Convo with Pastor - Acts 20:28 - CALLS US

T H E   R O L E   O F   T H E   S P I R I T

Calls Us

the Holy Spirit has made you overseers,

to shepherd the church of God

that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.

Acts 20:28

What is the role of the Holy Spirit? Among other things he calls us.

The Spirit calls some of us to be overseers, shepherds, and pastors. Those aren't higher gifts. Some see pastors as closer to God. Hah!

Pastor is just one role within the community of faith. There are also apostles, prophets, teachers, and evangelists. The Spirit bestows on us practical gifts of service, giving, leadership, mercy, and proclamation/exhortation. The Spirit also fills us with spiritual gifts including wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, interpretation, discernment, faith, healing, and tongues.

The question is: What is your role within the community of faith? (If you've never taken a spiritual gifts inventory, click here:http://buildingchurch.net/g2s.htm)

But let me end with this ... Do you know the words that begin today's partial verse. Half of it, talking to pastors, is "Keep watch ... over all the flock." But there's one more piece of the phrase: "Keep watch over yourselves." Whether we're pastors or choir members or Sunday School teachers or pew sitters, we are called to keep watch over our own selves. No matter who we are, if we bear the name of Christ (Christian), we are always representing Christ, so keep watch over yourselves ... because others are watching you too.

In Christ's Love,

a crook

(wait ... no ...

a guy called by the Spirit

to carry a crook ...

a shepherd's crook)

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Here are my results and the definitions of the area:
Service - 20

"The special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to identify the unmet needs involved in a task related to God’s work, and to make use of available resources to meet those needs and help accomplish the desired results."       This gift is a practical gift. Those with the gift of service enjoy doing routine tasks around the church regardless of how they effect others. Those with this gift enjoy menial tasks and do them cheerfully. Service-oriented people would rather take orders than give them. Scripture: John 12:26; Acts 6:1-7; Romans 12:6-7; Galatians 6:2, 9-10; 2 Timothy 1:16-18; Titus 3:14.       Service focuses on accomplishing little tasks that may otherwise go undone in order to move the greater goal of the ministry or church toward completion.

Administration - 17 

"The special ability that God gives to certain members of the body of Christ to understand clearly the immediate and long-range goals of a particular unit of the body of Christ and to devise and execute effective plans for the accomplishment of those goals."       This gift is a leadership gift and is often characterized by people who lead the body by steering others to remain on task. These people generally are concerned with the details of how to accomplish tasks, and tend to be masters at delegating specific tasks to other people according to their gifts and talents. Scriptures: Luke 14:28-30; Acts 6:1-7; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Titus 1:5.

Teaching - 17

"The special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to communicate information relevant to the health and ministry of the Body and its members in such a way that others will learn."       This gift is a communication gift. People with the gift of teaching enjoy studying the Bible and related materials in order to communicate what they have learned to other Christians. Those with this gift find it easy to organize vast amounts of information in such a way as to make it easy to communicate, understand, and remember. Scriptures: Matthew 7:28-29; 28:19-20; Acts 15:32; Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:10, 28; Ephesians 4:11-14.       Teaching focuses on bringing thorough or adequate understanding of the message or truth being communicated.

Knowledge - 16

"The special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to discover, accumulate, analyze, and clarify information and ideas which are pertinent to the well-being of the Body."       This gift is a practical gift. Those with the gift of knowledge are at home in a book or studying. Those with this gift will often spend countless hours researching information. These people are interested in ideas and problem solving through gathering information and studying. Often, those with this gift have a low need for people. On rare occasions, people with this gift will gather vast amounts of information through studying and analyzing personal experience, but the primary method of learning with this gift is reading and studying books and other written materials. Scriptures: Luke 1:1-4; Acts 5:1-11; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 12:8; 2 Corinthians 11:6; Colossians 1:10; 2:2-3; 1 Timothy 2:15.

Helps - 15

The special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to invest the talents they have in the life and ministry of other members of the Body, thus enabling those others to increase the effectiveness of their own spiritual gifts.       This gift is a practical gift. People with this gift often enjoy doing routine tasks in order to free others to do the ministry God has called them to do. People with this gift are often not looking for recognition for the work they do. Scriptures: Mark 15:40-41; Luke 8:2-3; Acts 9:36; Romans 16:1-2; 1 Corinthians 12:28; 2 Timothy 1:16-18.       Helps focuses on Christian works and freeing others to accomplish their God-given ministries. Mercy focuses on people in distress and reflects God’s love and compassion.

Hospitality - 14

"The special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to provide an open house and a warm welcome to those in need of food and lodging."       This gift is a practical gift. Those with this gift have an acute awareness of visitors and have a desire to make all people feel welcome. People with this gift enjoy visitors in their home, and are usually not bothered if someone stops by and their home is not spotless. Those with this gift are a key to helping new people become a part of the group.Scriptures: Acts 16:14-15; Romans 12:9-13; 16:23; Hebrews 13:1-2; 1 Peter 4:9.

Leadership - 12

"The special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to set goals in accordance with God’s purpose for the future and to communicate these goals to others in such a way that they voluntarily and harmoniously work together to accomplish those goals for the glory of God."       This gift is a leadership gift. People with this gift are often focused on the greater goal of the group and are not overly concerned with the details. Leaders delegate tasks and details to others to accomplish the greater goal. Leaders are visionaries. Leaders have followers-a visionary without followers is not a leader. Scriptures: Luke 9:51; Acts 6:1-7; 15:7-11; Romans 12:8; 1 Timothy 5:17; Hebrews 13:17.

... all the others were 0-9


Of these seven gifts ... 4 were Practical gifts, 2 were leader gifts and 1 was a communication gift.  There were no real surprises here.  What about you?