NCD Gift-Oriented
Ministry
The Gift That We Can’t
Take Back
Objective:
To understand Gift-Oriented Ministry and why it is so important to a
healthy growing church?
Scripture: 1Peter 4:10 As each one has received a gift, minister it
to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.[1]
Introduction: It was 1971 just four days before my sixth birthday and it
wasn’t here. I was waiting in
anticipation to see what she would send me this year. My godmother would send
me the best gifts that kid could receive.
Then it came, August 15th just one day before my birthday the
UPS man rolled up in his brown van with a package for me! Oh, I remember it like it was
yesterday. I ripped open that package and
there it was. It was the coolest fire
truck I had ever seen. It wasn’t just
an ordinary fire truck, this fire truck was functional. The big ladder would crank up and down and
there was a place where you could connect the truck to a water hose and it
squirted real water.
Do you
remember any of the special gifts that you received as a kid? Today I want to
speak about the special gifts that we receive from our Heavenly Father.
The first
characteristic of a healthy church is Empowering leadership. The second
characteristic to a healthy growing church is Gift-oriented ministry. What is Gift-Oriented Ministry? It is very simple, Christians ministering or
functioning in their areas of giftedness.
Anyone can have a ministry but is the ministry Gift-Oriented. Are we serving God in with the Spiritual Gifts
that He has given us?
Everyone
that is a Christian has at least one spiritual gift and some have more.
Why is Gift-Oriented
Ministries so important to a healthy growing church?
·
Because
when God’s people start to minister in their area of giftedness the work is
being finished.
·
We
fulfill the gospel commission to GO!
·
And
the church stops doing church and starts being Church.
I have
been pastoring for ten years, two in the General Baptist church and eight in
the Adventist church, and I have seen all types of gifts being used to build up
the church. I have also seen gifted
people not use their gifts.
I asked
my self, why do people use their spiritual gifts?
(My
reasons, you might have others)
·
To
build up the church
·
They
feel a sense of duty or love for Christ and other people
·
Feel
obligated to finish the work
·
Joy or
satisfaction
Why don’t
Christians use their gifts?
·
Don’t
know my gifts
·
Fear
of stepping outside of comfort zone or the fear of being attacked when I do.
·
May
know what they are but don’t know what to do with them
·
Sin
is holding you back, cant effectively minister with sin in our life
·
Not
truly converted
The first
step in Gift-Oriented Ministry is, understanding what our gifts are.
I.
How Many Spiritual Gifts are
there?
A.
Romans 12:3-8
Prophesy, Ministry, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving,
Leadership, Mercy
B.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Wisdom, knowledge, Healing, Miracles, Prophesy,
Discernment, Tongues, Interpretation of tongues
C.
Ephesians 4:7-16
Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastors, Teachers
These are gifts to the church. A prophet is a gift from God to the church.
Your Sabbath School teacher is a gift from God to the
church.
We can count 17 different spiritual gifts in these three verses;
prophecy and teaching are the only ones being repeated.
D.
There’s
more, Hospitality, Faith, Craftsmanship, Administration, Music, prayer and the
list could go on. (Elaborate on some of these gifts)
Chances are that each person here has a least one of these
gifts if not more.
II.
Spiritual Gifts and Universal Responsibilities
A. I don’t want us to be confused
between the difference of spiritual gifts and universal responsibilities. As we mentioned, not everybody has the same
spiritual gifts. By the way, those that
do have the same gift wont use that gift the same way.
One evangelist may pack a stadium and see thousands come
to Christ. Another evangelist has a
wonderful time bringing 3 or 4 to Christ through a small group study sitting
around the kitchen table.
B. Although you might not have a
particular gift God has universal responsibilities for every believer. For example Matt. 28:19.20 is a universal
responsibility for everyone to share the Gospel.
Gift of Evangelism Universal Responsibility to share, your
personal testimony, God expects us all to witness
Gift of Teaching Universal Responsibility to teach, God
expects all to Share the knowledge we have.
How many have children? Did you
teach your children anything as they grew up?
Gift of Giving Universal Responsibility to give, God
expects all of His children to give a
faithful Tithe and a liberal Offering
Gift of Faith Universal Responsibility of faith, each believer has a degree of faith,
if not you probably wouldn’t be here. But,
the one who does who has the gift of faith will be able to move mountains.
Gift of healing Universal Responsibility to heal, I may
not be able to lay my hands on someone and see miracles but, I can tell someone
what to do to get over a cold. I have
put many Band-Aids on. Most importantly
I can lead people to the source of spiritual healing.
Gift of Music Universal Responsibility to sing
praises, I couldn’t give you a concert but I am expected to sing praises to my
Lord.
The wonderful thing about Spiritual Gifts is that those
that have a certain gift will be able to minister to others more effectively.
