1 Cor 12:4-6

4 Now God gives us many kinds of special abilities, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service to God, but it is the same Lord we are serving. 6 There are many ways in which God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work in and through all of us who are his. (TLB)

1 Cor 12:4-6

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. (Power)

5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.(Administrators)

6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. (Workers)

Three Categories of Gifts.

Manifestational Gifts, Ministerial Gifts and Motivational.

Our Gifts color what we see! Zb.. Cups stacked…

Prophet motivation… You don’t know how to stack cups, you did it wrong.

Servant motivation.. is probably already picking up the cups, getting a rag to clean up, refilling new cups..

The Teacher.. let me show you how it would work better, you see there has to be…

The exhorter.. you can do it Jerry, try again, no one succeeds the first time, we’re with you, we believe in you…

The giver… I wonder if he has enough money to buy some more cups or water…let’s all give a little to help out…

The administrator.. you and you pick up the cups, you get the mop, you draw up a plan of how to stack cups and I will calculate when would be a good time to try this again.

The compassion person.. I hope Jerry is not embarrassed, he must feel bad.. I hope no one got wet.. Jerry it’s OK…

Our Gifts give our perspective of the whole!

The Elephant… We make the mistake when we think that what we see is the whole reality… The perversion of the Gifts is when we remove it from the Body and make them individual gifts. We reduce our proper view of the whole. The gifts that God gives ar3e for the benefit of the whole body.

Rom 12:1-8

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. 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. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.

7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (NIV)

Parts of the Body: See diagram.. Division between speaking and serving gifts.

1 Pet 4:10-11

10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. (NIV)

If I have a Gift why haven’t I known it?

1.      Lack of teaching is the greatest reason.

Do you think that the early church had motivational gift teaching? No! I think that they lived closer to themselves. That they followed their natural giftings in a simpler way. Today we conform people by many different needs and pressures.

Obstacles that could block the natural development of these gifts.

1.      Bondages and hinderances in our lives, ie.. growing up under less than ideal conditions, divorce, fighting parents, alchoholism, drug abuse, abuse, etc..

2.      Trying to be someone that you are not, because of the expectations of others

3.      A poor self image

4.      Sin

Let’s get to Scoring.. How do we do this?

1.      There are no RIGHT and WRONG answers!  How true is this for me?

2.      DON’T answer the way that you would like to be, or the way that you think that you should be. Don’t look for the christian answer or the one that you think others would want you to say. DON’T answer based on who others have said that you are.

3.      The goal is not to get a High score in each area!

4.      Do not confuse your present Job in the Church or out of it as an indication of your gift, you may or may not be using your gift.

5.      Lastly try to make a difference between a learned behaviour and your natural tendencies.