SPIRITUAL GIFTS: Foundational Gifts (Part 2)

Memorial Drive 2/16/20 SPIRITUAL GIFTS: Foundational Gifts (II) Ephesians 4 “A spiritual gift is a God-given, divinely-empowered, enhanced-ability to minister to others within the body of Christ for the sake of the God’s glory and the building up of Christ’s church. EVERY believer has one or more of these gifts.” INITIAL THOUGHTS … • VISUALIZING THE GIFTS AND GIFT-LISTS: Conclusions We Can Draw ◦ Gift-Lists Sometimes Overlap But No List Is Complete There may be a “spiritual gifting” that equips for leading in worship! There may be a “spiritual gifting” that equips for intercessory praying! “The gift of intercession is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to pray for extended periods of time on a regular basis and see frequent and specific answers to their prayers, to a degree much greater than that which is expected of the average Christian.” “Intercession involves a combination of identification, agony, and authority, that those without the gift will seldom experience or understand.” (Rees Howells: Intercessor, 86) • They pray longer than most! • They pray with particular intensity! • They enjoy prayer more than usual and get great personal satisfaction from it! • They see more frequent and dramatic answers to their prayers! • They hear from God more regularly and more accurately! ◦ ONE list seems to gather up ALL the gifts under only TWO HEADINGS to keep the emphasis on HOW we are to use our gifts and WHY we have them! Peter seems to intentionally categorize all of the gifts under two simple headings: Speaking gifts of various kinds and serving gifts of various kinds! “Whoever SPEAKS is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of GOD; whoever SERVES is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which GOD supplies; so that in all things GOD MAY BE GLORIFIED THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (I Peter 4:11) Whatever you’re doing with the gifts God has entrusted to you, you’re representing the Almighty! So don’t play around! WHAT you do WITH and HOW you USE your gifts is ultimately about ONE THING and that is to PUT GOD ON DISPLAY and SHOW HIM EXALTED to His rightful place!” … THE FOUNDATIONAL CHURCH-GROWTH GIFTS (Ephesians 4:11-13) “And He gave some as APOSTLES, and some as PROPHETS, and some as EVANGELISTS, and some as PASTORS AND TEACHERS, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4:11-13) • FOUNDATIONAL In Helping OTHERS Discover and Develop THEIR Gifting The critical point in last week’s message was to point out that THIS specific use of the word “apostle” refers to a responsibility that is NOT repeatable! NO ONE today either SPEAKS WITH or RECORDS GOD’S WORD with the authority entrusted to those FIRST apostles. • THE SPIRITUAL GIFT OF EVANGELISM I may not have the “gift” of evangelism but I am still called to a “role” of sharing the good news of Christ with others! (Mark 5:19, I Peter 3:15) The Gift of Evangelism Defined … “The gift of evangelism is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to share the gospel with unbelievers in such a way that men and women become Jesus’ disciples and responsible members of the Body of Christ.” (Wagner, 157) How Many Have This Gift? How Do I Know If I Have This Gift? How do I feel about evangelism? Do I have an “enlarged heart” for it? Do I find that I have a desire to share the gospel with the lost? Have I been willing to “experiment” a bit by equipping myself with the basics of the gospel message and then praying for opportunities to share with others? Have I discovered some effectiveness when I do share? Does there seem to be some recognition by others in the fellowship that I have this gifting? What Are Some Reasons I May Not Realize I Have This Gift? ◦ Spiritual Gifts Don’t Come Fully Developed Because gifts don’t come fully developed, at first they may be hard to spot! They may be laying there in embryonic form! ◦ Gifts Are Manifested With Different Degrees of Effectiveness ◦ Gifts Can Fall Into Decline Romans 11:29 Calling and gifts are irrevocable 2 Timothy 1:6 Paul recognized that Timothy needed to rekindle his gifting The gift-lists may not list all the gifts. Worship leadership and intercessory prayer may be gifts held by some members of the congregation. You? Me? Because worship leaders “lead in battle” their service is quite likely under constant attack. We need to lift them up! There are quite likely 4 or 5 folks here this morning with the gift of evangelism. Gifts can lie dormant because we’ve not really considered the possibility that we might have them, or because of lack of use. There are some things I can do to help me “discover” my spiritual gift/s.