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    Understanding Spiritual Gifts
    Understanding Spiritual Gifts
    Understanding Spiritual Gifts
    Ebook82 pages1 hour

    Understanding Spiritual Gifts

    By Mary Lou Redding

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    About this ebook

    Understanding Spiritual Gifts Leader's Guide is also available.

    This 6-week experiential study (7 weeks, including the introductory session) helps individuals and small groups explore spiritual gifts using selected passages from the Bible.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUpper Room Books
    Release dateApr 15, 2017
    ISBN9780835816168
    Understanding Spiritual Gifts
    Author

    Mary Lou Redding

    Mary Lou Redding, now retired, served for many years as editorial director of *The Upper Room** daily devotional guide. A Florida native, she lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She holds a BA in English Literature from Oral Roberts University and an MA in Rhetoric and Writing from the University of Tulsa. Redding is the author of *The Power of a Focused Heart** and *Where the World Meets to Pray** (a history of The Upper Room); she also compiled and edited *Prayers for Life's Ordinary and Extraordinary Moments.** Mary Lou is a member of Brentwood United Methodist Church.

    Read more from Mary Lou Redding

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      Book preview

      Understanding Spiritual Gifts - Mary Lou Redding

      MEETING GOD IN SCRIPTURE

      Understanding Spiritual Gifts: Participant’s Workbook

      Copyright © 2010 by Upper Room Books®

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, write: Upper Room Books®, 1908 Grand Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37212.

      Upper Room Books® website: books.upperroom.org

      UPPER ROOM®, UPPER ROOM BOOKS®, and design logos are trademarks owned by The Upper Room®, a ministry of GBOD®, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.

      The Bible book introductions, the entry points, and the articles Reading Scripture Devotionally, What Is Spiritual Formation? Meeting God in Service, Meeting God in Community, and Meeting God in Everyday Life originally appeared in The Spiritual Formation Bible, New Revised Standard Version, copyright © 1999 by The Zondervan Company. All rights reserved. This Bible is currently available as The Meeting God Bible (Upper Room Books).

      The Spiritual Gifts Inventory Statements, Key, and Definitions were developed by Dan R. Dick. Copyright © 2001 Discipleship Resources. Used by permission.

      Unless otherwise stated, scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Cover design: Anderson Design Group

      Cover photos: © Shutterstock Images LLC, iStock International Inc., Photos.com

      Interior implementation: PerfecType, Nashville, TN

      ISBN: 978-0-8358-1015-9 | Mobi ISBN 978-0-8358-1615-1 | ePub ISBN 978-0-8358-1616-8

      Printed in the United States of America

      Contents

      INTRODUCTION

      READING SCRIPTURE DEVOTIONALLY

      WHAT IS SPIRITUAL FORMATION?

      SESSIONS

      Introductory Session   Shaped by God

      Session 1   To Equip the Saint

      Session 2   There’s Only One You

      Session 3   Beyond the List of Ordinary Gifts

      Session 4   Till All Come to Maturity

      Session 5   With a Little Help from My Friends

      Session 6   Not Hearers Only

      MEETING GOD IN SERVICE

      MEETING GOD IN COMMUNITY

      MEETING GOD IN EVERYDAY LIFE

      INTRODUCTIONS TO ACTS, FIRST CORINTHIANS, EPHESIANS, COLOSSIANS

      SPIRITUAL GIFTS INVENTORY STATEMENTS AND KEY

      SPIRITUAL GIFTS INVENTORY SCORE SHEET

      SPIRITUAL GIFTS DEFINITIONS

      Introduction

      Welcome to Meeting God in Scripture: Understanding Spiritual Gifts. Over the next six weeks, we will be exploring passages in the Bible that mention or illustrate use of various spiritual gifts. This is not an exhaustive (or exhausting) study that sets out to cover every scripture verse about spiritual gifts. Within the small group and as you read the Bible at home, you will be guided to respond personally to short scripture passages. Along the way, you will also identify your gifts and consider how God wants you to use them.

      Our spiritual gifts naturally guide us toward God’s will for us because they grow from within us and because we feel truly alive as we use them. The more we express them through actions, the more fully we become who God has created us to be.

      Frederick Buechner says, The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.* Using your gifts helps both to nourish that deep gladness and to bring God’s power into the world in life-giving ways.

      Because our spiritual gifts are sometimes more obvious to others than they are to us, people in our community of faith often name our gifts before we’re aware of them. How many of us have heard something like, You’re so good at hospitality! or, You have a way with kids (or words or organizing) and been surprised? As you discuss the scripture passages over the next weeks, you will inevitably notice and perhaps hear about the talents, loves, and skills of others. Each week in this participant’s workbook you will find a reminder to write down anything you notice about what others love and love to do. Receiving affirmation of our gifts and of using them is a catalyst for growth. Others need your insights and encouragement.

      You will read thirty passages, one per day for five days during each of the next six weeks. Each reading is accompanied by an entry point that focuses on a few verses from the day’s passage. These entry points are simply suggested ways you may enter personally into the Bible’s message. The daily readings and entry-point activities will facilitate personal reflection on your interests, preferences, and talents. These activities will require no more than ten to fifteen minutes daily. At the end of each week, you will meet with others to reflect on the session’s readings and entry points. One entry point in each session has two stars (**) beside the day. Even if you don’t have time to do all the readings and responses, try to find time to do this one; it will be used in some way during the weekly meeting. No other preparation for the group meeting is necessary.

      This book includes space for your responses to the entry points. Bring it and your Bible with you to the weekly sessions. The leader will tell you about time, place, and format for these meetings.

      IF YOU WANT TO DO MORE: KEEPING A SPIRITUAL JOURNAL

      Keeping a personal journal is a Christian practice that helps seekers attend to God’s presence and work in daily life and events. If you have more time to give to this study each day or some days, you may want to write briefly in a journal about your prayers or other responses to the scripture readings. A journal can be a spiral-bound notebook; a file on your computer; or a slightly fancier, bound, blank book that you can find in most bookstores. The journal and what you write in it are private, between you and God. If you keep a journal, bring it with you to group meetings, since you may want to record your responses to some of the group activities. However, you will never be asked to reveal the contents of your journal to others; it will remain completely private unless you choose to talk about its contents as part of group discussions.

      WHAT GOES IN A JOURNAL?

      Anything that you put into your journal is fine. After all, it is yours. You may write a prayer in response to a scripture reading. You may want to draw a picture of some image the reading brings to mind, or you may want to record an idea or insight that you hope to remember. You may write about connections you sense between the Bible’s words and your life. If you need help finding something to write about, here are

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