What Are the Gifts of the Holy Spirit? A Look at 1 Corinthians 12
A week before this message, Tod McDowell wasn’t on the stage at New River. He was in the seats, worshiping with his family — his mom and the Barn family, who he counts as family too. And as he sat there, he sensed the Lord speak clearly: share about the Holy Spirit.
The timing, he explained, was no accident. That coming Thursday night was Shavuot — the Feast of Weeks, set apart all the way back in Leviticus, commemorating the giving of the Law. The children of Israel sacrifice the Passover lamb in Egypt, put the blood on the doorposts, and leave so fast the bread has no time to rise. Fifty days later they’re at the foot of Mount Sinai, fire burning on the mountain, and God comes down and gives the Law — 613 instructions that gave them their identity and a way of living. Not rules for rules’ sake; the Hebrew word Torah literally means instruction.
Now fast-forward, Tod said. Jesus dies on the cross on Passover — he is the Passover lamb, just as John the Baptist announced at the Jordan: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” He rises on Sunday. And fifty days later, on the very same day the Law was given after that first Passover, the Holy Spirit is given. One hundred twenty people in an upper room. The fire that was on Mount Sinai is now resting on their heads. And this time, the Law isn’t carved on stone — it’s written on hearts.
Jeremiah 31:31, 33 — “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah… I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.’”
That, Tod said, is what happened at Pentecost — which New River would celebrate the very next Sunday. God does not change his ways.
What this sermon is about
This special message is a full-spectrum teaching on the Holy Spirit: his nature (what he’s actually like), his fruit (the character he grows in us), his gifts (the power he gives through us), and the fullness of walking with both. It’s an invitation to walk more intimately with Jesus and, in Tod’s words, to manifest the kingdom of God with bold authenticity because of what he’s already done.
And it’s deliberately anchored in Scripture — because, as Tod acknowledged, prominent figures operating in the power gifts have fallen short in character, and some horrible things have been uncovered. The answer isn’t backing away from the Holy Spirit. It’s clearing the slate and asking: what does the Word of God actually say?
One framing verse sets the tone. Ezekiel 36:27 — “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” The Holy Spirit causes. Other translations say moves. We don’t grit our teeth into obedience; we yield, and the Spirit moves us. Mercy is not getting the wrath we deserve. Grace is something more: grace empowers you to do what you cannot do.
Wind, fire, water, and a dove: what the Holy Spirit is like
Whether you come from a Spirit-filled background or a strictly word-led one — Tod welcomed both, insisting the Spirit empowers both power and godly character — Scripture gives four clear pictures of his nature.
Like wind. John 3:8 — “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The Hebrew word for wind, ruach, is the same word for spirit. You can’t manipulate wind, but you can tell when it’s present — a branch starts moving. And sometimes, like the tornado-season winds Middle Tennessee knows well, it’s strong enough that things fall over. Tod’s point: if someone trembles or even falls when the Spirit moves on them, that’s not automatically weirdness. It’s what the Word says he’s like.
Like fire. Acts 2:2-3 — “And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.” Fire purifies — the refiner’s fire, the controlled burn that clears the underbrush and feeds next year’s harvest. And in the ancient world, fire was the only source of light. The Spirit purifies and illuminates, and sometimes you feel it: warmth, even a burning that frees you from bondage.
Like water. John 7:37-39 — “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Tod noted that his nurse friends say water — not alcohol or peroxide — is actually the great cleanser of wounds. Living water isn’t stale or stagnant. Even biblical baptisms required living, moving water.
Like a dove. Matthew 3:16-17 — at Jesus’ baptism, “he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.” Tod lived in Hawaii for fourteen years, and the turtledoves outside his window taught him something: doves aren’t aggressive like blackbirds or buzzards, but they’re not terrified of you either. If you’re still and gentle, they’ll come to you. They will never force themselves on you.
“The Holy Spirit doesn’t force himself on you. You have to invite him. And you have to be still enough.” — Tod McDowell
That’s why it grieved Tod, years ago, to watch a visiting minister literally pushing people over in a prayer line to make it look like the Spirit was moving. He was ready to stand like a brick wall in protest — until the Lord told him, “Let him push you down.” He obeyed, went down as gently as he could, and lying on that floor, the Lord crashed in on him with more love and power than almost any moment in his life. The lesson wasn’t the pushy minister. It was Tod’s own humility, hunger, and yieldedness.
Fruit is grown: the character of the Spirit
The Holy Spirit shows up in our lives in two big ways, and Tod drew the line between them in five words that organize the whole message:
“Gifts are given. Fruit is grown.” — Tod McDowell
Galatians 5:22-23 — “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
You don’t get fruit by asking for apples. You get fruit the way an apple tree does. The seed is the Word of God, planted in the soil of a heart kept soft and cultivated — not choked by distraction, ambition, and shallowness. The water is the washing of the Word, the saturation of Scripture. The sun is letting God’s love and goodness radiate on you. And then comes the part nobody requests: pruning. John 15:2 — “Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” Trials drive roots deep; roots only go deep in dryness. Pray “God, give me patience” and, Tod warned with a grin, you’ve just signed up for the long program — most fruit trees take years to bear.
