DISCOVERING SPIRITUAL GIFTS UNDERSTANDING SPIRITUAL GIFTS DEFINITION A

DISCOVERING SPIRITUAL GIFTS

UNDERSTANDING SPIRITUAL GIFTS

DEFINITION “A spiritual gift is any ability that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in any ministry of the church. ” (Wayne Grudem)

PURPOSE “Spiritual gifts are given to equip the church to carry out its ministry until Christ returns. ” (Wayne Grudem)

SCRIPTURAL GIFTS LISTS 1 Corinthians 12 | Wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues. Romans 12 | Prophecy, serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing, leadership, mercy. Ephesians 4 | Apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor-teacher.

1 CORINTHIANS 12 1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 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. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

ROMANS 12 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 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.

EPHESIANS 4 9 (In saying, “He ascended, ” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. ) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

10 TRUTHS ABOUT SPIRITUAL GIFTS

10 TRUTHS ABOUT SPIRITUAL GIFTS Truth #1: The gifts are to be exercised under the lordship of Christ.

10 TRUTHS ABOUT SPIRITUAL GIFTS Truth #2: We should not overestimate our godliness or effectiveness.

10 TRUTHS ABOUT SPIRITUAL GIFTS Truth #3: The variety of spiritual gifts and the results of those gifts come from God himself.

10 TRUTHS ABOUT SPIRITUAL GIFTS Truth #4: Having a different spiritual gift doesn’t mean we are inferior or superior.

10 TRUTHS ABOUT SPIRITUAL GIFTS Truth #5: Our gifts are not to be ascribed to our own spirituality but to the sovereignty of the Spirit.

10 TRUTHS ABOUT SPIRITUAL GIFTS Truth #6: God has given us gifts to build up the body (Eph. 4: 12 -16), to bring unity to the church (1 Cor. 12: 25 -26), and to edify the church (cf. also 1 Cor. 14: 1 -40).

10 TRUTHS ABOUT SPIRITUAL GIFTS Truth #7: The baptism of the Spirit takes place at conversion.

10 TRUTHS ABOUT SPIRITUAL GIFTS Truth #8: Edification comes especially through the mind, through understandable teaching.

10 TRUTHS ABOUT SPIRITUAL GIFTS Truth #9: We are instructed to concentrate on our gifts.

10 TRUTHS ABOUT SPIRITUAL GIFTS Truth #10: Gifts without love are both useless and worthless.

DESCRIBING SPIRITUAL GIFTS

PROPHECY Boldly declaring the Word of God.

SERVICE Having the spiritual gift of service is essentially having the gift of helps. People with the spiritual gift of service love to help (many times behind the scenes) meet the practical needs of others (See Acts 6: 1 -4).

TEACHING This gift involves the ability to study God’s Word and clearly articulate the truths found in it to others.

EXHORTATION (ENCOURAGEMENT) This gift involves the ability to encourage others in who they are in Christ and who God has made them to be.

GENEROSITY This gift involves the ability to generously give money and resources. Those with this gift especially enjoying giving larger portions of their income away to Kingdom causes.

LEADERSHIP This gift involves the ability to rule and direct. Those with this gift can organize and direct ministries so that other people’s spiritual gifts are maximally used for God’s glory and the church’s good.

MERCY This gift involves the ability to empathize with other’s struggles.

DISCOVERING SPIRITUAL GIFTS

JOYFULNESS + FRUITFULNESS “My conclusion is this: Some of these virtues come more joyfully and are more fruitfully for some than for others. When that happens I think we can call it a spiritual gift. In other words, it seems to me that some take unusual spiritual delight in serving, or giving, or doing mercy, or teaching, or leading, or exhorting. The Holy Spirit has shaped their hearts so that they find themselves unusually drawn to these things. ” John Piper

“[K]nowing your spiritual gift isn’t as important as exercising your spiritual gift. Surely many believers in history didn’t know their spiritual gifts or think much about them, and yet they exercised those gifts in powerful ways. If you aren’t sure what your spiritual gifts are, I wouldn’t worry about it. If you give yourself to other believers in the church, you will inevitably be using your gifts. ” Tom Schreiner

THE ROLE OF THE LOCAL CHURCH

We don’t use our gifts in isolation. They are given to us by the Holy Spirit for ministry in the church. Therefore, we need to be aware of the needs of our local church when exercising our gifts. Joy + Fruitfulness + Need

KIDS MINISTRY • • Nursery Toddlers Preschoolers Elementary

STUDENT MINISTRY • Hosts • Small group leaders

TECH MINISTRY • Audio • Video • Screens

MUSIC MINISTRY • Singers • Instrumentalists • • Acoustic Guitar Electric Guitar Keys Drums Bass Violin/Cello Other

CONNECT MINISTRY • Greeters / Follow Up

OPERATIONS MINISTRY • Set up / clean up crew

GROUPS MINISTRY • • Community Group Leader Discipleship Group Leader Host Administrator

DEACONS MINISTRY • • • Communications Budget Scheduling Kids Men’s Women’s • • • Tech Partner Care Foster Care Connect Congregational Care Video Production

ELDERS MINISTRY • • Teach Lead Care Model

FOLLOW UP Christfellowshipga. org/spiritualgiftsassessment