1. Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts

2. When I say Spiritual Gifts, What comes to Mind?
There are preconceived notions about Spiritual Gifts depending upon your background, culture, etc.

3. A Spiritual Gift is a special attribute given by the Holy Spirit to every member of the Body of Christ, according to God’s grace, for use within the context of the Body.
C. Peter Wagner
Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church Grow
Chosen Press, c. 2012, p. 33
A Spritual Gift is different than a talent. Both talents and gifts are used for the glory of God.
Wagner, p. 82 – “Talents are one of the features that give every human being a unique personality.”
Having a talent has nothing to do with one’s trust and belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. People who do not believe have talents.
Talents are abilities like playing piano, cooking, painting, repairing things, sports.

4. Spiritual Gifts are Biblical
“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.” I Corinthians 12:1 (NRSV)
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.” I Corinthians 12:4-6 (NRSV)
“The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. . .” Ephesians 4:11-12 (NRSV)

5. Why Explore Spiritual Gifts?
“Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.” I Peter 4:10 (NRSV)
“God does not give a gift that [God] does not call the recipient to use, nor does [God] call someone to do something for [God] without equipping that person with the necessary gift or gifts to do it.” (Wagner, p. 33)
Stan Ott asks us to consider how we are Loved & Called— Gifted—Equipped—Sent. In order to do this we must understand how we are GIFTED.

6. Why Explore Spiritual Gifts?
In the Acts 16:5 Initiative Ministry Mobilization from our February Meeting, E Stanley Ott makes this statement:
“God designed you with your gifts before you were born. You are no accident. The body of Christ needs you and your gifts. You have been designed to fulfill a definite and particular role in your church or fellowship and you have the necessary gifts to function in that role and the necessary power in the person of the Holy Spirit.”
Have the Acts 15:5 handout available to speak from.

7. Spiritual Gifts in Scripture
I Corinthians 12
Romans 12
Wisdom
Knowledge
Faith
Healing
Miracles
Discerning of Spirits
Tongues
Interpretation of Tongues
Apostle
Helps
Administration
Prophecy
Service
Teaching
Exhortation
Giving
Leadership
Mercy
Read Romans 12:6-8, fly in each gift as you get to it.
Read I Corinthians 12:4-11 fly each gift – prophecy is also noted here – this ends at Interpretation of Tongues
Read I Corinthians 12:27-31 flying in the newly mentioned gifts of apostle, helps, administration R

8. How Do I Discover My Spiritual Gift(s)
How Do I Discover My Spiritual Gift(s)? From Ray Stedman in “Equipped for Community” as reported by E. Stanley Ott
Think about what you have been doing, have you used one of the Spiritual Gifts?
Have others observed a Spiritual Gift in you?
Has use of a Spiritual Gift borne fruit?
Have you used a Spiritual Gift Inventory?

9. Spiritual Gift Inventories
There are a number of online inventories.
The one our Presbytery used is
Stan Ott suggests or gifts.pdf.
Paper copies such as Finding Your Spiritual Gifts by C. Peter Wagner. It is available on amazon.com

10. Spiritual Gift Descriptions
Prophecy – the ability to receive and communicate an immediate message of God through a divinely anointed utterance.
Pastor – the ability to assume a long-term personal responsibility for the spiritual welfare of a group of believers.
Teaching – the ability to communicate information in such a way that others will learn from it.
Wisdom – the ability to know the mind of the Holy Spirit in such as way as to receive insight into how given knowledge may best be applied to specific needs that arise in the Body of Christ.
Knowledge – the ability to discover, accumulate, analyze and clarify information and ideas which are pertinent to the well being of the Body.
Exhortation – the ability to minister words of comfort, consolation, encouragement and counsel to members of the body in a way that they feel helped and healed. Sometimes called the gift of counseling.
Giving – the ability to contribute material resources to the work of God liberally and cheerfully, above and beyond the tithes and offerings expected.
It is important to realize that the Spiritual Gift of Pastor is not to be confused with the title we give to specific congregational leaders. While many pastors have the Spiritual Gift of Pastor, there are those who have the gift who are not working in a church as a pastor. Some refer to this gift as the Gift of Shepherding as not to confuse it with the role of congregational leader.
Every Christian is called to give of their material resources. Those with the Spiritual Gift of Giving are those who both see the needs and have the resources to give in ways that go above and beyond.

