Discovering Spiritual Gifts

1. Discovering Spiritual Gifts

2. Why is it important for you to know what your spiritual gift is? • When you discover your spiritual gift you will: • Know God’s will for your life and where you best fit into the work of the Church. • Know better how to cope with diversity and conflict in personal relationships. • Have a greater sense of identity and partnership with Jesus. • Have greater joy in service for the Lord because you will be matched to the work you enjoy most. • Be better equipped to win your friends and relatives to Jesus.

3. Your Spiritual Gift is Your Spiritual Job Description. • A renewal in the Spirit is stirring the Church today. As the result of rediscovering the New Testament teaching of the Church as the body of Christ many are now serving with a new found joy because they are doing what really counts in a way that is best suited to their special abilities.

4. The specific place appointed us in life is determined by our capabilities. Not all reach the same development or do with equal efficiency the same work. (Ed. 267)

5. DISCOVERY EVENT I Awakening to Your True Potential Through the Discovery of Spiritual Gifts

6. The church is experiencing a New Awakening to its True Potential. • Realizing that the commission of Jesus was given to the entire body of Christ, which is His Church (Eph 1:22, 23) we believe that He who has all power in heaven and in earth and who has promised to be with us always even to the end of time (Matt. 28:18-20) has, by sending the Holy Spirit, made adequate and abundant provision to equip the members of the church for the task of loving ministry to the world (Eph. 4:11-16).

7. We believe the Holy Spirit gives gifts to every believer and that the rich variety of these special abilities, when recognized, developed and use together for various ministers in the body in a spirit of unity, harmony and love are sufficient to accomplish the task God has given the Church. We further are deeply convicted that until we understand this plan of God for his Church and claim His promise of enabling power through the Holy Spirit we shall see only limited advance and only partial fulfillment of our objectives.

8. We recognize that our failure to enable full participation in ministry by all the laity in ways appropriate to the spiritual gifts given to all church members by the Holy Spirit, robs the Church of a vast potential working and witnessing force and is one of the primary obstacles standing in the way of an accomplished task.

9. It therefore has adopted a plan of action which includes special emphasis on enabling the laity to function as ministers of God’s grace. This is a recognition of the Biblical principle that all members when baptized receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and are ordained for service, each in his particular vocation having a specific ministry to all who come under the sphere of his influence.

10. It is urged that this Biblical teaching of the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9) be a part of the baptismal instruction along with other cardinal teachings of Scripture. If every Seventh-day Adventist were instructed how to identify, develop and use his or her spiritual gift or gifts to the glory of God in meeting the divine objectives given to the body of Christ, how quickly our task in this world could be accomplished!

11. Let Us Take a Look at Spiritual Gifts. • Our first step will be to find out where we stand just now in our understanding of spiritual gifts. Remember that this is not given to embarrass anyone but to give some indication of where the group is and to help us see if there is a need for further study of this subject.

12. Please answer the questions on the following Spiritual Gifts Rating Survey to the best of your ability.

13. Spiritual Gifts Rating Survey

14. Name the three key Biblical chapters in which spiritual gifts are listed. • Name up to five spiritual gifts as listed by the Bible:

15. Do you feel that you know what your gifts may be? • Yes _________ It is (they are): ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ • Not Certain __________ but, I think It/they may be: • No _____________

16. How to Score Your spiritual Gifts Rating Survey • If your answer is Good_______: 25 points • If your answer is Fair_________: 15 points • If your answer is Slight_______: 5 points • Place the number of points in the box at the right on your SGR sheet.

17. If you named all three chapters correctly: 25 points • If you named two chapters correctly: 15 points • If you named one chapter correctly: 10 points • Place the number of points in the box at the right on your SGR sheet

18. Give yourself 5 points for every spiritual gift correctly listed. (Maximum—25) • Place the number of points in the box at the right on your SGR sheet.

19. If your answer is YES: 25 points • If your answer is NOT CERTAIN:10 POINTS • If your answer is NO: 5 Points • Place the number of points in the box at the right on your SGR sheet.

20. Now add the total of all the boxes. • This gives you your Spiritual Gifts Rating based on 100 points possible • Does the score indicate there may be some room for improvement?

21. Let’s try to improve our Spiritual Gifts Rating. We can do this by: • Discovering what the Bible teaches about spiritual gifts. • Learning the definition of the gifts as listed in the Bible. • Seeking to identify our own gift through study, prayer and discussing with one another. • Seeing practical applications. • Developing a plan to put into action what we have learned in order to more effectively help people find Christ

22. The Body of Christ • Before we can understand spiritual gifts we should see what the Bible teaches about the Church as the body of Christ. • Read 1 Cor 12:12,13 • When a person is baptized into Christ he becomes a member of the ________________ Body

23. Read 1 Cor 12:27 • The “you” here refers to the church members. They are called ________________ Body of Christ

24. Read Rom 12:4,5 • Even though members have different abilities they become _____________ in Christ. Using different abilities they work together in unity, harmony and love in the body. one body

