In the Church, God has gifted us in different ways. Our responsibility is to know and exercise the spiritual gifts that He has given us. When we do, we build each other up in the faith, and the Body of Christ is enabled to serve and reach out more effectively. We learn in Ephesians 4:7-10 that the ascended Christ has, by grace, given unique spiritual gifts to every single believer in the Body, so the Church can function as a unified yet diverse team. The Apostle Paul explains that Christ earned the right to bestow these gifts and now fills all things as Head of the Church. Believers are urged to discover, develop, and faithfully exercise their God-given gifts so that Christ is glorified.

This episode looks at Ephesians 4:11-16, showing how the ascended Christ sovereignly gave gifted men to His Church: apostles and prophets until the Word of God was complete, along with evangelists and pastor-teachers, which continue today. These gifts equip the saints for the work of the ministry, leading us all to the unity of the faith, the full knowledge of the Son of God, and spiritual maturity. Every member, without exception, must faithfully exercise his or her role so that the Body can grow and edify itself in love, remaining anchored in truth rather than “tossed to and fro” by every wind of false doctrine.

Here, we look at Romans 12:1-8, which is a call to action for members of the Church, the Body of Christ, to present their bodies as a living sacrifice by serving through their unique gifts given according to grace. After explaining how to discover one’s gift, the lesson walks through the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: prophecy, ministry/service, teaching, exhortation, giving, ruling, and showing mercy. Each gift is to be exercised wholeheartedly and modeled after Christ to strengthen His Church.