I Corinthians 12:1-11     How I Discovered My Spiritual Gifts    Nov 2, 2008

     The Philadelphia News carried a story about Bill Cosby's aged mother.  The family had very little money as Bill was growing up.  His mom never had modern conveniences and had gotten accustomed to doing things the hard way. When the children were old enough to get jobs, they often gave their mother appliances as Christmas gifts to make her life easier. But she wouldn't use them. Bill Cosby remembered that after a while his mother had two or three toasters. But she left them in their boxes and put them on top of the refrigerator. At breakfast she would still do the toast in the oven. If the boys protested, she would say, "Leave them on the refrigerator.  I don’t want to mess up those nice new toasters.”

       We are continuing our series on the Spiritual Gifts.  You know, many of us are like Bill Cosby’s mom when it comes to the gifts God has given us.  We have the gifts of God, but we do not use them to do the work of God.  And after a while, they are tucked away, collecting dust, and forgotten.  This morning, I want to tell you how I discovered some of my Spiritual Gifts from God and next week, I will try to be clear about how you can discover your gifts.    

      Now before I could learn anything about my own Spiritual Gifts, I had first to be a follower of Jesus Christ.  Until I loved God and asked God to be part of my life, I had no connection to receive His gifts.  I was around church and the things of God when I was growing up but at 18 years of age, when I was a senior in High School, I became a genuine follower of Jesus.  I prayed that God would enter my life and make me into something new.   And that began my journey to discover who God wanted me to be.

       Now after that commitment, the first step in discovering God’s Purposes for my life was to explore the possibilities.  In any endeavor, we should consider the options.  If I want to travel next summer to Florida, I need to know that it can be done by train, car, airplane, motorcycle, bus, hitchhiking, etc.  If I choose to drive, I look at a map and explore the possible routes.  And when I want to discover my Gifts in God, I also need to explore the options.   For me, I began to read the Bible.  At 18 and 19 years of age, I read the Bible like a maniac.  I read the Gospels repeatedly to learn who is Jesus.  You see, if I wanted to re-shape my life to become more like Jesus, then I needed to know who Jesus is.   I also a joined a Bible study group.   My freshman year in college I met with other young adults who were training to learn the Word.   I spent time with some gifted Christian people who taught me many things.   I found a mentor who guided me.  We would have lunch twice a month and talk about the things of God.  You see, I surrounded myself with people and conversations about God so that I could discover more about God.        

      Secondly, I began to experiment with different gifts.  You know, Michael Jordon would never have discovered that he had a skill for basketball if he had lived in a country where no one played basketball.  You need to try things to see where you are gifted.   During my Sophomore and Junior years of college, my mentors began to place me in different roles.  I wanted to serve God and I looked around for places of need.  I led skits in youth meetings.  I led music.  I began to speak.  I taught Bible studies.  I served as a camp counselor.  I organized activities and events.  I made posters.  I was in charge of games.  I organized VBS.  I preached from a pulpit.  I led Salkahatchie groups.  I began to discover some things I could do well ad other things I did not do so well.   But I did not quit or give up.  Too many Christians try one time to serve in some way and if it does not fit them, they never serve again.  They once led the VBS back in 1973 and it was a flop.  So they are just not helping out with anything again.   No.  Try something else because God has a place for you.

       Thirdly, evaluate your feelings and your effectiveness.  Listen to your heart.  What is your passion?  What makes you excited?  The place where you serve God should be a place of joy for you.  Sure, there will be times when you will be tired, you will suffer set backs, you will have complaints that will make you feel bad.  But in an overall way, you will find joy in serving God when you discover your gifted place.  I think of our Boy Scout leaders here in this church.  Some of you would think, “Oh my, I have to take all those boys hiking, camping, fishing.”  It would be torture for you because that is not your gift.  But when I speak to our Boy Scout leaders, they smile and look happy and speak with joy about the upcoming mountain hike.  They have found their gifted place.  In my life, I had to eventually do some evaluation.  Throughout most of my college years, I worked in youth ministry and I thought I would forever work in youth ministry.  I planned on only one year of seminary to meet some minimum requirements.  However, in my senior year of college, I spent a weekend in the NC mountains with a group of youth leaders who were exploring the possibilities of a career in youth ministry.  It was a key weekend to evaluate myself.  I loved youth ministry.  I loved the organizations with which I worked.  I had nothing but praise for what they accomplished with teens.  But when the weekend was over, when the evaluations were complete, when the time in prayer was finished, I knew that my calling was not to work with that youth ministry.  I needed to attend seminary full time and look elsewhere for what God wanted me to do. 

       Listen.  If you want to discover God’s Gifts in your life, you need time for evaluation.  That is what the Gifts Survey will help you do.  The Gifts Survey that we are going to have for all of you is a tool to examine and evaluate yourself.   If you are in our Sunday night Bible study, you will receive that survey tonight to take home.  If you are not in our study group, in the next couple of weeks, I will still have information for you to take a gifts survey.  I hope all of you in this church will decide to spend some time exploring your gifted place in life by taking this survey.  Now listen.  A gifts survey should never be considered the final only word on discovering gifts.  Peter Wagner, the writer of this survey, says exactly those words.  This is not a magic wand.  But if used in a spirit of prayer, in reading the word, in spending time with other Christians, this survey is a very useful tool that can point you in useful directions for further exploration.  Only God can guide you to your place in life.  But my weekend spent away in evaluation did point me to following God where He was leading me.  It required many years for me to find my own gifts.  I continue every year discovering more deeply my gifts in Christ.  It is a lifetime journey.  It is a fulfilling journey which I hope you will begin.  You can begin that journey by taking the Gifts Survey over the next few weeks.  It will be one tool in God’s tool box to enable you to build a purposeful life in Christ.     Amen.