Gift oriented ministry

       As a little boy I remember being given a gyroscope as a toy, but had no opportunity to play with it. I was so frustrated.

     God gives gifts and then expects those to be used without frustration.

     There are eight quality characteristics that can be noted in ordinary growing Seventh-day Adventist Churches. The first characteristic that can be seen is ‘empowering leadership’, the second that can be readily noted and measured is ‘gift-oriented ministry’.

     Our prophetic, spiritual gift-centred roots suggest that this gift should be of great importance to us.

     There is a major issue here in that as human beings we are actually more contented when we are using our spiritual gifts. Common sense tells us that square pegs don’t fit in round holes. Experience shows that people who are ask to do jobs that don’t suit them soon get disgruntled.

     How does Paul, writing in the book of Ephesians put it?

    ^“When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people. … So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 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.”

         Ephesians 4:7-13

       Gifted people are there to train and equip within their gift so that the people in the churches they equip do not become frustrated but rather grow in maturity.

     The Seventh-day Adventist Elder’s handbook addresses the issue of gifts and places those at the heart of one of the roles of the Elder,

     “Help members find what their spiritual gifts are. Then train them. You may do this yourself if you have the gift of teaching, or find others to teach classes you have helped organise. Then use your influence to organise the church to support ministries that use the gifts of those in the congregation.”

              The Seventh-day Adventist Elder’s handbook. Page 41

  Spiritual gifts are really at the heart of a healthy church. As Ellen White puts it,

       “The work of the Holy Spirit is immeasurably great. It is from this source that power and efficiency come to the worker for God; and the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, as the personal presence of Christ to the soul. Any person who looks to Christ in simple, childlike faith is made a partaker of the divine nature through the agency of the Holy Spirit. When led by the Spirit of God, Christians may know that they are made complete in Him who is the head of all things. As Christ was glorified on the day of Pentecost, so will He again be glorified in the closing work of the gospel, when He shall prepare a people to stand the final test in the closing conflict of the great controversy.. “

         Christ Triumphant.  Page 365

     A healthy church, a growing church, is one where people are able to use the gifts God gives them in a Gift-oriented ministry.

     That is the aim in Newark Seventh-day Adventist Church. Christians in the church are happy to realise that God has given gifts and that they are there to be used.

     Our role is to help people use their gifts by allowing people to be active in the church.