples of what these sons, daughters, and servants prophesied — their prophetic words aren’t recorded in Scripture — but this doesn’t mean that their gift was any less beneficial for the church in their day. Similarly, the benefit of the gift of prophecy in our day doesn’t threaten the perfect and complete Bible that we submit ourselves to.
Let’s look at another example in Acts. We’re now in chapter five.
Acts 5:1–11 ESV
1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. 7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
Now — I can’t say with certainty that what we see here is the gift of prophecy. It could be a word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discernment, or some combination. But somehow Peter was supernaturally made aware of what Ananias and Sapphira had conspired to do. And the fact that Peter tells them that they’ve tried to lie to the Holy Spirit further solidifies that Peter’s knowledge of their lie was due to supernatural means. What was the result of the spiritual gifts at work? The church was protected — it was kept pure.
Another example from Acts.
Acts 6:1–10 ESV
1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.
Again — another case where the gift of prophecy isn’t explicitly mentioned — but the details of this story are still worth considering. For example, the guidelines given to the congregation — in choosing what many believe to be the first deacons in the church — was that they be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. And notice a detail mentioned about Stephen — one of the seven men chosen for this role: He was a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.
If you recall in Romans chapter twelve — Paul says this about the gift of prophecy.
Romans 12:6 ESV
6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
A few observations. First, Paul says, “According to the grace given to us.” If you don’t know — the Bible refers to grace in some peculiar ways. There’s the grace of God that all Christians receive — his unmerited favor. Yet — in Acts chapter four — Luke describes Christians as experiencing “great grace.” And — grace is pretty awesome on its own — but somehow grace can be even greater.
So back to spiritual gifts. The first thing to recognize is that a spiritual gift in one person may look very different in another person based on the amount of grace the Spirit has given to each individual. The example I like to use is Billy Graham — someone obviously spiritually gifted with evangelism. Yet he’s not the only example of what it means to have the gift of evangelism — because not everyone sees the same results that Billy Graham saw. He appeared to have greater grace — in his gift of evangelism — than many others who have the gift. And this is true — not just for the gift of evangelism — but for all gifts.
Yet — with the gift of prophecy — there’s apparently another factor: the individual’s faith. For prophecy — Paul says — is to be used, “in proportion to our faith.” Now — it’s been a few minutes — so let me remind you that Stephen — in Acts — was described as a “man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” Later he’s described as being full of grace and power — he did great wonders and signs among the people — the miraculous — and opponents couldn’t refute what he said because of his wisdom and the Holy Spirit within him. Again — I can’t say with certainty that this is because he had the spiritual gift of prophecy — but I don’t know that we can eliminate the possibility either.
Back to the word faith. In the Bible — faith can have a few different meanings. First, there’s the faith all Christians exercise when they believe in Jesus. Paul has this definition of faith in mind earlier in Romans when he writes…
Romans 3:26 ESV
26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Second, there’s the doctrine — the truths we believe — that are referred to as the Christian faith. Jude writes…
Jude 3 NLT
3 Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.
Finally, there’s the spiritual gift of faith that we find in First Corinthians where Paul writes…
1 Corinthians 12:8–10 ESV
8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
In Romans twelve, I don’t think Paul is referring to definitions one or three. All Christians have faith number one — belief in Jesus — and there’s nothing in the Bible to suggest that all who have the gift of prophecy will also have the gift of faith — definition number three. So that leaves us with definition number two — where faith means the doctrine of the Christian faith.
So follow me here: I believe that Paul is saying that the greater we know what we believe — the truths of our faith — doctrine — theology — the Bible — the more accurate our hearing from the Spirit will be when he gives us a word to strengthen, encourage, and comfort God’s people. And the less developed we are in our understanding of the Christian faith — or the doctrine and theology of the church — though we still may have the gift of prophecy — our gift will be underdeveloped.
