Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts Series

DISCOVERING YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS

OPENING TEXT:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:4-10).

• “For we are His workmanship” = His poema = His masterpiece!

• Created “for good works” = to do something! We are saved to serve.

ILLUSTRATION:

The Super Bowl today: Pittsburg Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals.

QUOTE: “Nicky Gumbel says the church is like a football game: “There are 22,000 people in the stands in desperate need of exercise, watching 22 people in desperate need of a rest.” (The Alpha Course).

• There are no spectators – or benchwarmers – in the kingdom of God!

KEY TEXT:

“God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you.” (1 Peter 4:10)

• EVERY Christian receives at least one spiritual gift.

PERSONAL TESTIMONY:

• The first year after I became a Christian, I got involved in my church.

• I served on the praise and worship team (singing) and teaching in the children’s ministry.

• Christianity is a contact sport. I didn’t just want to be a spectator.

IT REMINDS ME OF THE HUMOUROUS ANECDOTE:

A Sunday school teacher asked her little children, as they were on the way to church service, “And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?”

One bright little girl replied, “Because people are sleeping.”

• Maybe people would be less bored if they started doing something!

THE BIG IDEA: God has given everyone spiritual gifts. Our job is to discover and develop those gifts so that we can be a blessing to others.

DISCOVERING YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS – WHAT ARE THEY?

“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant…A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.” (1 Cor. 12:1,7)

• Spiritual gifts are a God-given ability to do a task

• It allows you to do the work of the ministry effectively – to help and bless others.

“Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days.” (Ephesians 5:16)

• God is more concerned about our AVAILABILITY than our natural ABILITY.

• “A mistake proves someone stopped talking long enough to do something.”

ILLUSTRATION:

A man applied for a job as a handyman.

The prospective employer asked, "Can you do carpentry?" The man said, “No.”

"How about bricklaying?" Again the man answered, "No."

The employer asked, "Well, what about electrical work?" The man said "No, I don’t know anything about that either."

Finally the employer said, "Well, tell me then what is handy about you?"

The man replied, "I live just around the corner."

• Sometimes the greatest ability we can have is availability.

• God has a calling and a gifting for your life – will you commit to fulfilling that purpose?

SPIRITUAL GIFTS:

“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.” (Romans 12:4-5).

• Each of us has a different job to do. We belong to each other, and we need each other.

ILLUSTRATION:

After World War II ended, a group of German students volunteered to help rebuild a Cathedral in London. It had been severely damaged by bombing. They did well with most of the Cathedral, except one statue that had been broken into many pieces…a marble statue of Jesus. It once stood, with Christ standing with arms outstretched. The inscription under it read, “Come unto me.” They were able to find and reconstruct the entire statue, except for the hands, which had been completely demolished. When finished, they had a statue of Jesus with outstretched arms, and no hands. They couldn’t decide what to do…make new hands? Or leave it as it was? They decided to leave it be…but they changed the inscription… it now says, “He has no hands but ours.”

GIFTS FROM GOD THE FATHER:

“God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you.

If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well.

If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching.

If your gift is to encourage others, do it!