In our last blog, we began looking at the fact that the early church had no one particular ‘method’ of preaching the gospel. In the instances of the gospel being preached in the book of Acts, preachers sized up
each situation to determine the most effective way to get the attention of the
hearer, and communicate the gospel in a way that they would be clearly understood. From there, they proceeded. There was never a "one-size-fits-all approach.
Then
Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Therefore go
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew
28:18-19)
Jesus
clearly has commissioned us to make disciples. That process includes sharing
the gospel, baptizing them, and teaching them all that the Lord has commanded.
Many believers feel inadequate for the task, but Jesus said in this context, “I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.” With God all things are possible.
All
of God’s people have spiritual gifts. ?As
each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good
stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4:10). We are comfortable using our spiritual gifts because we have
supernatural enablement in the area of our gifting. The use of spiritual gifts
was used as a way to reach people by Jesus Himself, as recorded in the Gospel
of John, Chapter 4.
“4 Now
he had to go through Samaria. 5 So
he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar….16 He
told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”17 “I have no husband,” she replied.Jesus said to her,
“You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man
you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
“28 Then,
leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me
everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
In this passage, Jesus operates in the spiritual gift of the word of
knowledge. She told her things about her life that He could never know
naturally. But supernaturally, He received knowledge by the Holy Spirit through
the gift of the Spirit. The result? The woman thinks at first that Jesus is a
prophet, then after a little thought thinks that Jesus may be the Messiah, so
she runs into town to tell everyone. The whole town is captured by this event
so…
“30 They
came out of the town and made their way toward him….39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him
because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him,
they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more
became believers. 42 They
said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we
have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the
world.”
How
had God gifted you? Maybe it’s teaching?
You could lead a Bible study for 'seekers' or new believers.. Is it administration? With that gift, you could cause
a church outreach to be more effective by serving in an administrative
capacity. Is your gift giving? You could help finance the work of evangelism or
missions and inspire others to do the same. Whatever your spiritual gift(s) is, consider how your gifting can
result in the salvation of people and the making of disciples.
Here
is a listing of spiritual gifts as recorded in the New Testament.
Romans 12
exhortation
giving
leadership
mercy
prophecy
service
teaching
|
1 Corinthians 12
administration
apostle
discernment
faith
healing
helps
knowledge
miracles
prophecy
teaching
tongues
tongues interpretation
wisdom
|
Ephesians 4
apostle
evangelism
pastor
prophecy
teaching
|
Jesus said, “My food,” said
Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still
four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!
They are ripe for harvest. Even
now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so
that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. (John 4:34-36)
Until next blog posting..., “occupy until He comes”.
