{"id":1865,"date":"2017-08-19T14:09:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-19T19:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/?p=1865"},"modified":"2017-09-03T12:50:08","modified_gmt":"2017-09-03T17:50:08","slug":"spiritual-gifts-what-does-god-want-me-to-do-with-my-life-who-am-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2017\/08\/19\/spiritual-gifts-what-does-god-want-me-to-do-with-my-life-who-am-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Spiritual Gifts: What Does God Want Me to Do with My Life?  &#038; Who Am I?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Adapted from the,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.stephenministries.org\/courses\/default.cfm\/751?mnbcc=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> \u201cDiscovering God\u2019s Vision<\/a><br \/>\nFor Your Life, You and Your Spiritual Gifts.&#8221;<br \/>\nBy Kenneth C. Haugk.<br \/>\nPart 1 of 4.<\/p>\n<p>Ephesians 4:11a (NRSV)<br \/>\nEphesians 4:12-13 (NRSV)<br \/>\nMatthew 5:13a (NRSV)<br \/>\nMatthew 5:14a (NRSV)<br \/>\nMatthew 7:7-11 (NRSV)<br \/>\nRomans 12:6a (NRSV)<br \/>\n1 Peter 4:10 (NRSV)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/sermons-audio\/?sermon_id=123\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a> for the audio only version.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KB515m4KtYM?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Module 1, What Does God Want Me to Do with My Life?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Need for Dealing with Spiritual Gifts.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ephesians 4:11a; 12-13 (NRSV)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The gifts [Jesus\/God\/Holy Spirit] gave were\u2026to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, <sup>13\u00a0<\/sup>until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.<\/p>\n<p>Because we are an Easter people, we look for our gifts in relation to Jesus Christ and how we can respond to the love of God for us in Jesus Christ.\u00a0 To Love one another, as I first loved you.\u00a0 The new commandment that Jesus gives.<\/p>\n<p>When we take into our own being the realization of the immensity of the love of God for us in Christ Jesus, then we can begin living and using our gifts, and be what Jesus says during the sermon on the mount:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Matthew 5:13a, 14a, (NRSV)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You are the salt of the earth\u2026You are the light of the world.<\/p>\n<p>How we respond with our gifts, has a significant impact upon other Christians and non-Christians alike.\u00a0 But just how do we start to deal with our spiritual gifts?<\/p>\n<p>There is a process to dealing with them and they include:<\/p>\n<p>Discovery<br \/>\nDevelopment<br \/>\nDeployment<\/p>\n<p>The three D\u2019s of dealing with spiritual gifts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Three D\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>First, we need to <strong>discover<\/strong> what our gifts are.\u00a0 With the Holy Spirit, we <strong>develop<\/strong> our gifts to bring them to their full potential.\u00a0 Then we <strong>deploy <\/strong>(use) the spiritual gifts given to us by God.<\/p>\n<p>Have you ever said to someone, \u201cI\u2019m not sure what I want to be when I grow up?\u201d\u00a0 Maybe you were serious, or maybe just half joking.\u00a0 Either way, it is a longingness for purpose, \u201cWhat am I supposed to do with my life\u201d.\u00a0 Pope John XXIII expressed that he believed that God might ask each of us a question upon our resurrection and that God is looking for an answer.\u00a0 The question is simply this, \u201cHow did you use the gift of life I gave you?\u201d\u00a0 So, that question of \u201cWhat am I supposed to do with my life, is just the question that God wants you to ask of yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Deep Spirituality of Spiritual Gifts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An excellent way to activate your spirituality, is to discover your spiritual gifts.\u00a0 That is not to say that we cannot work on our spirituality until we discover our gifts, but that in discovering our gifts, our spirituality can be built up.\u00a0 However, we must be willing to work on both.<\/p>\n<p>Pastor Kenneth C. Haugk, founder of Stephen Ministries and author of many Christian books had this to say; \u201cThis is how God has made me, so this is what God is calling me to.\u00a0 And that has never led me wrong.\u00a0 When I\u2019ve reached a fork in the road and wanted to know what I should do, <em>follow your gifts<\/em> has been my answer.\u00a0 And the Lord has always seemed to lead the way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Learning about our Spiritual gifts is both spiritual and vocational.\u00a0 It is in the discovery, that we grow spiritually but also discover our calling in life.\u00a0 Discovering what God is calling us to do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Matthew 7:7-11 says this about asking God;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><sup>7\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cAsk, and it will be <strong>given<\/strong> you; search, and you will <strong>find<\/strong>; knock, and the door will be <strong>opened<\/strong> for you. <sup>8\u00a0<\/sup>For everyone who asks <strong>receives<\/strong>, and everyone who searches <strong>finds<\/strong>, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be <strong>opened<\/strong>. <sup>9\u00a0<\/sup>Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? <sup>10\u00a0<\/sup>Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? <sup>11\u00a0<\/sup>If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!<\/p>\n<p>Many of us have taken a spiritual gifts inventory.\u00a0 When you have been asked here or other churches, what areas of service are interested in, what ministries that you want to be part of, that is in a sense, a spiritual gifts inventory.\u00a0 In the Fall, there will be an opportunity take part in a congregation wide study, on our spiritual gifts.\u00a0 I encourage you to pray about being a part of discovering your gifts and discovering what God intends you do with your life.<\/p>\n<p>Take Home handout, the ushers will give these out during the offering:<\/p>\n<p><strong>For your Meditation, Sharing your Uniqueness<\/strong> (Pg. 30 of manual)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Module 2, Who Am I<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Just who are each of you, who am I?\u00a0 To see this, we step in this direction,<\/p>\n<p><strong>With Eyes Wide Open to God\u2019s Grace<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Grace-Gifts Connection<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If I ask you the question, \u201cWhere do spiritual gifts come from?