The fruit itself is richer than the familiar list suggests. Agape love is unconditional — the Greeks had to invent the word; none existed for unconditional love. Joy is not circumstantial happiness; it’s gladness in God that survives even mourning. Peace is shalom — wholeness, nothing missing and nothing broken, even when everything around you is shattered. Patience literally means to suffer long. Kindness is goodwill expressed in action — and Tod passed along a friend’s distinction: God promises to be kind, but not to be nice. Nice people avoid conflict and shade the truth; kind people tell the truth with love. Goodness is doing right because it’s right. Faithfulness is reliability over time. Gentleness, in the literal Greek, means power under control — not a soft handshake, but a warrior who could crush you and instead bows down and lifts you up. And self-control governs our own appetites and impulses.
Gifts are given: power for the common good
Then Tod turned to the second manifestation — and the passage that dismantles the church’s most common excuse.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 — “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone… To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
Read it slowly, Tod urged. In everyone. All nine gifts of the Spirit listed here — and everyone in the room, and everyone listening online, can operate in them.
And the purpose is right there in the text: for the common good. Gifts are not for parading on a stage.
“It’s not about you being some super spiritual person. It’s about the person in front of you that needs healing.” — Tod McDowell
He walked through three categories. The gifts of revelation: the word of wisdom (supernatural insight into what to do), the word of knowledge (information you couldn’t naturally know), and discerning of spirits (because the best lie is the one closest to the truth). Tod told the story of picking up a quiet young hitchhiker and sensing a single word from the Lord: divorce. He shared his own story of his parents’ divorce — and as they neared the young man’s house, the kid finally spoke: “My parents just divorced. I’m leaving my mom for the first time to go see my dad for the first time.” Before Tod dropped him off, he prayed to receive Jesus.
The gifts of power: faith, healings, miracles. Tod has seen five blind eyes healed through his prayers — while his own left eye remains blind from a bungee cord accident twenty-five years ago. He once believed that disqualified him from praying for healing at all. The gift was never about his qualifications.
And the gifts of communication: prophecy (which he defined from Scripture as encouraging, comforting, and strengthening), tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Paul — shipwrecked, beaten, left for dead — told the tongue-obsessed Corinthians, “I pray in tongues more than all of you” (1 Corinthians 14), because it builds you up.
Two wings of the dove
Tod closed by putting fruit and gifts back together, exactly the way Paul does.
1 Corinthians 14:1 — “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.”
Character first — love is the first fruit of the Spirit. But the verse doesn’t stop there: do you earnestly desire the gifts? Both halves are God’s mandate.
Years ago, studying the Holy Spirit, Tod noticed there are nine fruits and nine gifts — and that the Spirit rested on Jesus like a dove. So he looked up the anatomy of a dove, and in the species he studied, each wing has nine bones. The picture clicked: if you cultivate only character, you’re a bird with one strong wing — flap all you want, you’ll spin in a circle and never take off. If you chase only the power gifts with no character underneath, you’ll spin in the other direction.
“We need both the fruit and the gifts to soar like the Holy Spirit wants us to soar — full of character and full of power.” — Tod McDowell
His final challenge was simple: you have not because you ask not. Seek to find. Knock. Ask. And the whole room stood and did exactly that.
What this means for your week in Franklin
If you take this sermon seriously, four things change about this week.
- Ask — out loud, this week. The gifts of the Spirit aren’t reserved for a personality type or a denomination. “The same God empowers them all in everyone” includes you. You have not because you ask not, so ask.
- Plant a seed every day. Fruit starts with the Word in the soil of your heart — not just your mind. Pick one passage this week and let it actually land.
- Reframe the trial you’re in. If you’ve been praying and nothing seems to be happening, consider that this might be pruning — God driving your roots deeper so you can carry more fruit. Dryness is not abandonment.
- Look for the person in front of you. The gifts are for the common good. This week, when you don’t know what to say to someone hurting, quietly ask the Spirit for a word of wisdom or knowledge — and then be brave enough to use it gently.
Watch the full message
The full message — “The Holy Spirit: Nature, Gifts, Fruit, Fullness,” a special message from guest speaker Tod McDowell — is in the video above. We post a new message every Sunday from New River Church in Franklin, TN. Browse our message library for more recent teaching.
Coming Sunday at New River Church in Franklin, TN
If this message resonated and you’d like to experience worship and community in person, we’d love to have you with us. New River Church meets Sundays at 9:00 AM and 10:45 AM at 1153 Lewisburg Pike in Franklin, TN 37064 — just minutes from downtown Franklin and easy to reach from across Williamson County, Brentwood, and Spring Hill.
You don’t need to dress up. You don’t need a good voice. You don’t need to know much about church or the Bible to come. We’re a community of ordinary people walking through ordinary life, trying to do it together with Jesus at the center. Whether you’ve been a Christian for forty years or you’ve never set foot in a church, you are welcome here.
If you’re new to the area or new to faith, our First Time Guest page walks through everything you need to know before your first visit: parking, what to expect on Sunday morning, what your kids will experience in River Kids, and how to find us when you arrive.
If you’re looking for deeper community beyond Sunday morning, our Community Groups meet across Franklin and the surrounding area throughout the week. Groups are where Sunday morning faith becomes Tuesday afternoon real life.
Whatever you’re carrying right now, you don’t have to carry it alone. There’s a place for you at New River Church in Franklin, Tennessee. Come as you are.
Watch more sermons: newriverfranklin.com/messages Plan your visit: newriverfranklin.com/firsttimeguest Find a group: newriverfranklin.com/groups
📍 New River Church | 1153 Lewisburg Pike, Franklin, TN 37064 | Sundays 9:00 AM & 10:45 AM
