Obedience in Using your Abilities, Personality, and Experiences in Ministry

We have Looked at Spiritual Gifts, and particularly the process of Discovering and Developing those special and specific gifts God has given each of us.

Today will be filtering these thought through our C.O.R.E. Principles

• CHRIST
• OUTREACH
• RELATIONSHIPS
• EQUIPPING

Now it’s time to put our feet to the turf and get to it. It’s time for OBEDIENCE. See, it’s not about what I want to do…what I think I should do…when I feel like doing it…where I want to do it…IT’S ABOUT SERVING ACCORDING TO GOD’S PLAN AND PURPOSE…IT’S NOT ABOUT ME!!

• The S.H.A.P.E. acronym:
• S – Spiritual Gifts
• H – Heart
• A – Abilities
• P – Passions
• E – Experience

Today we will look at the final three elements of your S.H.A.P.E.

A – ABILITIES

Exodus 31:1-6 (HCSB)
¹ The Lord also spoke to Moses:
² “Look, I have APPOINTED BY NAME Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.
³ I have FILLED HIM with God’s Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every craft
⁴ to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze,
⁵ to cut gemstones for mounting, and to carve wood for work in every craft.
⁶ I have also SELECTED Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to be with him. I have placed wisdom within every skilled craftsman IN ORDER TO make all that I have commanded you:

• God has given you specific Abilities.
• God has a specific plan for those Abilities.
• God Expects you to Use Your Abilities in His Plan

IN THE END IT COMES DOWN TO OBEDIENCE!

You might have the ability to give generously. There are many people with the desire to give, but they may lack the ability, but you may have both the ability and the desire, so…OBEDIENCE.

You might have the ability to teach. There are a lot of people who may have the desire to teach, but let’s face it, not everyone can teach. You have the ability, so…OBEDIENCE.

You might have the ability to fold clothes…or to make people feel comfortable when they’re hurting…or to enlist others to work with you in a project…GET ENGAGED…OBEDIENCE.

So Ask Yourself These Questions:

“What ability do I have?”
“What natural talents and skills do I have?”

“Where can I get to work today in OBEDIENCE?”

P – PERSONALITY

1 Corinthians 2:11a
For who among men knows the concerns {thoughts} of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him?

God has given you a Personality.

God has given each person a unique personality. Some are introverted; others are extroverted. Some are thinkers; others are feelers. Some like routine: others like variety. Some are self-controlled; others are self-expressive. And so on.

And so the question you must ask yourself is,

· “Where does my personality best suit me to serve…in obedience?”

E – EXPERIENCES

God has given you Experiences. All of the experiences in your life can be used by God in his service. Let’s notice a number of different kinds of experiences.

You must ask yourself, “What spiritual experiences have I had?” You may have used your gifts to serve God, and you have gained spiritual experiences from using those gifts.

You must also ask yourself, “What painful experiences have I had?” Some people go through incredibly painful experiences. God can use those experiences to help others.

2 Corinthians 1:4
He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

You must ask yourself, “What educational experiences have I had?”

Proverbs 4:13 –

Hold on to instruction; don’t let go. Guard it, for it is your life.

Whatever education you have had—formal, informal, or non-formal—can be used by God in service.
Finally, you must ask yourself, “What ministry experiences have I had?”

2 Corinthians 9:13
Through the proof of this service, they will glorify God for your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with others.

ARE YOU WONDERING WHERE TO SERVE?

Don’t just stand there, do something.

· A gross example when Spike threw up in the car and I was driving…I couldn’t do much, but I could hold his head and I could pull the car over…for which my wife was grateful.

· A Better example, while we were building this building, I don’t know much about construction, and I’m not real comfortable with it, but I learned to drive the fork lift, and I got pretty good at it…I did something.

The problem with a series of messages like this I’m discovering is that we can spend a lot of time in examination of our gifts, passions, abilities, etc…but never really get to work. Today, if nothing else happens, I need you to get to work somewhere…I need you to be OBEDIENT…to get fully COMMITTED…and to become ENGAGED in God’s plan.

So Try Something…Anything…Give it a shot…

BE OBEDIENT!

The final thought is the same thought we started with and have been trying to bring out throughout this series…IT’S NOT ABOUT ME. What I like…What I want…What I feel…these things all come after OBEDIENCE.

WHAT WILL YOU SACRIFICE FOR THE ONE WHO SACRIFICED EVERYTHING IN LOVE AND GRACE FOR YOU?

• There are a lot of needs here at LWCC!
• There are a lot of needs in our community!
• There are a lot of needs in the world!
• IT’S NOT ABOUT ME…IT’S ABOUT HIM!
• BE OBEDIENT!