Central Baptist Church

“We’re on a First Name Basis at Central”

Central Baptist Church

Spiritual Gifts

SPIRITUAL GIFTS

 

“Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant,” Paul wrote to the church in Corinth.  He wanted them to know the truth about the Spirit’s empowerment of believers for kingdom work.  Throughout his writings (1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Timothy 2), Paul would remind Christians that spiritual gifts are given by God “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:12-13). 

Peter and Paul both wrote lists of spiritual gifts (1 Peter 4).  These lists were not exhaustive, but symbolized the diverse spiritual talents the Holy Spirit can give to each believer.  They would emphasis that It is the responsibility of every baptized believer to discover and use their spiritual gifts.   

Finding your spiritual gifts is simple: enroll in our NETWORK class offered quarterly or take a test online.  Two reputable gift assessment sites are sponsored by the United Methodist Church or Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 

The twenty-three spiritual gifts covered in the NETWORK course are: 

  1.  Administration: the divine enablement to understand what makes an organization function, and the special ability to plan and execute procedures that accomplish the goals of the ministry.
  2. Apostleship: the divine ability to start and oversee the development of new churches or ministry structures.
  3. Craftsmanship: the divine enablement to creatively design and/or construct items to be used for ministry.
  4. Creative Communications: the divine enablement to communicate God’s truth through a variety of art forms (drama, writing, art, music, etc.).
  5. Discernment: the divine enablement to distinguish between truth and error, good and evil spirits, right and wrong. 
  6. Encouragement: the divine enablement to present truth so as to strengthen, comfort, or urge to action those who are discouraged or wavering in their faith.
  7. Evangelism: the divine enablement to effectively communicate the gospel to unbelievers so they respond in faith and move toward discipleship.
  8. Faith: the divine enablement to act on God’s promises with confidence and unwavering belief in God’s ability to fulfill his purposes. 
  9. Giving: the divine enablement to contribute money and resources to the work of the Lord with cheerfulness and liberality.  People with this gift do not ask, “How much money do I need to give to God?” but “How much money do I need to live on?” 
  10. Healing: the divine enablement to be God’s means for restoring people to wholeness (i.e., emotional, relational, spiritual, physical, etc.).
  11. Helps: the divine enablement to volunteer to accomplish practical and necessary tasks which free up, support, and meet the needs of others.
  12. Hospitality: the divine enablement to care for people by providing fellowship, food and shelter.
  13. Intercession: the divine enablement to consistently pray on behalf of and for others, seeing frequent and specific results.
  14. Interpretation: the divine enablement to make known to the body of Christ the message of one who is speaking in tongues.
  15. Knowledge: the divine enablement to bring truth to the body through a revelation or biblical insight.
  16. Leadership: the divine enablement to cast vision, motivate, and direct people to harmoniously accomplish the purpose of God.
  17. Mercy: the divine enablement to cheerfully and practically help those who are suffering or in need, having compassion that is moved to action.
  18. Miracles: the divine enablement to authenticate the ministry and message of God through supernatural interventions which glorify him.
  19. Prophecy: the divine enablement to reveal truth and proclaim it in a timely and relevant manner for understanding, correction, repentance or edification.
  20. Shepherding: the divine enablement to nurture, care for, and guide people toward ongoing spiritual maturity and becoming like Christ.
  21. Teaching: the divine enablement to understand, clearly explain, and apply the Word of God, causing greater Christ-likeness in the lives of listeners.
  22. Tongues: the divine enablement to receive a spontaneous message from God in public worship and to speak it in an unknown language that is then made known to the church through the gift of interpretation.
  23. Wisdom: the divine enablement to effectively apply spiritual truth to meet a need in a specific situation.

For more information, please contact the Church Office at info@cbcquiny.org.