Monett Community Church
The Spiritual Gifts of Apostles and Evangelists
Ephesians 4:11-13
Locations & Times
2101 E Cleveland St, Monett, MO 65708, USA
Sunday 7:00 AM
1.DIFFERENT TYPES OF GIFTS
a. “Spiritual gifts are divine abilities distributed by the Holy Spirit to every believer according to God’s design and grace for the common good of the body of Christ”
b. Equipping Gifts: Ephesians 4:11-13
i. All gifts are for the building up of the church through encouragement and discipleship
ii. Equipping gifts are specifically to train the church to do specific tasks
iii. These are gifts that fill designated/formal roles within the church
iv. Equipping Gifts – Apostles, Evangelists, Teachers, Prophets & Pastors (shepherds),
c. Motivating Gifts: Romans 12:3-8
i. Motivating gifts may not be specific formal roles, but are so essential to the health of the church family
ii. Motivating Gifts: Serving, Encouraging, Giving, Mercy, & Leadership (Administration)… Teachers and Prophets are included in both Equipping & Motivating gifts
d. Miraculous Gifts: 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
i. Miraculous gifts that are given for specific situations to meet specific needs…not roles and not usually on-going uses.
ii. Miraculous Gifts: Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Power, Discernment, Speaking in Tongues & Interpretation of tongues.
a. “Spiritual gifts are divine abilities distributed by the Holy Spirit to every believer according to God’s design and grace for the common good of the body of Christ”
b. Equipping Gifts: Ephesians 4:11-13
i. All gifts are for the building up of the church through encouragement and discipleship
ii. Equipping gifts are specifically to train the church to do specific tasks
iii. These are gifts that fill designated/formal roles within the church
iv. Equipping Gifts – Apostles, Evangelists, Teachers, Prophets & Pastors (shepherds),
c. Motivating Gifts: Romans 12:3-8
i. Motivating gifts may not be specific formal roles, but are so essential to the health of the church family
ii. Motivating Gifts: Serving, Encouraging, Giving, Mercy, & Leadership (Administration)… Teachers and Prophets are included in both Equipping & Motivating gifts
d. Miraculous Gifts: 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
i. Miraculous gifts that are given for specific situations to meet specific needs…not roles and not usually on-going uses.
ii. Miraculous Gifts: Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Power, Discernment, Speaking in Tongues & Interpretation of tongues.
2.THE SPIRITUAL GIFT OF APOSTLESHIP
a. Ephesians 4:11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
b. Apostle = “One sent out” – Missionaries, specifically church planters
c. Acts 16:9-10 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us. After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them."
i. Those with this gift often have a deep passion and calling to help other people.
ii. There’s a sense of immediacy…drop what you’re doing and go.
d. Characteristics
i. A motivation to plant churches
ii. A sense of purpose & commissioning by the Holy Spirit
iii. A strong sense of calling to a people group (A people group is a collection of people that share a common ethnic identity and language.)
iv. A concentration on equipping leaders (these people seldom stay long after a new church or specific ministry has been started, they feel led to go start something else)
v. Often a highly gifted & versatile person
vi. Not only sent out…but equipping others to do the same
e. Weaknesses
i. Taking an independent approach…feel they can do things better themselves rather than training others to do it…at this point you are neglecting your calling to use this gift to equip others.
ii. Insisting on being in charge.
iii. Turning your attention toward a new ministry before finishing the last one.
iv. Assuming that since God worked one way at a previous new church start, that you may tend to follow a process more than the movement of the Spirit. Beginning to enjoy places of service or the ministry itself more than the people.
v. You may promote cultural Christianity rather than pure Christianity.
vi. Putting a guilt trip on Christians who do not feel the call to leave their present ministry setting to join in your new work.
f. If this is your gift, we need you to be using it. I would love to see us be involved in some other new church starts.
a. Ephesians 4:11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
b. Apostle = “One sent out” – Missionaries, specifically church planters
c. Acts 16:9-10 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us. After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them."
i. Those with this gift often have a deep passion and calling to help other people.
ii. There’s a sense of immediacy…drop what you’re doing and go.
d. Characteristics
i. A motivation to plant churches
ii. A sense of purpose & commissioning by the Holy Spirit
iii. A strong sense of calling to a people group (A people group is a collection of people that share a common ethnic identity and language.)
iv. A concentration on equipping leaders (these people seldom stay long after a new church or specific ministry has been started, they feel led to go start something else)
v. Often a highly gifted & versatile person
vi. Not only sent out…but equipping others to do the same
e. Weaknesses
i. Taking an independent approach…feel they can do things better themselves rather than training others to do it…at this point you are neglecting your calling to use this gift to equip others.
ii. Insisting on being in charge.
iii. Turning your attention toward a new ministry before finishing the last one.
iv. Assuming that since God worked one way at a previous new church start, that you may tend to follow a process more than the movement of the Spirit. Beginning to enjoy places of service or the ministry itself more than the people.
v. You may promote cultural Christianity rather than pure Christianity.
vi. Putting a guilt trip on Christians who do not feel the call to leave their present ministry setting to join in your new work.
f. If this is your gift, we need you to be using it. I would love to see us be involved in some other new church starts.
