Session Recap:

How have you been applying what you've learned and your action plan(s)?

• How has your new views on spiritual warfare changed how you viewed challenges and problems?
• Are there any specific areas of concern in your life right now you want to discuss?

Ask:

What do you think of when you hear the term “spiritual gifts?”

Teaching Time:

A spiritual gift is a God-given ability, distributed to individual Christians by the Holy Spirit that allows him/or her to help in the work of building up the Church. The word normally translated  "gift" in the New Testament is the Greek word “charismata”. The word means "gifts of grace"  and refers to the gifts or special abilities God has given believers through the power of the  Holy Spirit. While there is no clear answer as to when a Disciple receives spiritual gifts, it seems that the gift comes with the Giver and is bestowed at conversion (2 Timothy 1:6).

Spiritual gifts, or the gifts of the Holy Spirit, are not the same as the gift of the Holy Spirit.  There are many gifts of the Spirit, but there is only one Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is received at the moment a person trusts Christ as Lord (Acts 2:38). Spiritual gifts, however,  are given to each member of the Church for the common good of the body (1 Corinthians  12:7), which means our gifts were given so that we could serve the body and see it built up  into the complete image of Christ. God has given gifts to the Body to manifest His presence among us, to remind us of our dependence upon Him and one another, bringing unity to the Church, to edify the body and to reach the lost.

Before answering the application questions, follow this link and have your Disciple take a Spiritual Gifts Assessment. After getting the results, talk through their top 3 and discuss how they can use them in the Church to help build up the body and reach the lost. 

SPIRITUAL GIFT TEST

Help them to see that their gifts are important in building the church and that they should get involved in the Church by using their giftings regularly. Encourage and build them up.

Application:

Read Romans 12:3-8, 1 Cor 12:1-11, & Romans 12:3-8

• What are spiritual gifts? What is their purpose? 
• Why is it important to understand the function of spiritual gifts in the church? 

Read 1 Cor 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:4-11, v28; Ephesians 4:11-12

• .List out each specific spiritual gift. 
• How do we identify our spiritual gift? (affinity, ability, affirmation)
• What is your spiritual gift? How can you use it to strengthen the faith of others?

Read 1 Cor 14:1-40

• How does this passage give us more clarity about the gift of tongues and prophecy?
• How they should be used according to God’s Word? 
• Why do you think these gifts are so abused in some churches today?

Where do we get it wrong?

• Myth #1: Spiritual gifts are not real. 
• Myth #2: I don’t have a spiritual gift.
• Myth #3: Spiritual gifts are not important. (underemphasis)
• Myth #4: Spiritual gifts are all that matter. (over-emphasis)
• Myth #5: One person can possess all the Spiritual Gifts at one time. (Only Jesus can do this!)
• Myth #6: Certain Spiritual gifts are more valuable than others.
• Myth #7: If a certain spiritual gift makes me uncomfortable, I can write it off.
• Disclaimer: There is some controversy around the topic of spiritual gifts. Namely, if God still gives the miracle the gifts we see in the Bible (tongues, prophecy, and healing.) Certain people who identify as “cessationists” contend that such supernatural gifts were primarily designed to confirm and attest to the truth of the message and ministry of the apostles. When the apostles passed from the scene in the latter years of the first century AD, the gifts that bore witness to their identity and ministry likewise ceased. Other people who identify as “continuationists.” agree that these gifts function in that way. But they contend that all spiritual gifts, even the more miraculous ones, also serve to build up the body of Christ and contribute to the progressive growth of believers throughout the course of the present church age (see 1 Cor. 12:14-26; 14:3-6, 12, 26, 31; Eph. 4:11-16).