Spiritual Gifts 3 of 4
"How to Identify Your Spiritual Gifts"
February 3, 2002
Romans 12:1-8
4th Sunday After the Epiphany
Galena-Warwick United Methodist Charge
Warwick & Galena, Maryland
Rev. Dr. Lawrence D. Jameson
larry@larryjameson.com
back to our church home page
For two Sundays now I have preached about Spiritual Gifts.
I’ve given you definitions, what they are, and what they are not.
I’ve compared and contrasted Spiritual Gifts with
the fruit of the Spirit and Christian roles.
Today, I want to step away from the theory
and get practical.
How can you identify your Spiritual Gifts?
Let’s take this step by step.
Step Number One
You need to be a Christian with assurance.
You might be a Christian without assurance.
That isn’t good enough.
God doesn’t build on sand.
He builds on solid rock.
If you don’t know for sure that Jesus has forgiven your sin
entered into your heart
and become your sovereign Lord,
you need to get that straight first.
What is Christian assurance?
Assurance is the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart and mind.
It is a deep knowledge and confidence in
who you are
and who you belong to.
Christians with assurance still have questions.
Christians with assurance
experience uncertainty and confusion.
Assurance does not mean you have all the answers. No Christian does.
But assurance does mean this:
that if you could put all your
questions, problems, intellectual uncertainties, personal issues,
on a scale
they don’t come close to the utter magnitude
of the reality and the importance
of your relationship with God.
What good is it going to do
for God to reveal his Spiritual Gifts
to someone who is too uncertain to use them?
You can have assurance.
You can know who you are.
You can know that you are a Christian
just as surely
as you know that you are an American.
How?
I can give you intellectual answers
(and I have excellent answers for this).
But that isn’t enough.
You have to take this one to God.
You need to enter into the throne room of the Almighty,
and ask God for assurance.
If you ask, you will receive.
This isn’t an intellectual thing.
This is a encounter with the living God.
You can know.
You can have assurance.
And I urge you to go there first.
Step Number Two
Decide that you really want to know.
If you don’t decide,
nobody is going to force you to find out.
Once you decide that you want to know,
you are half way there.
In Matthew 7:7 Jesus said,
"Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives;
he who seeks finds;
and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
This little verse paints a very clear picture.
God wants you to make up your mind.
What do you want?
Q: Why would you want to discover your Spiritual Gifts?
A: To know yourself better.
To know your calling from God.
To become a more useful Christian.
To be closer to Jesus.
To see your church grow and become more effective.
To be all that you can be.
Those are great reasons.
But all the reasons in the world
are not going to convince you
to want to know
unless you decide that you want to know.
And as your pastor, I will know
when you want to know.
This isn’t rocket science.
When a group of Christian people
start asking, seeking, and knocking,
watch out
because God is going to honor his Word.
Our ministry together will become more effective.
Our friendships will become sweeter.
Our community will see changes.
You need to decide if you really want to know
what your Spiritual Gifts are.
Step Number Three
Pray
James 1:5 says
If any of you lacks wisdom,
he should ask God,
who gives generously to all without finding fault,
and it will be given to him.
I love four words from that verse.
“it will be given”
Those are words you can take to the bank.
This isn’t theory. This is practical.
If you are a Christian,
and you love the Lord Jesus Christ
and you want to know what ministry God has
specifically and uniquely given to you
that isn’t selfish
that isn’t greedy
that is just beautiful
and God is going to answer your prayer.
Pray.
Say something like this:
Almighty God, I want to know what Spiritual Gifts
you have already given to me.
Please help me to see what I overlooked before.
Give me the power to know and understand,
and the wisdom to apply,
your grace in practical ways.
I want to help build up the body of Christ.
Touch my mind and heart
and let your Holy Spirit
turn my efforts into effective ministry.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
Step Number Four
Study the Biblical record
three major gift lists
Romans 12 1 Corinthians 12 Ephesians 4
three verses that describe purpose of Spiritual Gifts
Ephesians 4:12 1 Corinthians 12:7 1 Peter 4:10
27 Spiritual Gifts in Scripture (there can be more)
Prophecy, Pastor, Teaching, Wisdom, Knowledge, Exhortation,
Discerning of Spirits, Giving, Helps, Mercy, Missionary, Evangelist,
Hospitality, Faith, Leadership, Administration, Miracles, Healing, Tongues,
Interpretation, Voluntary Poverty, Celibacy, Intercession, Exorcism, Service,
Apostleship, Martyrdom
Don’t just take my word for it.
Open your Bible and look it up for yourself.
What if someone gave you a car
with a lot of hidden options.
What would you do?
You would open the glove box,
pull out the manual
and read it cover to cover.
“Hey, honey! Guess what that new car has?
There is a switch under the dash
that makes the car amphibious.
Isn’t there a pond next door?
Let’s check this out!”
You are far more interesting
than any car ever made.
And God has hidden features in your life
that you may not be aware of.
Open up the manual!
Step Number Five
Take a Spiritual Gifts Inventory
I have a big stack of them.
