What Are The Spiritual Gifts?
Over the next 3 weeks, we’re unpacking the gifts of the Spirit found in Paul’s letters in the New Testament. These gifts are given as a means of building and equipping the Church to love one another like Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 12:7, Paul says: Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. From this verse, we find 3 foundational truths about the gifts. First, The Spirit and His gifts are for everybody. Not just the pastors, the staff, or the super-Christians. They are for everyone in Christ. Second, The Spirit is sovereign over His gifts. He gives them how he wants to give them, when he wants to give them. We don’t wield the Spirit like the force. When we are living in the life of the Giver, we naturally receive his gifts. And then finally, The Spirit gives gifts in order to build and equip the Church to love one another. In other words, the gifts are given not for our own benefit, but to empower us to love one another well and build one another up. They help us love like Jesus!
Below you’re find a list of the gifts found in the New Testament. We are encouraging our Restoration family to pray over this list, talk it through with friends or in City Group, and to discern how God may be gifting you. If you have any questions, let us know here!
Spiritual Gifts
Motivation Gifts: Romans 12:6-8
Prophecy: Discerning and speaking God’s will for those in the community.
Serving:Â Meeting practical, tangible needs for the community.
Teaching: Making God’s Word clear and applicable to the community.
Encouragement:Â Speaking life and courage into the lives of the community.
Giving:Â Using personal abundance to meet the material needs of the community.
Leadership:Â Giving direction and organization to the mission of the community.
Mercy: Acting with compassion towards the broken and hurting in the community.
Ministry (Equipping Gifts) Ephesians 4:11-12
Apostle: Future-minded leadership that spurs the mission outside the Church.
Prophet: Discerning God’s will and leading the Church towards obedience
Evangelist: Passionate pursuit to draw in and see people come to faith in Christ.
Shepherd: Caring for the spiritual needs and leading people towards maturity.
Teacher: Leading God’s people through training and discipleship in the Scriptures.
Manifestation Gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)
Wisdom: Speaking clarity and direction through discerning the Spirit’s leadership.
Knowledge: Speaking into circumstances with a spiritual perspective beyond common understanding.
Discernment: Seeing through the unseen spiritual realities to determine what is and is not a work of God.
Faith: Believing and spurring on the community to expect God’s supernatural work.
Miracles: The supernatural expression of God’s in-breaking, miraculous power to transform.
Healing:Â The supernatural expression of physical, emotional, and/or spiritual wholeness.
Tongues: The supernatural, personal prayer language expressed in communion with God.
Interpretation: The supernatural discernment of tongues for the sake of the greater community. Â
(“Motivation, Ministry, Manifestation” Based on Jon Tyson’s “Vision For The Gifts”, City Collective, 2015)