Welcome!
Today: Gifted to sacrifice!
Passage: Eph 4
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 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, NIV)
The gift of prophecy, as mentioned in 1 Cor 12 & 14 is real; but today, majority of what we see is counterfeit. A true prophet of God will study the scripture and bring the message of the scripture out to the people, while he/she may be using their gift to address specific areas of life and ministry, about that person
All the five gifts include a responsibility to teach
Teaching of God’s word is lacking in the church, the results of which are very evident. People don’t have a clue about the Bible and many important topics
Church leadership is responsible to teach the Church on the Biblical view point of things that affect the people/community
We have many people in our churches who study the Bible seriously and are able to teach, but many of them don’t get the opportunity to share their knowledge
On the other hand, there are people with various “titles”, who are not competent in the knowledge of scripture or leadership skills. Church need to wake up and recognize people with the right calling and talents for each type of ministry and to separate such people for those ministries
Many Churches are “stunted” in growth because the right people are not given the right place, and the wrong people occupy titles/positions
The purpose of gifts in the Church is to prepare God’s people for service; it is for edification of the Church
There should be people willing to do service sacrificially
Today in the Church setup, there are many who expect a reward/pay for anything they do. Sometimes, it looks better in the secular world, where people volunteer for many things; we even have volunteer Fire fighters and Police.
Church will grow only where there are people willing to sacrifice/volunteer. Reward will come from God.
It is God who has gifted people with gifts of ministry
When Church fails to recognize such, Church will loose the service of the gifted people, and will gradually decay to death. May God open our eyes.
It is time to fan our gifts into flame, and to desire more gifts so that the body of Christ can benefit
God bless
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for selecting me for your service. Help me grow in the area you have gifted me, and to be gifted more. Amen