11. Spiritual Gift Descriptions
Discerning of Spirits – the ability to know with assurance whether certain behavior purported to be of God is in reality divine, human, or satanic.
Helps – the ability to enable others to increase the effectiveness of their particular Spiritual Gifts.
Mercy – the ability to feel genuine empathy and compassion for any individual who suffers distressing physical, mental, or emotional problem; and to translate that compassion into cheerfully done deeds reflecting Christ’s love.
Missionary – the ability to minister whatever other spiritual gifts they have in a second culture.
Evangelist – the ability to share the gospel with nonbelievers in such a way that they become Jesus’ disciples and responsible members of the Body of Christ.
Hospitality – the ability to provide an open house and warm welcome to those in need of food and lodging.
Faith – the ability to discern with extraordinary confidence the will and purposes of God for his/her work.
This is not the same as the gift of Service. The gift of Service is usually when one does whatever needs to be done. The gift of helps is someone like an admin assistant who helps another to use their gift.
The missionary gift should not be confused with the gift of apostle. Also, there are people who have the title missionary who may not have this particular gift but use their gift(s) in the work they do in another culture.
This is another one of those activities that all Christians are called to, we all share the gospel of Jesus. But the one with the gift of Evangelist is one who is comfortable in doing this and the way in which they share the gospel brings others to belief.
Same as evangelist – we all have faith – some have what is called extraordinary confidence,

12. Spiritual Gift Descriptions
Leadership – the ability to set goals in accordance with God’s purpose for the future and to communicate these goals to others in such a way that others work together to accomplish the goals for the glory of God.
Administration – the ability to understand the immediate and long-range goals and to devise and execute effective plans accomplishing them.
Miracles – the ability to serve as a human intermediary thorough whom God has chosen to work a powerful act that alters what might have been perceived as the natural course.
Healing – the ability to serve as a human intermediary through whom God has chosen to cure illness and restore health which may be apart from use of natural means.
Speaking in Tongues – the ability to speak to God in a language they have never learned. It may also include the ability to receive and communicate an immediate message from God to the people through a divinely anointed utterance in a language they have never learned.
Interpretation of Tongues – the ability to hear the divine utterance of one speaking in tongues and make known the message to the Body of Christ.
Note that the gifts of Leadership and Administration sound very similar. Leadership is the ability to set the goals and communicate them. Administration is the ability to put the goals into practice.,

13. Spiritual Gift Descriptions
Voluntary Poverty – the ability to renounce material comfort and luxury. This person adopts a personal lifestyle equivalent to those living in poverty in their given society in order to serve God more effectively.
Intercession – the ability to pray for extended periods of time on a regular basis and to frequently recognize answers to the specific prayers. This is to a degree that is higher than the average Christian.
Deliverance – the ability to cast out demons and evil spirits. This is also known as ekballism or exorcism.
Service – the ability to identify unmet needs involved in a task relating to God’s work, and to make use of available resources to meet those needs and help accomplish what is needed.
Apostle – the ability to assume and exercise divinely imparted authority so that the foundations of a particular sphere of ministry is accomplished. The apostle hears from the Holy Spirit and sets things in order to attain the Church’s health, growth, maturity, and outreach.
Note that the gifts of Leadership and Administration sound very similar. Leadership is the ability to set the goals and communicate them. Administration is the ability to put the goals into practice.
The gift of deliverance or ekballism or exorcism is one that is scary for most Christians. When we think of this gift we might visualize the movie “The Exorcist”. However, it is not that dramatic. It is the ability to pray over someone who is experiencing demons or evil spirits and that person will be delivered.
As I said at the Gift of Helps – the gift of service is when one feels called to step up and do those tasks that need doing regardless of other gifts, talents, abilities – it is getting God’s work done!

14. Spiritual Gift Descriptions
Leading Worship – the ability to discern the heart of God for a particular public worship service. The ability to draw people into the act of worship, into an intimate experience with God; while allowing for the Holy Spirit to move within the worship and change as the Spirit moves.
Celibacy – the ability to remain single and enjoy it.
Note that the gifts of Leadership and Administration sound very similar. Leadership is the ability to set the goals and communicate them. Administration is the ability to put the goals into practice.
The gift of deliverance or ekballism or exorcism is one that is scary for most Christians. When we think of this gift we might visualize the movie “The Exorcist”. However, it is not that dramatic. It is the ability to pray over someone who is experiencing demons or evil spirits and that person will be delivered.
As I said at the Gift of Helps – the gift of service is when one feels called to step up and do those tasks that need doing regardless of other gifts, talents, abilities – it is getting God’s work done!