Timothies And Andrews 17 June 2013

Member to a Minister

You were shaped to serve God 1 Corinthians 3:5-6

How God shaped you 1.Spiritual Gifts 2.Heart 3.Abilities 4.Personality 5.Experience

Discover your shape 1.God deserves your best 2.He shaped you for a purpose 3.He expects you to make the most of it 4.Focus on the talents he has given you 5.When you attempt to serve God in ways you are not shaped to serve, it becomes frustrating, and produces limited results

Discover your shape 6.It will waste your time, talent and energy 7.The best use of your life is to serve God out of your SHAPE 8.To do this you must discover your SHAPE, learn to accept it and enjoy it. 9.Then develop it to the full potential

Assess your Gifts Don’t let another day go by, start finding out and clarifying what God intends for you to do. Eph 5:17 Estimate your capability Rom 12:3, Make a list. Ask others for honest opinion. Tell them you are searching for the truth. Both Spiritual and Natural gifts are confirmed by others

Assess your Gifts If you want to know if you have the Gift of Leadership – look over your shoulder If no one is following you ……? Ask Questions

Assess your Gifts Where have I seen fruit in my life that others have confirmed ? Where have I already been successful? The best way to discover your gifts and abilities is to experiment with different areas of service Many books get discovery process backwards – discover and you will know the ministry - Wrong Start serving experimenting with different ministries

Heart and Personality What do I really enjoy doing most ? Gal 6:4 When do I feel the most fully alive ? What am I doing when I lose track of time? What do I like ? Routine or variety ? Team or alone myself ? Introvert, extrovert ? Thinker or feeler ? Competing or cooperating?

Accept and Enjoy your shape God knows what is best for you Gratefully accept Romans 9:20-21 Celebrate the shape God has given you Eph 4:7 Recognize your limitations Nobody is good at everything No one is called to be everything We all have defined roles

Examine your experience What are the lessons you have learnt ? Review your life how did it shape you? Remember : Moses said : Deut 11:2 Forgotten experiences are worthless Gal 3:4 Paul asked the Galatians We rarely see God’s good purpose in Pain or Failure or Embarrassment while it is happening Jesus washed Peter’s feet John 13:7 Takes time. Take a weekend to do it.

Accept and Enjoy your shape Paul was clear 2 Cor 10:13 God assigns each one of us a field of service Your SHAPE determines your specialty When we try to over extend our ministry reach beyond what God shaped us for we experience Stress You are given one lane to run, Heb 12:1 Just focus on finishing the race don’t worry about the one on next lane

Never Compare your Shape Never compare your shape, ministry or the results of your ministry with anyone else. First you will always be able to find someone who seems to be doing a better job than you, then you will be discouraged Or you will always be able to find someone who does not seem as effective as you and You will get full of Pride. Either attitude will take you out of service and rob you of your Joy 2 Cor 10:12. ignore the critics

God deserves my Best 2 Timothy 2:15

Ephesians 3:20 Psalm 37:4 Jeremiah 30:17 Starters

Keep developing Your Shape Matthew 25 – Parable of the Talents God expects us to make the most of what he gives us. We are to cultivate our gifts and abilities Keep our hearts aflame Grow our character and personality Broaden our experience so we will be increasingly more effective in our service. Phil 1:9 Keep on growing 2 Timothy 1:6 Kindle afresh the Gift of God

Ignore the critics Avoid comparisons, Resist exaggeration And seek only God’s commendation 1 Cor 10:12-17 Learn how Paul often had to deal with people who mistreated and misunderstood him. His response was always the same. Refuse to be distracted by criticism Or by comparing your ministry with others “If my life is fruitless, it does not matter who praises me, and if life is fruitful, it does not matter who criticizes me.” John Banyan

Keep developing Your Shape If you do not exercise your muscles they weaken If you don’t utilize the abilities and skills God has given you, you will lose them. Jesus taught the parable of the Talents to emphasize the truth Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents….Mat 25 When you use God will increase Be sure to use 1 Timothy 4:14-15.

Keep developing Your Shape Enlarge and develop through practice Example no one gets the Gift of teaching fully developed. But with study, feedback, and practice a good teacher can become a better teacher, and with time grow to be a master teacher Don’t settle for half developed gift Stretch yourself and learn all you can. Do your best for God 2 Timothy 2:15 Take advantage of every training opportunity to develop your shape and sharpen your serving skills.

Keep developing Your Shape In heaven we are going to serve God forever. Right now we can prepare for that eternal service. Like athletes 1 Cor 9:25 We are getting ready for Eternal responsibilities and Rewards