Speak Series: What Are My Spiritual Gifts?

This week we talked about spiritual gifts.  We often understand spiritual gifts to be things we are good at.  However, sometimes God gives us spiritual gifts of things that we are not so great at!  Think about Moses.  Moses had some sort of speech impediment and yet God called him to lead the Hebrew people and confront Pharaoh about the injustices happening.  God works in us through our strengths and our weaknesses!

We took a look at 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 and learned that every believer receives a spiritual gift and that these gifts are given for us to help bring about the Kingdom of God.  There are also a variety of different gifts and they are given to us by the Holy Spirit.  We talked about ways we have seen others use their spiritual gifts, and took a look at what spiritual gifts we may have and how we can use them.  We looked at Timothy's story (2 Timothy 1:1-14) and looked at the spiritual gifts Timothy might have had to lead the church.  God gives us the gifts we need to accomplish the tasks he sets before us.

We each wrote a letter to ourselves, including how we feel God is encouraging us and challenging us and how God may be gifting us to serve the church and the world!  We folded these into an envelope and addressed them to ourselves.  Sometime down the road, I will send them out as a reminder to everyone of the things God is doing in their lives!

What spiritual gifts has God given you?  Administration, celibacy, discernment, evangelism, exhortation, faith, giving, healing, helping others, hospitality, interpreting tongues, knowledge, leadership, martyrdom, mercy, miracles, prophecy, service, speaking in tongues, teaching, voluntary poverty, wisdom, worship?  Comment on this post with your responses.

YOUTH & PARENTS:  Don't forget that this Sunday, October 30th, we will not have a regular youth meeting at 6pm.  Instead we will meet at church at 1pm and take a trip to Chesterfield Berry Farm for an afternoon full of hayrides, corn mazes and more!  Cost is $10.  Please let me (Lyndsie) know by Friday if you plan on going so I can make sure we have enough drivers.  Parents, if you are interested in driving, let me know!

Speak: Picked for God's Team

In Scripture, we see that God often seems to call the least likely candidates to help bring about God's kingdom!  Last week we talked about what it means to be disciples of Christ.  This week we looked at how God chooses people for different tasks!

We first took a look at Jeremiah.  God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, and Jeremiah's response was "but I'm only a child!"  But God knew that Jeremiah could do the job, because he was faithful!  We also looked at Amos.  God also called Amos to be a prophet.  Amos was just a shepherd, but God knew that Amos was faithful and would obey God's calling no matter what.  Amos had a rough time as a prophet--no one liked him or listened to what he said--but Amos continued to do what God asked him to do.  Mary, the mother of Jesus, also received a calling from God.  She was to give birth to the Son of God!  She was just a teenager, and would endure much hardship for being pregnant before she was married to Joseph.  But God gave her strength and the angel told her to not be afraid, and Mary listened to God and stayed faithful.

God doesn't ask us to be perfect, skilled or even popular people in order to be God's disciples.  He simply asks us to follow Him and be faithful!  What is it that God is calling you to do?  Comment on this post with your responses.

Don't forget to join us next Sunday for our movie night!