Spiritual Gifts: Aligning Ministry and People

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Spiritual GiftsAligning Ministry and People

• Source CCN Seminar, Bruce Bugbee
• July, 2001
• John.chandler_at_vbmb.org

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Putting the Pieces Together

• The 3 key components for individuals to move
  toward gift-driven ministry
• 1. Passion
• 2. Spiritual Gifts
• 3. Personal Style

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1. Passion

• What do you think of when you hear these names
• James Dobson
• Billy Graham
• Mother Teresa
• Colonel Sanders

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Passion

• What wakes you up pumps your heart?
• The God-given desire to make a difference via a
  particular ministry

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Some Questions to Discern Passion

• 1. At the end of your life, where would you want
  to know youve made a difference?
• 2. What conversation would keep you talking
  late-night?
• 3. What would you most like to do for others?
• 4. What piece of Gods heart has he put into your
  heart?

• What are you doing what others can do while
  leaving undone that which only you can do?
• Take 30 seconds to answer this .

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2. Spiritual Gifts

• Passion answers the question, Where should I
  serve?
• Spiritual Gift answers, What should I do?
• Spiritual gifts are the grace-ability to
  do something

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Spiritual Gifts are

• Divine enablement to every believer according to
  Gods grace
• For purposes of servanthood
• For the common good of the body of Christ
• NT you is plural

• Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God,
  serve one another with whatever gift each of you
  has received.
• 1 Peter 410

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Spiritual Gifts

• The operating system for grace-full and
  Spirit-empowered local churches
• The alternative operating in the flesh
• Which results in the duck running and squirrel
  swimming

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A Word about lists of gifts

• No two lists are alike
• Dont let disagreement about whether something
  particular is or is not a spiritual gift cause
  you to throw the baby out with the bath water

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3. Personal Style

• Our preferred way of relating to ideas, people,
  and the world around us

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The Way Youre Wired

• Exercise
• 1. Write your name.
• 2. Now write it with the other hand.
• Can be done either way, but it sure is easier one
  way

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a). How are you energized?

• My preferences
• Focus on goals or relationships?
• Advancing a cause or creating community
• Higher value on action or communication?
• Task accomplishment or people interaction?

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b). How are you organized?

• I prefer
• Specific guidelines or general?
• Settling things now or leaving options open?
• Following a set plan or working it out as I go?
• A structured or unstructured approach?

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Bottom line

• Passion (ie. Children)
• Spiritual Gifts (ie. Teaching)
• Personal Style (relational)
• What God wants me to do
• (Therefore God wants me to develop
  relationships with children through a
  teacher-student relationship)

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How the Gifts are Used

• 1. Serving where a gift directly impacts the
  recipient
• 2. Equipping where the gift indirectly
  impacts the recipient because it primarily builds
  the server
• Name examples of each

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Equippers and Servers

• We are primarily one or the other
• When equippers equip servers to serve, the body
  of Christ becomes unified, Christ-like, full of
  grace/truth

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Uh-oh!

• What happens when a server is put in the role
  of an equipper?
• They do too much of the work, theres no
  training, work is constricted
• What happens when an equipper is put in the
  role of a server?
• Frustration, tension in relationships,
  underperformance in ministry, premature departures

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Equippers Servers

• 1. Develop others to serve
• 2. Fulfilled when they see God use someone else
  meet a need
• 3. Passionate about getting everyone involved in
  serving
• 4. Work themselves out of a job

• 1. Serve others themselves
• 2. Fulfilled when they personally meet need
• 3. Passionate about doing gifts themselves
• 4. May leave a hole when they leave this role

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Putting the Gifts Together

• How do we help people get in the right positions
  to exercise their spiritual gifts?
• C.A.R.E.
• Calling
• Assimilating
• Retaining
• Exiting

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Calling

• How do we invite people to come aboard a
  ministry?
• Vision what is the preferable future this
  ministry trying to accomplish?
• Is the nursery baby-sitting, or a table-setter
  for people to experience the church as a caring
  community?

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Then Identification and Invitation

• Do you have ministry position descriptions and a
  list of jobs that need to be done?
• What is your process for helping people to come
  aboard?
• Whats the difference between
• Recruiting
• Invitation?
• We dont want volunteers in the church we want
  a people called!

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Assimilating

• How do you build your team and assist them on
  board?
• What are your processes of orienting people to a
  ministry?
• How do you group people so that mentoring will
  occur?
• How are we providing training and skill
  development so that people can be successful in
  what they are doing?

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Retaining

• How are we enabling people to stay on board?
• How (and how often) do we express appreciation?
• Do we intentionally try to help people grow
  spiritually to the next level in this role?
• Are we giving feedback that enables them to let
  them know if theyre on target?

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Exiting

• How can we help people leave a ministry/team so
  that they are honored, guided to the next
  chapter, and developed spiritually through the
  process?

• Do we assess the overall scope of their ministry?
• Care-frontation
• Are there unresolved issues? Are people running
  from something or to something?
• Can we help them transition into a new ministry?

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Conclusion

• When individuals align
• Passion
• Spiritual Gifts
• Personal style

• And churches
• Rightly place equippers and servers
• C.A.R.E. for people
• Then gift-driven ministry becomes an owned value
  in the church!

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Experientially Engaged
Intellectually Convinced
Emotionally Persuaded
Personally Aligned
Individuals in your church
Owned Value
www.networkministries.com
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Spiritual GiftsAligning People and Ministry

• Dr. John P. Chandler
• Courageous Churches
• Virginia Baptist Mission Board
• John.chandler_at_vbmb.org
• Copy Right John P. Chandler, 2001