New Day Christian Church - Weston, WI

God Time > Me Time

People striving to live as disciples of Jesus all know that personal time spent with God is important, but how do we find time in our busy lives? We’ll hear the stories of four types of people and how they can experience the truth that “God Time” is greater than “Me Time.”

Power: Part 8

There is a modern proverb that says, “Knowledge is understanding that tomatoes are technically a fruit; wisdom is not putting them in a fruit salad.” That’s true, but it doesn’t tell us much about the Spiritual Gifts of Wisdom and Knowledge, and how God uses those gifts to empower His church. We’ll go to Scripture for that.

1 Corinthians 12:9-11 (NLT) 9  The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10  He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11  It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.     

 

Gift Lists in Scripture: Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 27-31, 1 Peter 4:9-11

 

Three ways to leverage your Spiritual Gifts.

1. Experiment with different areas of service.
   1. Plug into a Sunday morning ministry by marking your Communication Card (including contact info). Rachael Allen will follow up to let you know about open positions.
   2. Participate in your Small Group service projects.
   3. Connect with Service Initiatives like: monthly reviveWISCONSIN outreach events (second Saturday each month), New Day’s Community Christmas Eve Worship Service, Good Friday Blood Drive, Backyard Missions.
2. Use an online gifts assessment tool.
   1. Spiritualgiftstest.com is a good one. No single assessment is perfect.
3. Ask others what gifts they see in me.

Power: Tongues

The Gift of Tongues has been a divisive issue in the recent history of the worldwide Church. Before the Church was even born, the prayer of Jesus was that all the believers would experience unity with one another. Even though the worldwide Church hasn’t always been great at this, we can still expect the prayer of Jesus to be answered, and we can humbly work towards unity in our generation. We can unify around God’s saving grace, and His call for us to love Him and love our neighbor. In unity, there is power!

1 Corinthians 12:9-11 (NLT) 9  The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10  He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11  It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.     

 

Gift Lists in Scripture: Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 27-31, 1 Peter 4:9-11

 

Three ways to leverage your Spiritual Gifts.

1. Experiment with different areas of service.
   1. Plug into a Sunday morning ministry by marking your Communication Card (including contact info). Rachael Allen will follow up to let you know about open positions.
   2. Participate in your Small Group service projects.
   3. Connect with Service Initiatives like: monthly reviveWISCONSIN outreach events (second Saturday each month), New Day’s Community Christmas Eve Worship Service, Good Friday Blood Drive, Backyard Missions.
2. Use an online gifts assessment tool.
   1. Spiritualgiftstest.com is a good one. No single assessment is perfect.
3. Ask others what gifts they see in me.

Power: Manifestation Gifts

We all have limitations. We all have imperfections. We are all broken in a variety of ways. The amazing promise of God is that His limitless, perfect, unbreakable power is displayed in us. Today we’ll look at the Spiritual Gifts of Faith, Healing and Miracles, and we’ll hear about God at work in Nepal.

1 Corinthians 12:9-10a, 11 (NLT) 9  The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10  He gives one person the power to perform miracles... 11  It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.    

 

Gift Lists in Scripture: Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 27-31, 1 Peter 4:9-11

 

Three ways to leverage your Spiritual Gifts.

1. Experiment with different areas of service.
   1. Plug into a Sunday morning ministry by marking your Communication Card (including contact info). Rachael Allen will follow up to let you know about open positions.
   2. Participate in your Small Group service projects.
   3. Connect with Service Initiatives like: monthly reviveWISCONSIN outreach events (second Saturday each month), New Day’s Community Christmas Eve Worship Service, Good Friday Blood Drive, Backyard Missions.
2. Use an online gifts assessment tool.

1. 1. Spiritualgiftstest.com is a good one. No single assessment is perfect.
2. Ask others what gifts they see in me.

Power: Serving Gifts

It’s easy for us to point out what is wrong in the world: violence, injustice, abuse, division, war, famine… As disciples of Jesus, our call is to do more than point out the wrong; God’s power within us--all of us together--shines a light in the darkness.

Romans 12:6-8 (NLT) 6  In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7  If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8  If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.   

Gift Lists in Scripture: Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 27-31, 1 Peter 4:9-11

Three ways to leverage your Spiritual Gifts.

1. Experiment with different areas of service.
   1. Plug into a Sunday morning ministry by marking your Communication Card (including contact info). Rachael Allen will follow up to let you know about open positions.
   2. Participate in your Small Group service projects.
   3. Connect with Service Initiatives like: monthly reviveWISCONSIN outreach events (second Saturday each month), New Day’s Community Christmas Eve Worship Service, Good Friday Blood Drive, Backyard Missions.
2. Use an online gifts assessment tool.
   1. Spiritualgiftstest.com is a good one. No single assessment is perfect.
3. Ask others what gifts they see in me.

Power, Part 4: Sharing Our Lives

Guest teacher Josh Holland takes us further into how God’s unbreakable power is revealed in broken people.

