Gifted for the Kingdom

Week 1: The Spiritual Gifts Point Us To Jesus
June 7th with Gail Donahue

Gail Donahue reminded us that spiritual gifts are not about discovering ourselves, but about revealing Christ. Every gift points beyond us to the Messiah at work in the church and world today. Using the imagery of seeds, Gail spoke about spiritual gifts as seeds- full of potential. God is the one who plants them, we partner with the Holy Spirit to nurture and grow them, and the fruit they bear is not for ourselves, but for the good of others.

Kingdom Practices
Gail led us through four pathways to discern what our gifts may be. For those who have already identified their gifts, we invite you to consider if you are being led to use your gifts in new ways.

The four pathways:

• • • What moves your heart? Where are you drawn to serve?
    • Look for fruit. Where do you see God working through you?
    • Listen to others. Often people recognize a gift in us before we do.
    • Try things. Sometimes clarification comes through action.

CLICK HERE for the Spiritual Gifts Handout, referred to in Gail’s message.

Week 2: Spiritual Gifts Move Us To Be More Like Jesus
June 14th with Casey Tygrett

Who are you becoming as you live out fully who you are meant to be? This week, Casey Tygrett, challenged us to consider we are most ourselves when we are doing the things we are made to do. And a part of who we are includes the spiritual gifts given to us by the Spirit. Spiritual gifts are a part of our spiritual formation; that when we grow in our giftedness we are becoming more like Jesus. As we grow in our gifts and become more of who we are meant to be, the whole faith community is built up & benefitted.

Kingdom Practices
In our time of practice, we asked three questions, as we continued to engage with our spiritual gifts. We invite you this week to set aside some time to ask yourself the three questions. You may wish first to read Paul’s passage on spiritual gifts in Romans 12:3-8. Then have a conversation with Jesus as you consider the following:

• • • What kind of person are you becoming?
    • Are there places where you are putting your gifts ahead of the believing community?
    • How are you leaning into the gifts of other people? 

Week 3: A World Bursting With The Presence of God

June 21th with Rebecca Moss

This week, Rebecca Moss explored Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus, focusing on his words in chapter 4, verses 7-16. A healthy, believing community is rooted in love and growing to maturity and stability. One way for this to happen is through the gift of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Those called to step into such roles are to do so in order to build up, equip, and guide the believing community. Through this building up, believers join in the work of the Spirit. Jesus’s presence is then made known in the world through his people.

Kingdom Practices
For our time of practice, we engaged with the practice of prayer. In particular, we moved through three movements of praying. We invite you this week to set aside some time to pray through the three movements.

• • • Pray for those who have stepped into the roles of pastor, apostle, teacher, prophet, and evangelist. Whether specific people come to mind or you simply pray in general, bring them to Jesus- pray for wisdom, humility, guidance, renewal, and love.
    • Pray for those who are discerning their spiritual gifts for the first time or pray for those who are being invited to use their spiritual gifts in new ways. We are given our spiritual gifts for the common good of the church which also means that our gifts are discovered and nurtured within the church community. Pray for clarity, wisdom, encouragement, and courage.
    • For the last movement, pay attention if God is asking you to speak into someone else’s life about their spiritual gift. Often others recognize something in us before we do. Would you be willing to pray for and be open to God using you to tell someone else about what you see in them?