Definition of Spiritual Gifts: a divine ability given to a follower of Jesus by the Holy Spirit for the enhancement of God's people.
There is no blessing in NOT using our gifts. And there is no exchange program. God gave us the gift that we have and we're kinda stuck with it - like it or not!
Some Scripture:
Romans 11:29
Eph. 4:7-12
Romans 12
1. Apostleship: One who initiates or first advocates a great spiritual reform. Direct revelation from God has to be in accordance with the Scripture. Galations 1:11-12. Abraham, Moses, Gideon all had the gift of apostleship. These people must be totally surrendered to God in order to speak with convincing authority (seen in results). Also called sent ones or messengers.
2. Evangelism: The capacity and passion to present the Gospel with clarity to the unsaved. These people have an over-riding drive to tell others about Jesus. They need to be taught. They need to learn to speak the language of the unbeliever.
3. Exhortation: The ability to exact positive change in a believe through correction. They can be positive or negative in their approach but it is done in love. These people help us to act; show us a direction to take.
4. Pastoral: The ability to lead and guide believers in a growing relationship with God. They are overseers. They help believers to grow.
5. Prophecy: The ability to receive and declare an immediate message from God for His people. Foretelling. Forth-telling. Has to be 100% accurate or is a false prophet! 1 Cor. 14 - evaluate.
6. Teaching: The ability to communicate spiritual truth causing growth and blessing. The hearer's life is better because of what has been heard. They tells us how to apply the Truth.
No gift is for self satisfaction.
I'm sorry that my notes are so choppy. The sermon was preached on the 1st and I'm typing this post on the 21st!!! I don't remember all the "blanks" but I hope you can get something from it. I do have the quiz our pastor gave us, but I don't have it on my pc yet. I'll post it when I can.
Just our thoughts on everything from weight to homeschooling to children to parenting to politics to midwifery to blog memes.
Please come and visit my website and other blog, All Things Birth Choices
