The Design
We’re examining the clues of our lives, doing the creative best we can to give our lives to serve God. Our gifts are for the common good, and are revealed as we serve. For the Church to thrive, we must develop and use our spiritual gifts together.
Teaching Notes
Blueprint [Week 2] The Design
You formed me with your hands; you designed me… Job 10:8 NLT
You alone created all things, and through Your will and by Your design, they exist and were created. Revelation 4:11 The Voice
Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. Galatians 6:4 MSG
D ESIRES: What am I passionate about?
As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. Proverbs 27:19 NLT
JOSH: put these next two sub-points on sequential slide, one at a time. Meaning the statement ‘God puts a passion…” will come up on a slide with “Passion answers the WHERE…” above it.
PASSION answers the WHERE question.
God puts a passion in you and then has a PURPOSE for the passion.
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Phil. 2:13 NLT
DESIRE: How clear are you about your passion(s)?
1 2 3 4 5
Unclear Moderately Clear Very Clear
What’s Your Passion? _____________________________________
E XPERIENCES: What are my life experiences (good or bad) that have shaped who I am and where I am going?
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a]have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 NIV
- Family Experiences - How has your family shaped you?
- Spiritual Experiences - What have been your most defining moments with God?
- Educational Experiences – What subjects were you drawn to, and which ones did you thrive in?
- Vocational Experiences – What jobs have you been most effective at (and enjoyed)?
- Ministry Experiences – How have you served God and His church in the past?
- Painful Experiences – What trials, struggles, or pains have formed who you are today?
Experience isn’t simply what happens TO you, but what you do with what happens to you.
What will you do with what you’ve been through?
S PIRITUAL GIFTS: What spiritual gift(s) has God given me?
A spiritual gift a special ability, given by the Holy Spirit, and distributed to every believer, according to God’s design and grace, for the common good of the body of Christ.
A spiritual gift is given to each of us for the common good. 1 Corinthians 12:7
It is the one and only Holy Spirit who distributes these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. 1 Corinthians 12:11
…I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you… 2 Timothy 1:6 NLT
God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well…then God will be given glory. 1 Peter 4:10
SPIRITUAL GIFTS: How clear are you about your spiritual gift(s)?
1 2 3 4 5
Unclear Moderately Clear Very Clear
What are your spiritual gifts? _____________ _____________ ____________
I NDIVIDUAL STYLE: What is my personality style?
God works through different people in different ways, but it is the same God who achieves his purpose through them all. 1 Corinthians 12:6 PH
(1) How you are ENERGIZED?
Are you more Task Orientated OR People Orientated?
(2) And, How you are ORGANIZED?
Are you more Unstructured OR Structured?
Your Individual Style affects HOW you use your spiritual gifts and natural abilities.
Self-assess: Which one resonates most with how you’re designed?
Task Unstructured Task Structured
People Unstructured People Structured
G ROWTH SEASON: What season of life am I in right now?
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…Ecclesiastes 3:1
…the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter… Ecclesiastes 8:5, 6
What word or phrase describes the season of life you’re in right now?
____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
N ATURAL ABILITIES: What natural abilities, talents, and skills do I have?
God gives special assignments to people, “to each according to each one’s unique ability” Matthew 25:15
God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. Romans 12:6a NLT
God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God’s many kinds of blessings. 1 Peter 4:10 LB
Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God’s Spirit… 1 Corinthians 2:14 GNT
Many studies have shown that the average person has between 500 and 800 natural abilities?
Write down 3-5 of your natural abilities?
It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Ephesians 1:11 MSG
YOU are part of “the over-all purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.” Ephesians 1:12 MSG