3.THE SPIRITUAL GIFT OF EVANGELIST
a. We are all called to evangelize as Christians. Some have a special ability to effectively share their faith and are called to be equippers to help others learn to share their faith as well.
i. Evangelist = “One who brings good news”
ii. In Biblical times, as well as today, Evangelists were often traveling preachers whose focus is on getting people to take that first step of discipleship…choosing to follow Christ.
b. Characteristics
i. An intense sense of responsibility to help reach the world for Christ
ii. A concern about the number of people dying without Christ
iii. An immediate interest in introducing family and close friends to Christ
iv. A tendency to seek out certain people for whom you have a specific burden.
v. A willingness to share the Gospel whether or not there is immediate response.
vi. A tendency to tell others about the people you’ve seen come to know Christ.
vii. A tendency to see potential converts as useful to Christ’s cause.
viii. A strong desire to not only lead people to Christ, but also teach other Christians how to do it.
c. Weaknesses
i. Be careful that you don’t so intently on Evangelism that you lose sight of the larger calling of Discipleship.
ii. Be careful not to put too much focus on a technique of sharing Christ rather than letting the Spirit guide your words in each specific situation. (You’ll notice that this is a challenge with all the gifts. If we get so focused on one area we soon tend to trust a process more than the Spirit.)
iii. Interpreting fear in other Christians as a lack of interest in the eternal salvation of others. Most Christians are very uncomfortable with sharing our faith.
iv. As in most gifts, when we see others that don’t have our specific passions, we assume that there’s something inferior about their commitment with Christ.
v. Be careful not to use guilt as a motivator to get other’s to go out and share.
vi. A focus on numbers rather than individuals –
vii. Eventually becoming aware of so many lost people that you are tempted to give up.
viii. Can come across confrontational. You need both urgency and sensitivity.
d. It is a Biblical Mandate that we all must share our faith, but an evangelist has a more singular sense of calling to do this and a calling to train others.
e. Uses in our church - If this is your gift, we need you to get plugged in at equipping us to share our faith. This is not one of my strong suits and it would be great if we could develop a more focused approach on training us to sharing our faith.
f. One of the struggles of church life is that the church family often is a reflection of the pastor.
i. That’s not good, because I do not have all the gifts, and I have as much personal baggage as you.
ii. I do not have either of the gifts we’ve talked about today, so my prayer is that God will raise up people in the church who do have these gifts so that you can help equip us to carry out the mandates of Scripture in these areas.
a. We are all called to evangelize as Christians. Some have a special ability to effectively share their faith and are called to be equippers to help others learn to share their faith as well.
i. Evangelist = “One who brings good news”
ii. In Biblical times, as well as today, Evangelists were often traveling preachers whose focus is on getting people to take that first step of discipleship…choosing to follow Christ.
b. Characteristics
i. An intense sense of responsibility to help reach the world for Christ
ii. A concern about the number of people dying without Christ
iii. An immediate interest in introducing family and close friends to Christ
iv. A tendency to seek out certain people for whom you have a specific burden.
v. A willingness to share the Gospel whether or not there is immediate response.
vi. A tendency to tell others about the people you’ve seen come to know Christ.
vii. A tendency to see potential converts as useful to Christ’s cause.
viii. A strong desire to not only lead people to Christ, but also teach other Christians how to do it.
c. Weaknesses
i. Be careful that you don’t so intently on Evangelism that you lose sight of the larger calling of Discipleship.
ii. Be careful not to put too much focus on a technique of sharing Christ rather than letting the Spirit guide your words in each specific situation. (You’ll notice that this is a challenge with all the gifts. If we get so focused on one area we soon tend to trust a process more than the Spirit.)
iii. Interpreting fear in other Christians as a lack of interest in the eternal salvation of others. Most Christians are very uncomfortable with sharing our faith.
iv. As in most gifts, when we see others that don’t have our specific passions, we assume that there’s something inferior about their commitment with Christ.
v. Be careful not to use guilt as a motivator to get other’s to go out and share.
vi. A focus on numbers rather than individuals –
vii. Eventually becoming aware of so many lost people that you are tempted to give up.
viii. Can come across confrontational. You need both urgency and sensitivity.
d. It is a Biblical Mandate that we all must share our faith, but an evangelist has a more singular sense of calling to do this and a calling to train others.
e. Uses in our church - If this is your gift, we need you to get plugged in at equipping us to share our faith. This is not one of my strong suits and it would be great if we could develop a more focused approach on training us to sharing our faith.
f. One of the struggles of church life is that the church family often is a reflection of the pastor.
i. That’s not good, because I do not have all the gifts, and I have as much personal baggage as you.
ii. I do not have either of the gifts we’ve talked about today, so my prayer is that God will raise up people in the church who do have these gifts so that you can help equip us to carry out the mandates of Scripture in these areas.