1 Thessalonians 2:8 (ESV)  So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

Power Part 3

Using the right tools allows us to convert small efforts into great power. God’s spiritual gifts are like that. When we have people using the tools God gave them to do the work He planned, the outcomes will amaze us!

Romans 12:6-8 (NLT) 6  In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7  If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8  If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.   

 

Gift Lists in Scripture: Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 27-31, 1 Peter 4:9-11

 

Three ways to leverage your Spiritual Gifts.

1. Experiment with different areas of service.
1. Plug into a Sunday morning ministry by marking your Communication Card (including contact info). Rachael Allen will follow up to let you know about open positions.
2. Participate in your Small Group service projects.
3. Connect with Service Initiatives like: monthly reviveWISCONSIN outreach events (second Saturday each month), New Day’s Community Christmas Eve Worship Service, Good Friday Blood Drive, Backyard Missions.
2. Use an online gifts assessment tool.
1. Spiritualgiftstest.com is a good one. No single assessment is perfect.
3. Ask others what gifts they see in me.

Power Part 2: Foundation

What is the difference between a gift and role? What about a base and phase? In his letter to the disciples in Ephesus, we have access to a few words from the Apostle Paul that can help us see the power of God displayed through us today.

Ephesians 4:11-13 (NLT) 11  Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12  Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13  This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.  

Gift Lists in Scripture: Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 27-31, 1 Peter 4:9-11

Three ways to “unwrap” your Spiritual Gifts.

1. Experiment with different areas of service.
   1. Plug into a Sunday morning ministry by marking your Communication Card (including contact info). Rachael Allen will follow up to let you know about open positions.
   2. Participate in your Small Group service projects.
   3. Connect with Service Initiatives like: monthly reviveWISCONSIN outreach events (second Saturday each month), New Day’s Community Christmas Eve Worship Service, Good Friday Blood Drive, Backyard Missions.
2. Use an online gifts assessment tool.
   1. Spiritualgiftstest.com is a good one. No single assessment is perfect.
3. Ask others what gifts they see in me.

Get a Snapshot of Your “Base and Phase” Ministry Gifts

http://www.fivefoldsurvey.com/

God's Unbreakable Power, Revealed in Broken People: Gifted

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 (NLT) 4  There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5  There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6  God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7  A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.  

Gift Lists in Scripture: Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 27-31, 1 Peter 4:9-11

Three ways to “unwrap” your Spiritual Gifts.

1. Experiment with different areas of service.
   1. Plug into a Sunday morning ministry by marking your Communication Card (including contact info). Rachael Allen will follow up to let you know about open positions.
   2. Participate in your Small Group service projects.
   3. Connect with Service Initiatives like: monthly reviveWISCONSIN outreach events (second Saturday each month), New Day’s Community Christmas Eve Worship Service, Good Friday Blood Drive, Backyard Missions.
2. Use an online gifts assessment tool.
   1. Spiritualgiftstest.com is a good one. No single assessment is perfect.
3. Ask others what gifts they see in me.

 

Take a Look Around

We’ll take a moment to look back at progress we have made as a church, and then we’ll look ahead at where God is leading us next!

Your Discipleship Journey - a Self-Assessment

God has a vision and a plan for your life. No matter what His specific plan is, there are some general characteristics of people who are moving from being Disconnected to Giving Through the Spirit. How have you been growing? What is your next step?

 

Disconnected

• • Unsure about who God is.
  • Trusting that if there is a heaven, either all people will get there, or at least those who earn it by living a good, sincere life.
  • Doing whatever seems right in my own eyes.
  • Living as if there is no God.

Grafted by God

• • Acknowledging that I am in a perpetual condition of sinning against God.
  • Believing that God loves me so much that He offers me forgiveness through Christ.
  • Trusting Him to save me from my sin and graft me into His family tree, once for all time.
  • Ready to publicly declare Christ as my Lord through baptism and communion.
  • Connecting with fellow disciples regularly in worship services.
  • Understanding that the church is the body of Christ, and I am part of it.
  • Realizing that not all people who call themselves Christians are living as disciples.

Growing in Christ

• • Making prayer a regular priority.
  • Reading the Bible, every word.
  • Connecting around God’s Word in a small group of disciples.
  • Confessing sinful patterns to trusted disciples who can help.
  • Replacing old habits with healthy disciplines.
  • Trying out a ministry in the church.
  • Offering a set portion of my finances to God, rather than giving Him my leftovers.
  • Struggling with changing values and priorities.

Giving through the Spirit

• • Looking forward to time spent with God daily.
  • Discovering, understanding and using my spiritual gifts to serve the church.
  • Living with eternity in mind.
  • Investing a significant percentage of my finances in Kingdom work.
  • Intentionally building bridges to people who are far from church or far from God.
  • No longer judging success by worldly standards, but by how closely I follow God’s will.
  • Regularly introducing people to Christ.