Spiritual Gifts
What They Are?
What They Are Not?
What Do They Look Like?
What Are My Gifts?
What Do I do With Them?
What are Spiritual Gifts?
• Spiritual Gifts are divine endowments
given by God to be used in meaningful
service which builds up the Body of Christ.
• We learn about Spiritual Gifts mainly in
1 Corinthians 12-14
Romans 12
Ephesians 4
What they are Not
• Spiritual gifts are not the same thing as “natural
talent,” or learned ability.
• Many people have “natural talents” and
learned abilities, and they may be used in the
service of God and His Church.
• But, only believers have Spiritual Gifts, since
they have the Spirit and it is in the presence of
the Spirit that gifts are given
What do they look like?
There are several “lists” of Spiritual Gifts.
Some differentiate between “types” of
gifts. What is essential to remember is
that all are important to the functioning of
the Body.
“As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need
you!’”
-- 1 Corinthians 12-20-21a
“ . . . so that there should be no division in
the body, but that its parts should have equal
concern for each other. If one part suffers,
every part suffers with it; if one part is
honored, every part rejoices with it.”
-- 1 Corinthians 12: 25-26
What Do They Look Like?
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Administration/Guidance
Apostleship
Celibacy
Craftsmanship/Artisan
Discernment/Distinguishing Spirits
Encouragement
Evangelism
Exhortation
Faith
Giving
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Healing
Helps/Service
Hospitality
Intercession/Prayer
Knowledge
Leadership
Mercy/Compassion
Miracles
Music
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Pastoring/Shepherding
Poverty (Voluntary)
Prophesy
Teaching
Tongues (Interpretation)
Tongues (Speaking)
Wisdom
Writing
Administration – the special ability to steer
the Body toward the accomplishment of Godgiven goals and directives by planning,
organizing, and supervising others.
Apostle – the divine ability to start and oversee
the development of new churches or ministry
structures.
Celibacy – the special ability to voluntarily
remain single without regret and with the ability
to maintain control over sexual impulses so as to
serve the Lord without distraction.
Craftsmanship – the divine enablement to
creatively design and/or construct items to be
used for ministry or the divine enablement to
communicate God’s truth through a variety of art
forms.
Discernment – the divine enablement to
distinguish between truth and error, to discern
spirits, differentiating between good and evil,
right and wrong.
Encouragement – the special ability to offer
comfort, words of encouragement, hope,
and reassurance to discouraged, weak, or
troubled Christians in such a way that they
are consoled.
Evangelism – the divine enablement to
effectively communicate the gospel to
unbelievers so they respond in faith and
move toward discipleship.
Exhortation – the divine enablement to
present truth so as to strengthen or urge to
action those who are discouraged or
wavering in their faith.
Faith – the divine enablement to act on
God’s promises with confidence and
unwavering belief in God’s ability to fulfill
His purposes.
Giving – the divine enablement to
contribute money and resources to the
work of the Lord with cheerfulness and
liberality.
Healing - the divine enablement to be
God’s means for restoring people to
wholeness.
Helps/Serving – the divine enablement to
accomplish practical and necessary tasks
which free-up, support, and meet the
needs of others.
Hospitality – the divine enablement to care
for people by providing fellowship, food,
and shelter.
Intercession/Prayer – the divine
enablement to consistently pray on behalf
of and for others, seeing frequent and
specific results.
Knowledge – the divine enablement to
bring truth to the Body through a revelation
or Biblical insight.
Leadership – the divine enablement to
cast vision, motivate, and direct people to
harmoniously accomplish the purposes of
God.
Mercy/Compassion – the divine
enablement to cheerfully and practically
help those who are suffering or are in
need by putting compassion into action.
Miracles – the special ability to serve as a
human intermediary through whom God
performs special acts of supernatural
power.
Missionary – the special ability God gives
to some to minister whatever other
spiritual gifts they have in another culture.
Music – the gift that gives a believer the
capacity to present personal witness and
inspiration to others through instrumental
music, singing, or dancing.
Pastor/Shepherd – the divine enablement
to nurture, care for, and guide people
toward on-going spiritual maturity and
becoming like Christ.
Poverty (Voluntary) – the special ability to
God gives to some to purposely live
impoverished lifestyles to serve and aid
others with their material resources.
Prophet/Prophecy – the divine enablement
to reveal truth and proclaim it in a timely
and relevant manner for understanding,
correction, repentance, or edification.
Teaching/Teacher – the divine enablement
to understand, clearly explain, or apply the
Word of God causing greater Christlikeness in the lives of listeners.
Tongues (Interpreting) – the special ability
God gives to some to translate the
message of one who speaks in tongues.
Tongues (Speaking) – the special ability
God gives to speak prayer or praise in a
language they have never learned or to
communicate a message from God to His
people.
Wisdom – the special ability to know the
mind of the Holy Spirit in such a way as to
receive insight into how knowledge may
best be applied to specific needs arising in
the Body of Christ.
Writing – the special God-given ability to
formulate thoughts and ideas into
meaningful written forms so that the
reader will find courage, guidance,
knowledge, or edification through the
words.
What Are My Gifts?
The Spiritual Gift Test consists of 140
statements. You respond by entering a
number for each on the Analysis Sheet.
Depending upon how you feel about each
statement, enter a number from 1 to 10,
where 1 means the statement does not
describe you at all and 10 means it
describes you perfectly. The test should
take about an hour to complete.
As you take the test, enter a response (1
to 10 indicating how well the statement
describes you) in the pre-numbered
boxes. Continue this for each column of
the test.
Respond to each statement quickly with
your first feeling. Don’t be modest. Do not
unfold the Analysis Sheet until you have
finished the questions. Then follow the
directions on Page 8.
What Do I Do With My Gifts?
Find the group (numbered 1-28) and
spend some time developing a list of
opportunities to use your gift(s) at Saint
Peter’s. Do not only think of existing
opportunities, but be creative in
developing new ministries, as well.
Have a member of the group write down
the results of your discussion.
What’s Next?
• Fill out one of the report forms listing your
gifts.
• Volunteer for one of the ministry
opportunities at St. Peter’s, or propose
a new ministry.
Communicate with those who have a
similar gift to share ideas for ministry.
The End
(or is it The Beginning?)