25. Read Col 1:18 • Christ is the ________ of the body. The body is the ______________. head church

26. Read Eph 3:9-11 • It is by the _______ that the eternal purpose of God is to be made known to the world. church

27. Read 1 Peter 2:9,10 • All believers are to be royal ________. This means they have direct access to God through Christ and also that they are to work for God as ministers. A minister is one who serves God as works to help people find Christ. At baptism we are ordained for this service. priests

28. “The savior’s commission included all the believers. It includes all the believers to the end of time. It is a fatal mistake to suppose that the work of saving souls depends alone on the ordained minister. All to whom the heavenly inspiration has come are put in trust with the gospel. All who receive the life of Christ are ordained to work for the salvation of their fellow men. For this work the church was established, and all who take upon themselves its sacred vows are thereby pledged to be co-workers with Christ.” (DA 822)

29. Read Ephesians 4:4-8, 11-16 • God has given _______ in order for the Church to carry out its mission in the world. The gifts are for “equipping the people of God for the work of ministry” and for “building up the body of Christ.” The body of Christ is the _________. gifts church

30. When the word “church” is used in the New Testament it always refers to people—a congregation not a building or an office.

31. We note that Christ is the head and also the goal of the Church. We grow in faith and love by virtue of our connection with the Head and the Church grows in numbers by its obedience to the command given to it by its Head to go into all the world and make disciples (Matt 28:18-20).

32. People who are saved work together for the salvation of others. Growth is always toward Jesus (Eph 4:13). So our growth goal is not just to have a bigger church but to bring more people into a saving relationship with Jesus. In this way only can the Church truly grow.

33. Read Matthew 9:35-38. • The threefold work of Christ was ________, ______, and ______.

34. Christ is no longer personally present on earth but ministers in the world through His body which is the ____________. • The threefold work of Christ will then be continued by His people who are called the ______ of Christ.

35. The harvest is ripe and God is calling His people to enter into the harvest in His name and spirit. The spirit of Jesus was one of compassion for the lost. This same spirit will result in souls won to Christ.

36. Let us devote a period of tie right now for prayer using Matthew 9:38 as the subject matter. Let us pray earnestly that God will help us have a deep love for souls that leads us into the harvest in His name and spirit.

37. “By the baptism of the Holy Spirit, God’s people are to do … the work that Christ did” (RH, March 22, 1898).

38. DISCOVERY EVENT II GETTING IN TUNE WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

39. Spiritual gifts are distributed by and under the direction of the Holy Spirit. • It is not possible to understand them without understanding something of the work of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever felt that the Holy Spirit is so mysterious that you can no more get hold of Him than you can the wind?

40. The very symbols used in the bible may for some make Him seem ethereal and unreal: wind, fire, oil, water, etc. He may even seem to others to be a substance that is to fill us. We are sometimes told that if we had “more” of the Holy Spirit or were “more Spirit-filled” we would have more power. Is it possible to have “more” of the Spirit?

41. Let us see what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit: • I suggest dividing into seven groups. • Each group is to appoint one of its members to summarize and report the group’s findings. • Each group will be given a Scripture assignment.

42. Start each group with prayer then read and discuss the Scriptures and references assigned. Take 20 minutes for discussion. • After discussion each group is to report to the general body. • We will then close with prayer asking God for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

43. Ellen White suggests the following six conditions for receiving the Holy Spirit: • Be willing to receive: • “In the great and measureless gift of the Holy spirit are contained all of heaven’s resources. It is not because of any restriction on the part of God that the riches of His grace do not flow earthward to men. If all were willing to receive, all would become filled with His Spirit.” (COL 419)

44. Intense desire: • “Why do we not hunger and thirst for the gift of the Spirit, since this is the means by which we are to receive power? Why do we not talk of it, pray for it, preach concerning it? The Lord is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to us than parents are to give good gifts to their children. For the baptism of the Spirit every worker should be pleading with God.

45. Clear away the obstructions: • “There is nothing that Satan fears so much as that the people of God shall clear the way by removing every hindrance, so that the Lord can pour out His Spirit upon a languishing church and an impenitent congregation…. When the way is prepared for the Spirit of God, the blessing will come.”(RH, March 22, 1887)

46. Put self aside: • “There is no limit to the usefulness of the one who, putting self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart, and lives a life wholly consecrated to God.” (8T, 19).

47. Surrender to be guided, controlled, used: • “Christ has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to His church, and the promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples. But like every other promise, it is given on condition. There are many she believe and profess to claim the Lord’s promise; they talk about Christ and about the Holy Spirit, yet receive no benefit.

48. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled by the divine agencies. We cannot use the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit God works in His people to ‘will and to do of His good pleasure.’ But many will not submit to this. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given.

49. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is ready to supply every soul according to the capacity to receive.” (DA 672)

50. Plead and claim the promise: • “My brethren and sisters, plead for the Holy Spirit. God stands back of every promise He has made. With your Bibles in your hands say; ‘I have done as Thou hast said. I present Thy promise, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”’ (8T, 23)