In most of the gifts, not all, we can find some universal
responsibilities in building up the church and worshiping God.
We are not excused from our responsibilities just because
we don’t have a specific gift
III.
The Danger of Disobedience
A.
What
person would receive a gift and not open it?
What person would receive a gift and not use it? Spiritual gifts are not like Birthday and
Christmas gifts, you can’t take them back and exchange them!
We need to beware of the dangers of not using the
spiritual gifts that God has given us. Matt.
25:14-30, Parable of the talents.
The master of the house went on a long trip and decided to
divvy up some of the responsibilities.
Thus he gave one servant five talents, another he gave two and another
he gave one. The one he gave the five
went out and invested it and made five more as did the one he gave the two who
made two more. The servant who only had
one talent took it and in fear of loosing it buried it.
When the master came back each one gave an account of the
talents that were given to them. The
two that invested the talents were praised and were considered faithful. But not the one, who hid his talent, was
cursed. Matt 25:24-30
It’s really simple folks, you can’t sit on your spiritual
gifts and expect to hear God to say, “welcome in my good and faith full servant.”
B. John 15:1-6 “I am the true vine, and My Father
is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not
bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes,
that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have
spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can
you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in
Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they
gather them and throw them into
the fire, and they are burned. [2]
The only way to bear much fruit is to be connected to the
vine. If you are connected to the vine
you will bear fruit naturally through the spiritual gifts that God has
entrusted with you. Those that do not
bear fruit the scripture say’s will be cut off and thrown into the fire.
C. The greatest cause of our spiritual feebleness as a people, is the
lack of real faith in Spiritual Gifts. If they all received this kind of
testimony in full faith, they would put from them those things which displease
God, and would everywhere stand in union and in strength. And three-fourths of
the ministerial labor now expended to help the churches could then be spared to
the work of raising up churches in new fields. {RH, January 14, 1868 par. 8}
IV.
Discovering Your Gifts
A.
The
first step in Gift-Oriented Ministries is discovering and understanding what
your gift/gifts are.
Being that the gifts are from God the first thing we
should do is pray and ask Him to show us.
B.
Next
ask your self some questions.
·
What
is your Passion?
·
What
are you good at?
·
What
do you enjoy doing? What brings joy
into your life?
·
What
do other people say that you are gifted at?
Let the hand of God
work the clay for His own service. He knows just what kind of vessel He wants.
To every man He has given his work. God knows what place he is best fitted for.
Many are working contrary to the will of God, and they spoil the web. The Lord
wants every one to be submissive under His divine guidance. He will place men
where they will submit to be worked into oneness with Christ, bearing His
divine similitude. If self will submit to be worked, if you will cooperate with
God, if you will pray in unity, work in unity, all taking your place as threads
in the web of life, you will grow into a beautiful fabric that will rejoice the
universe of God.
(Letter 63, 1898). {4BC 1154.4}
This morning allow the Lord to show you those Spiritual
Gifts that He has given you. Do you
trust that He knows what is best for the work? Be submissive to the Holy Spirit
and He will show you the work that is best fitted for you Gifts.
V.
Finding Your Ministry
A.
Once
we discover our gift/gifts we need to open up the gift. How many have ever received a gift and never
opened it up to see what is in side?
The fun part is figuring out how to use my gift.
The toughest thing regarding spiritual gifts is, finding a
ministry that that you can use your gifts effectively.
Remember your passion, what is it that you just have to
do?
What bring the most joy in your life?
There is a middle aged woman whom a pastor was talking
with regarding spiritual gifts and helping her to discover them. She lived all alone, didn’t have job and was
receiving financial assistance.
This woman feeling depressed came and counseled with her
pastor. She said that she felt that she
had no real purpose for her life.
Where do I fit in the Church? Do you feel that way?
In conversation the pastor asked, “What do you love doing
most of all” and she said that she loved to bake.
He asked, “What do you like to bake?” She said, pies, but no one ever comes to
visit me to share them with.
He said, “Can you bake 20 pies a week?” She said, no I don’t have 20 pie tins.
He said, “What if the church supplied you with 20 pie
tins, could you bake twenty pies a week?”
She said, yes but I couldn’t afford the ingredients.
He said, “What if the church bought all the pie tins and
all the ingredients could you make 20 pies a week and give them to the visitors
that come to church each week?”
Not only did she say yes but she made this into a very
effective ministry. Every time a person
would visit the church they got a visit from this woman and a pie.
One visitor liked the pie so much that he called up the
pastor to find out who this person was.
The pastor got the two together and this visitor ended up joining the
church and giving her a job in a local restaurant. This Job helped her get off financial assistance, she started to
dress better and take better care of herself.