And this disconnect — from the gift of prophecy to the individual's growth in theology, doctrine and Bible knowledge — is often why this gift gets a bad wrap. For it’s common for Christians to value gifting over theology — as if the Spirit has put the gift of prophecy against the study of the Christian faith. And — friends — the Spirit of God says prophecy and theology grow and develop one another — they are not in opposition.
In my life — the more I’ve studied theology — and especially the more that I’ve memorized Scripture — the more accurate the gift of prophecy has become. But there’s no shortcut. And — as a church — we won’t allow shortcuts. You may think you’re the most prophetically gifted person among us — but if you’re weak in your theology and doctrine — don’t think we’re going to give you a voice of influence in this church. Especially if your prophetic heroes are those whose theology is shallow or heretical. For the way your gift will be a benefit to us is by you catching up the proportion of your faith to the grace you’ve been given.
Here’s another example from Acts.
Acts 13:1–3 ESV
1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
So here’s a group of people who were known as prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch. And somehow the Holy Spirit said to them to set apart Barnabas and Saul for a special work the Spirit had for them to do.
One last example from Acts.
Acts 15:30–35 ESV
30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
Two men — Judas and Silas — are called prophets and notice how — whatever it was that they said — their words weren’t recorded — but their words encouraged and strengthened the congregation. Which shouldn’t surprise us — because last week that’s what we saw is the purpose and goal of the gift of prophecy.
Which leads us to an often confusing aspect about the gift of prophecy. And — that is — is there a difference between Old Testament prophets and their New Testament counterparts? Are Old Testament prophets and New Testament prophets the same?
In the Old Testament, the prophets — people like Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and so on — Old Testament prophets were called by God to speak on his behalf in an authoritative way where — the words of the prophet were the words of God. And to disobey an Old Testament prophet was to disobey God. But — in the New Testament — something interesting happens. This authoritative role — where the words of the individual are the words of God — where to disobey the individual was to disobey God — is not New Testament prophets. This authoritative role in the New Testament are the apostles. That’s why Paul appeals to the fact that he’s an apostle when he claims that his words hold authority and are to be obeyed.
In the Bible — we see that Old Testament prophets and New Testament prophets are not the equivalent of each other. Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles have the same equivalence.
Paul makes this clear in his letter to the Christians in Ephesus when he writes…
Ephesians 2:19–22 ESV
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
The household of God — the Church — is like a temple built on the foundation of the apostles — of the New Testament — and the prophets — of the Old Testament — with Jesus as the cornerstone.
One more case study — from the book of Acts. We’re going to look at two prophecies from one prophet. His name is Agabus. In Acts chapter eleven we read…
Acts 11:27–30 ESV
27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
So Agabus is a prophet — one of many prophets — but he’s who Luke focuses on. And here Agabus foretells — meaning he predicts something about the future by the Holy Spirit: there’s going to be a famine. And what he prophecies happens in the days of Claudius. And — in response to Agabus’ prophecy — the Christians in Antioch decide to send resources to their fellow Christians in Judea via Barnabas and Paul — who’s still called Saul at this point.
So here’s a prophetic word — given by the Holy Spirit — through a non-apostle about the future — and it happens. But before it happens — because they believe this spiritual gift is a benefit for the church — the Christians respond to the prophetic word to care for the needs of those who will be affected by the famine.
Fast forward ten chapters in Acts — eight or so years have passed — and this happens.
Acts 21:8–15 ESV
8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied. 10 While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” 12 When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.” 15 After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.
Agabus prophesies again about the future. And what does Paul do this time? Last time he gathered resources to take to those who will be affected by the famine. But — now — Paul goes straight to the city where Agabus warns him — by the Holy Spirit — that he will be arrested. Others — who heard the prophecy — urge Paul to not go to Jerusalem — but they couldn’t persuade him.
