Our quest to get to know God better has led us in a roundabout way to some very important topics in recent weeks. It all started with a look at the Godhead-- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our examination of what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit led us quite naturally to consider the spiritual gifts, since understanding what we need to know about the Holy Spirit depends on a certain level of understanding of spiritual giftedness.
First, we asked the question, "Who are the gifted?" While religion may have led us to believe that only professional ministers are truly gifted, and therefore we can depend on them to do our work for us, the scripture teaches otherwise. In this study, we saw that every Christ-follower is just as gifted by the Spirit as any other believer.
Then, we took a little lesson in "spiritual anatomy," as set forth by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12. There the apostle compares the body of Christ, the church, with the physical attributes of the human body, and concludes that every organ and system is designed to contribute to the health of the body as a whole, and draws the same conclusion about the "members" of the body of Christ. Spiritual gifts, Paul teaches, have as their main purpose to strengthen the church, to maintain its health and enable it to accomplish its mission.
Finally, last Sunday we talked about how to discover what our spiritual gifts are. We revisited our "S.H.A.P.E." for ministry and saw that what we have a heart for, what our abilities are, and what our personality and experiences are, are major indicators of what our spiritual gifts are. We concluded with a spiritual inventory, which is posted on our website, that helps us zero in on our respective gifts as individuals.
I hope you have found this study helpful, and that you will stay with us as we get to know God further by looking at the gospel-- the good news of what Christ has done for us.