While she worked at this restaurant she met a man who loved to bake, they
fell in love and ended up getting married.
All because she discovered her spiritual gift and was
willing to use it in a ministry.
God wants his children to be happy and enjoy their
ministry.
B.
How
can I use my gift in an effective ministry?
Experiment; try different things and when you find those
ministries that are most effective and enjoyable, keep doing it.
If it bears fruit keep doing it! God will prune your ministry so that you can bear more fruit.
If your ministry is not bearing fruit we might have to
look at it objectively and try something else.
Conclusion:
Mark
Finley speaks of effective evangelism and why his teams have such great
success. How many would agree that Mark
Finley has the gift of evangelism?
He say’s a
great part of the key to successful evangelism is in Gift-oriented
ministries. He finds three specific
gifts in the church and uses them to help reach the people for the up coming
evangelistic series.
The first
gift is intercessory prayer. These
people come together to pray for the list of names given to them from the
congregation. The people that we would
like to see at the meetings. They pray
for the mother or father, sister or brother, neighbor or friend who is not a
Christian. They pray for those members
that don’t come to church any more.
The
second Gift he searches out are the ones who have the gift of literature
evangelism. These people are sent out
into the communities to pass out books and tracks and Bible study request
forms. They meet the people door to
door house to house.
The third
gift that is needed is the gift of teaching.
These people set up small groups in homes and lead people through Bible
studies or video series on Daniel and Revelation. They are preparing for the harvest.
And all
along the intercessory prayer team is praying for those knocking on doors and
giving Bible studies. When the series
begin it is a time of harvest.
The
ground has been cultivated. The seeds have been planted and watered; they are
growing and waiting to be harvested.
There are
many Spiritual Gifts. Every person has
at least one and when you cooperate with the Holy Spirit and begin to operate
in the area of your giftedness it will bring joy to your life.
Spiritual
Gifts are different then Universal Responsibilities. God expects certain responsibilities out of every believer.
Beware of
the dangers of not using the spiritual gifts that God has given us.
So I
encourage you to discover your gifts that God has given you and apply it to a
ministry
Pastors
along with the elders have a responsibility to help each church member discover
their spiritual gifts and implement them into a functional ministry.
Each
member should be willing to discover his or her spiritual gifts and then use
them in a ministry to build up the church.
Remember
one important truth; our ministries should be interdependent with other
ministries in the church.
What I
mean by interdependent is that each ministry should be part of the church,
working in unity with the church and other ministries. Like
the quote, as threads in the web of life,
you will grow into a beautiful fabric, so that the church may multiply
naturally.
Hymn #
428 Sweet By and By
Hymn #
614 Sound the Battle Cry
Spiritual Gifts
Scripture: 1Peter 4:10 As each one has received a gift, minister it
to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.[3]
Introduction: It was 1971 just four days before my sixth birthday and it
wasn’t here. I was waiting in
anticipation to see what she would send me this year. My godmother would send
me the best gifts that kid could receive.
Then it came, August 15th just one day before my birthday the
UPS man rolled up in his brown van with a package for me! Oh, I remember it like it was
yesterday. I ripped open that package
and there it was. It was the coolest
fire truck I had ever seen. It wasn’t
just an ordinary fire truck, this fire truck was functional, it had a bunch of
real cool gagets. The big ladder would
crank up and down and there was a place where you could connect the truck to a
water hose and it squirted real water.
Do you
remember any of the special gifts that you received? If you were given a real cool gift would you take it back to the
store?
If God
had a really cool gift to give you would you want it?
Today I
want to speak about the special gifts that we receive from our Heavenly Father.
I. How Many Spiritual Gifts are there?
a.
Romans 12:3-8
Prophesy, Ministry, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving,
Leadership, Mercy
b.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Wisdom, knowledge, Healing, Miracles, Prophesy,
Discernment, Tongues, Interpretation of tongues
c.
Ephesians 4:7-16
Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastors, Teachers
We can count 17 different spiritual gifts in these three verses;
prophecy and teaching are the only ones being repeated.
d.
There’s
more, Hospitality, Faith, Craftsmanship, Administration, Music, prayer and the
list could go on. (Elaborate on some of these gifts)
Chances are that each one of you has a least one of these
gifts if not more.
II.
Why does god give spiritual gifts?
A. Eph. 4:11-15 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some
evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for
the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every
wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all
things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what
every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part
does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love
III How Do I Know What My Gifts Are?
Being that the gifts are from God the first thing we
should do is pray and ask Him to show us.
Next ask your self some questions.
·
What
is your Passion? What do you love to
do?
·
What
are you good at?
·
What
do you enjoy doing? What brings joy
into your life?
·
What
do other people say that you are gifted at?
As you grow with Jesus it will become easier for you to
see the special gifts that God has for you.