Over the last couple of weeks we have been studying Ephesians chapter 4. In this chapter Paul urges the Ephesians to walk in unity by exercising humility, gentleness and patience with one another. He indicates in verse 7 that each person has received grace from God and has a part to play in the church body. In verse 16 he completes the thought by declaring that “when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church …. ” 1 Corinthians 12:27-28a
I want you to notice that God appoints people in the church to various roles. If this is true, then there are specific roles that God has prepared for you in the church family. We can all serve, help, give, pray for miracles, show mercy and exercise spiritual gifts, but we are not all gifted the same way. We never want to become exclusionary when discussing the gifts of God. We never want people to say “I am gifted in helps so therefore I cannot lead other people” or “I am a leader so I cannot help or show mercy”. The idea is always to use our gift to support, strengthen and encourage others in the church family.
The purpose of this post is to help you discover more about how God has gifted you to serve the body of Christ.
Let’s begin with a couple of simple questions:
1. Do you see something that needs to be done?
Most people just assume that everyone sees what they see. We think that everyone thinks like we do … but they don’t! For many of us, the needs that we see around us are often an indication of what God has wired (called) us to do. What do you see?
2. Is there something you love doing?
Everyone of us has the ability to teach, give, help, pray, administrate or lead. The question is … are we good at it? Do we find joy in doing it?
When we are doing the thing(s) that God created us to do, we find fulfillment and joy. So what is it that really fires you up?
If you are still unsure about how God has wired you to serve the church I have a few online surveys that you can complete. Send me an email and let me know what you have learned. I would love to find out more about how has wired you so we can help you find your place in Pathway Church 🙂
Pastor Nathan
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Ministry Gift Survey (northpoint ministries)
This online survey has 125 questions to answer. When you are complete it will give you a score for each category. Pay close attention to the top three and the bottom three!
If you believe that God has called you to lead others in ministry – here is a short little survey to find out if you are leading others like a prophet, priest, or king. See Ephesians part 8 for more on this. If you are unfamiliar with this terminology you can read an overview of the three leadership styles here.