Ministry
When a child receives a gift for a holiday or Christmas it can be such a joy to watch and oh the excitement when they use it and love it! God has given us gifts. This session can help us love and use them as individuals.
Ministry (session 6):
Pray
Read Luke 10:1-3, 16-21
We are called to pray for more workers for the harvest as Christians. Then we become the answer to our own prayers; God has called you to move into a new place of ministry and service to others in Christ’s Name. Indeed remember that you represent Jesus. He has set you apart for service and commissioned you to go in His Name, like the seventy two he sent out so long ago.
Therefore our purpose now is to discern each of your spiritual gifts and then put them into practice. That is the work of ministry, pure and simple. Spiritual gifts are not the same as natural abilities, even though abilities are God given also. Spiritual gifts are supernatural gifts of the Spirit for the edification of the Body of Christ and those who are entering into that Body. So it’s not accurate to say that a quiet person is a good listener and that is their Spiritual Gift. Nor is it correct that someone who has an organizational personality is automatically gifted as an administrator by the Spirit. A natural leader may not necessarily be called by the Spirit to that task in the church either. A school teacher does not necessarily have the Spiritual Gift of teaching. Let’s take a look at what the Spirit says about it in the Word:
Read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 27-31; 13; 14:1-33
We’ll use this general list of nine gifts and its sub-categories:
1- Leadership/apostolic
– Sent out by the Spirit of Christ to lead in a way recognized by the Body of Christ- consider missions or church planting and listen to your community recognizing those gifts– otherwise you are wrongly self-appointed
2- Prophecy/Words of Knowledge and Wisdom/Distinguishing Spirits
– Forth-telling and foretelling the heart of God to a specific people in a specific situation/specific words of supernatural knowledge and knowing what to do with that info/discerning what kind of spirit, whether a kind of angel, demon or simply a person’s spirit
3- Teaching/Knowledge
– Passing on the teaching of the Spirit of Christ by training, correcting, rebuking in righteousness and applying the whole Word of God in a way that inspires the Body of Christ towards love and obedience to God
4- Healing/Miracles/Faith/Giving
– Laying on hands for healing of the sick, raising the dead, and speaking forth the impossible in Christ’s Name/ believing for God to do the impossible things He has in mind to do/generous giving that accompanies the gift of faith with miraculous provision
5- Evangelism
– Proclaiming effectively the good news of Jesus to those who don’t know Him yet, building relationships with unbelievers to draw them to Christ in love
6- Helps/Mercy/Encouragement
– Serving others at a supernatural level by seeing what necessary tasks the Spirit wants to do behind the spotlight and doing it with pleasure, much hospitality and refreshing the saints in this way/a deep welling up compassion for others that acts in practical service/giving the right words and deeds of encouragement to the Body that sees their true identity in Christ and calls it forth
7- Pastoral/Administration
– Shepherding the Body through nurturing, caring for, and guiding the flock on to spiritual maturity/governance and strategy given by the Spirit to help all the parts of the Body work in concert together
8- Tongues
– Speaking in a language unknown to the speaker with a person’s spirit by the power of the Spirit, whether angelic, heavenly or earthly, sometimes publically but often in private prayer for intercession, spiritual warfare, prophecy and praise to God or to cross language barriers for the sake of the Gospel
9- Interpretation of Tongues
– Receiving an impression or translation of a tongue and passing that on to the Body of Christ or to cross a language barrier for the sake of the Gospel
Pray- Ask elders for the laying on of hands for more of the Spirit to discern your gifts
Assignment: Write this down or make note of it, then put it into practice this week by:
1- Leaders should consider attending and eventually joining the core group of a ministry; maybe God will call you to start a new work in Christ Jesus!
2- Prophets should ask the Spirit to give them a message for an upcoming gathering and share it there under the authority of the leadership there
3- Teachers should set up a time to give a sermon/message at a gathering of believers together or lead a class of some kind for a group of believers, as the Spirit leads and under the authority of local leadership
4- Healing/Miracle Workers/those with Gifts of Faith/Giving should pray for some people at a gathering or with someone you meet and ask the Spirit for what He wants to do in that regard or challenge your church to give or act in faith somehow
5- Evangelists should go out on the streets or to the mall and begin practicing that gift in conjunction with some other believers- contact a ministry that does this also
6- Helpers/Mercy Givers should put their gifts into practice this week, as the Spirit leads, whether as simple as cleaning a bathroom or in some other way to meet a need for someone- just look for opportunities
7- Pastors/Administrators should consider working with a gathering of believers to learn shepherding and administration needs and begin to meet those needs
8/9.Those with tongues or interpretation of tongues should use these gifts at the a gathering of believers that is open to that gift
The Body of Christ needs to find places for these gifts to be used and encourage individuals to use them!
Prayer