Much can be said about this prophecy — but we only have time for a few important details. First, this is a prophecy that isn’t perfect. Did you know that Agabus doesn’t get all of the details right in this prophecy? The Jews don’t bind Paul up — the Romans do. The Jews don’t hand Paul over to the Romans — the Romans rescue Paul from a crowd of Jews who try to kill him — you can read all of this in Acts chapter twenty-one.
These kinds of details matter because — according to some — if a prophecy given today isn’t one hundred percent accurate then the gift of prophecy isn’t valid. Yet — here — the details aren’t one hundred percent accurate — and yet — there’s no question by Paul or by anyone else in Scripture — that the gift was invalid. Luke even includes this imperfect prophecy in the book of Acts!
Second, this leads us to a mistake that most likely Agabus — but certainly the crowd who heard the prophecy — made. They misinterpret what the prophetic revelation means.
When it comes to the gift of prophecy — there are three parts that we need to keep in mind. First, is the revelation — the word from God. Second, is the interpretation of the word. And — finally — is the application — how the message — rightly interpreted — is to be applied. Where most prophetically gifted people get into trouble is by hearing a clear word from God and then misinterpreting and misapplying it — this is what we see in the case of Agabus and the crowd. The revelation was from God — Paul will be arrested in Jerusalem. Yet the interpretation — “the Jews will tie you up” — and the application — “so don’t go to Jerusalem” — were not inspired by the Holy Spirit.
In fact — when it comes to the prophetic — only the revelation is inspired from the Holy Spirit. The interpretation and application are not — yet many people with this gift assume that — because they’ve been given a word — their interpretation and application are also accurate. Yet Paul gives these instructions about the gift.
1 Corinthians 14:31–32 ESV
31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
Those with the spiritual gift of prophecy are to submit themselves — and their prophetic words — to others. Paul’s writing about church order here — that things in the church are to be done decently and in order because our God is not a God of confusion. So — humility is key for this gift — which takes us back a few sermons when we looked at the importance of humility in God’s people.
So — to be very clear — here at Gateway — if you think you have a prophetic word for the church — share it with your shepherding elder. For now — especially as we’re all learning to ride our bikes — the training wheels are on — thus sharing with your elder is a guardrail to ensure that we’re not despising prophecies while also practicing humility. The elders together will then discern what’s been shared and see why God — if it’s from him — has given this word, what the interpretation is, and how it should be applied. Though some church traditions have times for prophetic words in their worship services — that’s not us. Training wheels are on. Our role as elders is to protect this church from division — so let’s all submit ourselves to their spiritual authority.For those who have hesitations about this gift — objections even — I hope these guardrails show you the love and care we have for you.
Finally, let’s talk about some ways the gift of prophecy can benefit all of us. In a previous sermon, I mentioned that preaching isn’t part of any of the spiritual gift lists in the Bible. Yet we know preaching is something that’s to be done. So what might preaching be — if it’s not a specific gift of the Holy Spirit?
Thirty years ago — in an article on preaching in The Journal of Biblical Counseling, pastor Tim Keller writes…
I do not believe that there is a gift of “preaching” listed among the spiritual gifts in any of the “gifts lists” in the New Testament. Therefore, every man called to preach comes with a different configuration of gifts out of which he preaches. A man with an evangelistic gift will preach differently from a man with a teaching gift. (Though all preachers must evangelize and teach, not all preachers have all the gifts, and so they will do so with different degrees of emphasis and effectiveness.) A man with the gift of exhortation may be more of a “counselor” in the pulpit than a man with the gift of teaching, and so on. (The Journal of Biblical Counseling: Volume 13, Number 2, Winter 1995 Spiritual Gifts)
I bring up this quote because — what I’ve come to realize is that what makes my preaching unique — is not just my personality or speaking style — what makes my preaching “Pastor Josh’s preaching style” — like it or not — is the way in which the Spirit of God has equipped and empowered me with various spiritual gifts. If you remember my top five spiritual gifts — the Spirit seems to most often display himself through me with the gifts of teaching, prophecy, faith, generosity, and discernment.
