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Let’s Get Practical … About the Use of Spiritual Gifts

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I recently received an e-mail from someone whose Sunday School class was learning about spiritual gifts but wanted to help people see how to use their spiritual gifts within their church body — the practical use of spiritual gifts. I wrote,

I really believe there is no substitute for taking the time to tailor it to your particular church setting.  You need to look at your particular ministries, the tasks required to do those ministries, and then determine which gifts are needed to accomplish those tasks.  To do that you must be able to define the different spiritual gifts and then discern what gifts are used in the different ministry areas.

How to Get Practical About the Use of Spiritual Gifts in the Church

Spiritual Gifts Curriculum Gets PracticalIn reflecting on practical ways to help people see how to use their spiritual gifts within their church body, I thought about the Everybody Has a Part Curriculum, which is part of the MAX Pak.  It concludes with a lesson suggesting  that you end with what is often called a ministry fair.

In a ministry fair you typically set up displays or booths for each of the major ministry areas of the church, with the ministry head on hand to answer questions. Students walk around to gain more information on the different ministries, talk one-on-one with the leaders, set up times to observe the ministry in action, etc.

In addition to possibly having a ministry fair, here are other ideas that have been effective in some churches:

  • Make up a booklet of your church’s ministries and list the gifts that are most used within those ministries.  Get as practical as you can in laying out ministry descriptions and the process for getting involved in those ministries.
  • Have the ministry leaders from the different areas prepare for a session to share how people with the various gifts can be used in their ministries.  You could ask them to take ‘x’ amount of minutes to share with the whole group or you could have people go to only the one(s) that best fit their gifts.
  • Plan for testimonials from people with the different gifts to share how God has used them specifically because of their giftedness.
  • Set up one-on-one consultations with class members to discuss possibilities.

Essential to doing any of the above is that we know what spiritual gifts are most useful in the different ministry areas. If you aren’t sure, be sure to check out the Ministry Handbook: Spiritual Gifts in Use. That resource suggests spiritual gifts typically used in 16 broad ministry areas under which most ministries in your church should fall. It also points to gifting vital to 27 specific tasks that might need to be done within any of those areas.  (The ideas in this post are also listed in the handbook.)

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4 Replies to “Let’s Get Practical … About the Use of Spiritual Gifts”

  1. Thank you for the information provided on this site. We are planning a church wide ministry fair. This material will be very helpful.

    • I praise God that you have found the material useful. May God stir up a desire within the people at your church to serve as a result of the ministry fair!

    • Hello, Jan. There are so many everyday life, practical situations in which to use our gifts. Just how depends on the gift(s) you might have and the kind of opportunities your current circumstances might offer. Let me recommend that you first identify possible gifting which you can do by clicking on this link: Online Spiritual Gifts Test — On the results page, you’ll find links by the names of the gifts “define” and “uses” which will take you to pages with some of the possibilities for those gifts. On those pages you’ll also find some links to related help to further delve into it. I hope that helps. Depending on your life circumstances, you may have to think outside of the box. While the various gifts have what we might consider traditional uses, God can use the gifts in a variety of ways. If not immediately obvious, we need to learn as much as we can about the gift but also invest much prayer into it. God will open doors of opportunity as we seek Him.

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