Exploring and activating our God-given gifts for service within the church community

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. … All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. (1 Cor 12:4-12)

We all have talents and skills that we have honed over the years; however, these are not necessarily your spiritual gifts. Certainly, these skills can be used to help others within the church, just as the early church described in Acts 4:34, a community where everybody contributes to the needs of others. A gift, however, is something that the Spirit wills in order to edify and build up the body of Christ. Being gifted by the Spirit is more about meeting a need and trusting in the Spirit's equipping than trying to fit ‘what you're good at’ into the needs of the church. The Spirit often uses our talents and passions and further equips us in them, but sometimes he also pushes us out of our comfort zones or even calls us to do something we did not expect.

In this series we will be exploring what it means to be gifted by the spirit and what our responsibilities are to such gifts personally and in community.

During the series we are planning to invite everyone in the church to refresh themselves on what the gifts are that the Spirit is leading them to use. This is relevant to everyone, no matter where they are on their journey as they renew, refresh, and discover their gifting for the next season. We would encourage Life Groups to participate in this by exploring deeper the theme of gifts, by participating in gifting surveys together, and by considering how the church might be able to provide opportunities to develop the gifts further.

Available Resources:

• View our new preaching schedule

• View sermon series overview

Spiritual Gifts Survey

https://gifts.churchgrowth.org is an online Spiritual Gift assessment which can be run by churches. The website contains numerous books and materials to support the process.

You can see your spiritual gifts profile, learn about how you are uniquely gifted and created by God, and how to use these gifts to serve him and serve others. We have signed up for a church account to allow us to explore our gifts together. Please contact the office for more details to participate in this.

Download the Lent Journey 

With special thanks to:

• Graham Whitehead (Week Five)

• Sheila Dunkinson (Week Three)

• David Bebbington (Week One)

• Mark Laing (Week Four)