\u201d\u00a0 You might respond with obvious yet still profound answer of, \u201cFrom God\u201d.\u00a0 (Slide from Power Point to cover the Greek on Grace and Gifts)<\/p>\n<p>Bear with me as we cover a little biblical Greek.\u00a0 The Greek word for \u201cgrace\u201d is <em>charis <\/em>(kar-is).\u00a0 A spiritual gift, or <em>charisma <\/em>(kar-is-mah), as Paul named it, comes directly from God\u2019s <em>charis<\/em>, or grace.\u00a0 The plural of charisma is <em>charismata<\/em> (kar-<strong>is<\/strong>-mah-tah), gifts.\u00a0 You most likely have notice the similarity between grace and gifts, in the Greek.\u00a0 This is by no means an accident.\u00a0 They are deeply connected.\u00a0 The gifts of God are tied to the Grace of God.<\/p>\n<p>Grace is getting what we do not deserve.\u00a0 The underserved gifts of God, is God showing grace upon us.\u00a0 Always action by God first, and our response, hopefully, is to respond with the gifts that God has graced us with.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Romans 12:6a (NRSV)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We have gifts <em>[charismata] <\/em>that differ according to the grace <em>[charis]<\/em> given to us.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1 Peter 4:10 (NRSV)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.<\/p>\n<p><strong>To Whom Are Gifts Really Given?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Are spiritual gifts given to you?\u00a0 They are gifts <em>through<\/em> you.\u00a0 They are not yours to keep but to use, therefore through you for others. \u00a0Spiritual gifts are on loan for use, for God\u2019s children.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go back to that Greek word <em>charismata.\u00a0 <\/em>Another way to translate would be, \u201cendowments\u201d.\u00a0 You are endowed by God for gifts of service for others.\u00a0 Part of that \u201cLoving one another, as I first loved you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Wider view of Charismatic<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, it has become all too common place to use the word <em>charismatic<\/em> for those people who have dynamic personalities, who are exciting or have many individuals following them.\u00a0 This is such an unfortunate extension of the biblical word <em>charisma<\/em>.\u00a0 Even if a person has these abilities, they are spiritually gifted in this way.\u00a0 The gift comes from God in God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Putting Spiritual Gifts in Perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We explored the idea of God\u2019s grace as the source of gifts and our role as the transporter, gifts through us, into the world.\u00a0 Spiritual Gifts are strengths and abilities showered upon us in grace to perform specific acts of service.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s look at it this way.<\/p>\n<p><strong>God\u2019s empowering<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Spiritual gifts come from God.\u00a0 They are powers, strengths, and abilities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>of God\u2019s people<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Spiritual gifts are given to Christians, to the people of God who form the body of Christ.<\/p>\n<p><strong>for God\u2019s Work<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Spiritual gifts have a purpose to equip and empower the body of Christ to accomplish what God wants done in the world.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cornerstones for Ministry:\u00a0 The Four Needs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Jesus cares for others and meets their needs through us when we use our gifts.\u00a0 What are the needs of people that can be met by gifted Christians?\u00a0 Surveys of thousands of Christians reveal four basic needs of people that congregations can do a tremendous job fulfilling:\u00a0 <strong>spirituality<\/strong>, <strong>community, care<\/strong> and <strong>severing<\/strong>, which means giving something back.<\/p>\n<p>Gifts come to us in God\u2019s grace.\u00a0 They empower us, so they can go through us to the rest of the world to accomplish God\u2019s goals.\u00a0 They are not ours but on loan to use for God\u2019s people.<\/p>\n<p>We accept God\u2019s gifts of grace and respond back to God by loving one another as God first loved us.\u00a0 God gives, we respond and reach out to God\u2019s people.\u00a0 We do this through the spiritual gifts we are given, in mission and ministry.<\/p>\n<p>I encourage each of you to reflect upon:<\/p>\n<p><strong>What Does God Want Me to Do with My Life?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&amp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Who Am I (Who are you?)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Please take home the handouts that will be given to you by the ushers during the offering.<\/p>\n<p>Peace and blessings to each of you this week as you journey in faith.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adapted from the, \u201cDiscovering God\u2019s Vision For Your Life, You and Your Spiritual Gifts.&#8221; By Kenneth C. Haugk. Part 1 of 4. Ephesians 4:11a (NRSV) Ephesians 4:12-13 (NRSV) Matthew 5:13a (NRSV) Matthew 5:14a (NRSV) Matthew 7:7-11 (NRSV) Romans 12:6a (NRSV) 1 Peter 4:10 (NRSV) &nbsp; Click here for the audio only version. &nbsp; Module 1, &#8230; <span class=\"more\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2017\/08\/19\/spiritual-gifts-what-does-god-want-me-to-do-with-my-life-who-am-i\/\">[Read more&#8230;]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[57,21,102,78,126,10,80,83,143],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-admin","4":"post-1865","6":"format-standard","7":"category-bible","8":"category-faith","9":"category-god","10":"category-gospel","11":"category-holy-spirit","12":"category-jesus","13":"category-salt","14":"category-sermon","15":"category-spiritual-gifts"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2m6h5-u5","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1877,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2017\/09\/03\/spiritual-gifts-what-makes-me-unique-and-unwrapping-your-gifts-package\/","url_meta":{"origin":1865,"position":0},"title":"Spiritual Gifts: What Makes Me Unique and Unwrapping Your Gifts Package","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"September 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Adapted from the, \u201cDiscovering God\u2019s Vision For Your Life, You and Your Spiritual Gifts.\" By Kenneth C. 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