Brethren,

I trust this email finds you well.

Do you sometimes wish you had the ability to perform a certain task, or perform it better than you currently are able? Or why certain tasks take a lot more effort than in some others? Have you wondered why one person is such a good preacher, while another is so good at teaching children? If so, you need to join this Sunday’s study as we look at Gifts of GRace for God’s service.

Key Learnings include:
1. God’s gift for service is given graciously. So, we must use those gifts to serve humbly.
a. We serve one another because of the grace given to us. The more you understand grace, the easier it is to serve others.
b. Whatever gifts we receive from God is to serve Him and not for us to feel superior about.
c. All the gifts come from the same God, and Holy Spirit. And so, each must be valued.

2. Every gift, ‘big or small’ God gives is relevant and vital for His service. So, each one must contribute his/her gift for the good and smooth functioning of the body.
a. God has distributed a measure . . . to each one, including you.
b. We don’t need to have all the gifts to be relevant in God’s scheme of things.
c. As each person exercises his/her gift, we should make room for each other’s gifts.

3. Because God’s gifts for service are graciously given, there should be no room for comparison or competition in the exercise of those gifts.
a. Each person is to focus on making the most of his/her gift rather than wishing s/he were given some other gifts.
b. God has specifically arranged each one’s gift(s) for His glory, not for man’s.

See attached for your further reference.

Brethren,

I trust you are well and that your week is going well.

We continue our quarter series on ‘The world eagerly awaits your manifestation.’ This time, we focus on manifesting the gifts of the Spirit. See attached outline for your reference.

Key Learnings include:
1. The way that we use our spiritual gift(s) is much more important than which specific gift(s) we receive. The purpose of spiritual gifts is to build and edify the body of Christ – His bride.
2. The gifts of the Spirit are many and are diversely distributed. God expects these gifts to work in harmony among the brethren and be complementary to one another in the building of the Church.
3. Some of the gifts the Spirit bestows upon us may be more desirous than others, and believers have the freedom to desire any gift. However, such striving after a particular gift should not be for showmanship or self-gratification, but to serve the Body of Christ, and please the giver of these gifts.

The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others. Let’s manifest it to His glory and for the edification of His Church.

This Sunday, our Bible study will be exploring the work of the Holy Spirit in giving us spiritual gifts. Attached is the outline for your perusal.

Key Learning Points:

1.     Spiritual gifts are divinely given capacities to perform the various needs in the Church. Just as the human body has members with different capacities, so individual Christians forming the church as the body of Christ have different capacities for ministry to the Body.

2.     The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Christian for the benefit of all. Spiritual gifts are God’s provision to equip His children for Ministry “in ways beyond mere human capability and ingenuity”.

3.     We are free to desire spiritual gifts. But they are bestowed by the sovereign choice of God and need to be exercised in the power and under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not give us spiritual gifts for our own vainglory, but for the service of the Body and for the benefit of all. 

May God grant us grace to faithfully exercise our gifting for the benefit of all.