And I think these gifts are what makes my preaching “Pastor Josh’s preaching style.” Though I have no idea if or how generosity affects my preaching — I can see how teaching, prophecy, faith, and discernment all are in the mix. And it’s why another pastor preaches the way they do. The Holy Spirit is manifesting himself in and through each preacher in unique ways.
And this isn't just true for preaching — back to the gift of prophecy. Though many different people are on our prayer teams — for all Christians are to pray for one another — people who the Spirit has empowered and equipped with the gift of prophecy can be a unique blessing to those who come up for prayer. People with a special ability to hear from God so they speak an encouraging, strengthening, or comforting word to those they pray for. We’ll look at other gifts — in the coming weeks — but imagine someone who has the gift of prophecy partnering with someone who has the gift of mercy or healing. Now we’re talking about a prayer team gifted in ways that will be a unique benefit to those being prayed for.
And not just during prayer times at the end of our services — if you’re in a Life Group I’m sure your group spends time in prayer. Imagine knowing that there’s someone who uniquely hears from God because the Holy Spirit has empowered and equipped them with the gift of prophecy. How might your Life Group’s prayer time be different if someone with this gift was able to bless the other members with an encouraging, comforting, or strengthening word?
Last week I shared a personal story regarding this gift. Today I’ll close with one that was a word for me. This story relates to my call to come to Gateway. One of Gateway’s charter members — Gerry Waldman — had been praying for the individual who God was calling to be Pastor Ben’s successor. On Tuesday — January 26, 2016 — as she was praying for Gateway’s next pastor — the words “follow me ” were impressed upon her by the Holy Spirit. She wrote all of this down on a piece of paper. God was telling Gerry that somehow “follow me” would be a sign confirming the man God has called to pastor Gateway next.
I had no idea about any of this — I didn’t even know who Gerry was at the time. In fact — she told me all of this years later when she gave me the piece of paper that she wrote all of this down on — that’s how I know the date when this all happened.
How many of you were at Gateway when I preached for the first time as a candidate to be pastor Ben’s successor? Anyone remember the date when I preached my first sermon? It was five days after Gerry received this word while praying. Anyone remember the title of the sermon I preached that day? The title was “Following Jesus.” Does anyone remember the passage I preached? It was from Mark’s gospel — including this verse.
Mark 1:17 ESV
17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me…”
When Gerry shared this with me it was — and still is — an encouragement and confirmation of my call as your pastor. Let’s pray together.
Heavenly Father, our great and mighty God who spoke all things into existence. Who called the prophets and the apostles to be your mouthpiece. Who called others in both the Old and New Testaments to speak on your behalf in less authoritative ways. You are sovereign and this is how you’ve chosen to speak to your people.
Holy Spirit, we believe that you do not change. What you’ve done in the past is what you are doing today — including calling people out of spiritual darkness and into spiritual light — as well as gifting your people with displays of your powerful presence. Help us to grow in our understanding of your gifts — including the gift of prophecy — so that we’re obedient to your command to earnestly desire the spiritual gifts — especially that we may prophesy — while being equally committed to submitting ourselves to your written Word.
And — Jesus — you made a promise to us that — upon your ascension to Heaven — you and the Father would send the Holy Spirit to fill all of your followers. Thank you for fulfilling your promise to us. Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to live in us and to display himself through us.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — in many ways — we’re like little children trying to learn how to ride a bike when it comes to living out our faith. Getting on the bike for the first time — the first few times even — can be scary — even with training wheels on. There’s comfort and security when we don’t get on the bike — but what freedom and joy when we learn to ride. Help us to trust you more so that we experience the freedom and joy that’s promised to those who are Word and Spirit Christians. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
May you go earnestly desiring the spiritual gifts — especially that you may prophesy. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
Stories, news, and resources for things happening at Gateway Church.