Here is one.
They cost $4 each.
It has 125 questions.
It takes about 30 minutes to fill out.
It takes about 30 minutes more to discuss.
I have taken this inventory
and it was very helpful.
I have also given this inventory
to a number of people
and they tell me that it was very helpful.
Is the inventory all you need?
No.
It is just a tool.
But it can give you a place to start
your investigation.
Take a Spiritual Gifts Inventory.
Step Number Six
Examine your feelings.
Sometimes, God puts desires into our hearts
and those desires can reflect
the Spiritual Gifts we already have.
Sometimes our feelings can mislead us.
But sometimes, our feelings can be a great indicator.
Psalm 37:4 says
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
That’s a great promise!
If you love the Lord,
and enjoy learning more about the riches of his mercy,
you will experience this:
God will put pure and good desires in your heart
and then he will be the one to satisfy them.
One of the ways God does this
is to give us a desire to discover Spiritual Gifts.
Examine your feelings.
Step Number Seven
Experiment with different gifts
Once you discover some potential gifts,
take them out for a test drive.
Do you think you have the gift of hospitality?
Try hosting a missionary for a few nights.
Or put together a dinner for the church.
One of the characteristics of Spiritual Gifts is effectiveness.
If you take a Spiritual Gift out for a test drive
and find that you are good at that activity,
you may have identified one of your gifts.
If you think you are called to be a missionary,
try going on a short term mission.
If you think you have the gift of teaching,
ask the Sunday School Superintendent
to let you serve as an assistant teacher.
If you think you have the gift of evangelism,
take a course in that subject
and try to apply what you learned.
The Bible says in Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's
will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The Scripture says that test drives are OK!
Experiment.
Step Number Eight
Determine the gifts you don’t have.
What if you experiment with a Spiritual Gift
and you find out you really really don’t have that gift?
Your pride may hurt a little,
but you will be progressing!
It’s good to find out what gifts you don’t have.
After all, the Bible only lists 27 or so gifts.
If you rule one gift out,
then you have 26 more to experiment with.
Remember Christian roles.
Just because you don’t have a particular Spiritual Gift
doesn’t mean that you get off scott free.
Each and every Christian has the duty to perform
certain roles from time to time
and those roles correspond to the Spiritual Gifts.
We all can’t be teachers,
but we can all support the Sunday School.
We all can’t be pastors,
but we can support the pastoral ministry of our church.
We all can’t be evangelists,
but all of us can be faithful to witness.
We all can’t be martyrs
but we can show respect for
those who sacrificed.
When you experiment with the gifts
you learn on more than one level.
You learn about gifts AND you learn about roles.
Step Number Nine
Expect confirmation from the body of Christ
You can expect other Christians to help you
affirm or discount the presence of a Spiritual Gift in your life.
What do other Christians say?
Remember that the purpose of Spiritual Gifts
is to build up the body of Christ.
The body of Christ is going to tell you
if you are being effective
in ministry.
1 Corinthians 12:26
If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all
rejoice together.
Proverbs 20:5
The purposes in the human mind are like deep water,
but the intelligent will draw them out.
Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens the wits of another.
Notes on sermon:
“How to Identify Your Spiritual Gifts”
February 3, 2002
by Rev. Dr. Lawrence Jameson
1) You need to be a Christian with assurance.
1 John 1:9
I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know
that you have eternal life.
2) Decide that you really want to know.
In Matthew 7:7 Jesus said,
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door
will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and
to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
3) Pray
James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God,
who gives generously to all without finding fault,
and it will be given to him.
a suggested prayer:
Almighty God, I want to know what Spiritual Gifts you have already given to me.
Please help me to see what I overlooked before. Give me the power to know and
understand, and the wisdom to apply, your grace in practical ways.
I want to help build up the body of Christ. Touch my mind and heart and let your
Holy Spirit turn my efforts into effective ministry. In the name of Jesus
Christ, I pray. Amen.
4) Study the Biblical record
three major gift lists
Romans 12 1 Corinthians 12 Ephesians 4
three verses that describe purpose of Spiritual Gifts
Ephesians 4:12 1 Corinthians 12:7 1 Peter 4:10
27 Spiritual Gifts in Scripture (there can be more)
Prophecy, Pastor, Teaching, Wisdom, Knowledge, Exhortation,
Discerning of Spirits, Giving, Helps, Mercy, Missionary, Evangelist,
Hospitality, Faith, Leadership, Administration, Miracles, Healing, Tongues,
Interpretation, Voluntary Poverty, Celibacy, Intercession, Exorcism, Service,
Apostleship, Martyrdom
5) Take a Spiritual Gifts Inventory.
6) Examine your feelings.
Psalm 37:4
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
7) Experiment with different gifts.
Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's
will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
8) Determine the gifts you don’t have.
9) Expect confirmation from the body of Christ
1 Corinthians 12:26
If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all
rejoice together.
Proverbs 20:5
The purposes in the human mind are like deep water,
but the intelligent will draw them out.
Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens the wits of another.