God's Gifts in You

"Fan into flames the gift that is in you..."

Volunteer / Equipping Night - ”Fanning into Flame the Gifts in You”

Stoughton Apostolic Church

Jan. 20, 2025

2 Timothy 1:5-11 (NASB 1995)

For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.

Calling

Ephesians 4:1 (NASB 1995) — “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you been called…”

Call / κλῆσις / klésis — Calling, invitation, summons

Ephesians 1:17-19 (NASB 1995) — “…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling…”

Calling is not about discovering yourself or a Christian version of secular destiny or the American/Canadian dream. Its an invite to participate with Jesus in his work.

Luke 4:17-18a (NASB 1995) — “7 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 18 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because…”

What is the because? What is the unction meant to function unto? The anoiting is for a purpose. When you know what that is you can flow in it in confidence and clarity.

Acts 1:8 (NASB 1995) — “ but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

It is to be something before it is to do something… be witnesses.

Ephesians 2:10 (NABS 1995) — “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Created in Christ Jesus, born again with gifts and call! Our gifting is rooted in our new birth, not our old self or fallen nature.

Exodus 4:2-4 (NASB 1995) — “The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” 3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand…”

Moses had to lay down his gifts and call (the staff - shepherd of God’s people), and pick it up again. What is is in our hand is dangerous until we put it down and pick it back up again on other side of the cross. 


At Least Three Types of Gifts

Gifts are situated within the context of the call; the invite to know him and in that relationship, participate with him in his work.

Motivational Gifts of the Father:

Romans 12:3-7 NASB 1995) — For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. 4 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, [f]according to the proportion of his faith; 7 if [g]service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; 8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with [h]liberality; he who [i]leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

We are born again and created with a disposition towards a certain motivations and life orientations. These gifts are wrapped up the way God made you in Christ Jesus.

Example of these in action:

Seven friends, each of whom happen to coincidentally have a different motivational gift, are at a small gathering in a friends home. They have eaten dinner and the hostess is bringing in dessert on a tray when, lo and behold, the tray tips and the desserts are all spilled, some on the table and some on the floor. What a mess.

Here is how the seven friends responded based on their gifts.

Prophecy: “That’s what happens when you’re not careful.”

Server: “Oh, let me help you clean it up.”

Teaching: “Now the reason that fell was, it was too heavy on one side. You need to always be balanced.”

Exhortation: “Now next time, let’s serve dessert with the meal.”

Contributor: “I’d be happy to buy a new dessert.”

Mercy: “Don’t feel badly, it could have happened to anyone.”

Facilitator: “Jim, would you get the mop? Mary, would you pick this up here? Sue, help me fix some other dessert.” (sourced from: Charles Stanley. https://www.charleslstanley.com/motivational-gifts-putting-them-together/)

Not to say we don’t have a mix in our personality, but which are you predominantly?

What could knowing this about yourself do for you?

Christ’s gifts / Ascension gifts

Ephesians 4:7-11 (NASB 1995) — But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) 11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers…

These are gifts of people who embody, or are embodied by Christ, in a certain way. They are a sovereign choice of Jesus to indwell his people in a certain way, and they are not for everyone.

E.g. The Apostle is indwelled in a special way by Jesus “the Apostle” (Heb. 3:1) etc…

Apostles: Bring the government and order of God in Christ, establishing His rule and heavenly pattern for the church. They seek Christ formed in you!

Prophets: Bring the testimony of Jesus and lay a foundational revelation of He who is and what he is doing and saying. They bring the voice of God in Christ and help you hear God for yourself.

Teachers: Proclaim Christ as the Way, Truth, and Life. He is their message. They teach connection with the Lord and knowing the anointing that teaches people all things.

Pastors: Feed the sheep the bread of heaven and lead them to the living waters that he alone gives.

Evangelists: Proclaim the good news, keeping the church grounded in the Gospel that Jesus is, pointing to him as God’s gift. Evangelists keep us rooted to what God offers us and has done for us in Christ so that we will go to and receive from him ourselves.

Each of these ministries is vital for a church to have relationship with, as these ministries equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

Gifts of the Spirit

1 Corinthians 14:1,12 (NASB 1995)

Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy… So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.

We must pursue them, we have latitude to seek them, and be passionate about it, in the right context… the edification of the church.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (NKJV)

 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

Discussion Questions for Group or Bible Study:

The Bible says we should kindle afresh, or fan into flame the gifts given to us. What are some of the factors that have put out the fire and created the need for them to be re-kindled?

How do you go about fanning into flame, or rekindling the gifts?

What is the difference between calling and gifting?

What is meant by, “our calling is first to be something before it is to do something?”

What are some ways that we can begin to know and recognize our gifts?

What are some ways that we can make space for people to begin to function in their gifts? What are some of the obstacles?

What kind of church do we need to be to see everyone fully activated and functioning in these gifts?