God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

I. The Spirit Who Bestows Gifts

Video Segment 1 Outline

A. Why are spiritual gifts necessary? Power for witness

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1. Acts 1.8 - But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

2. The purpose of the Church is to be witnesses to what God has done, and is doing, in the world and the power for accomplishing this mission comes from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives gifts so that we can be a community that effectively spreads the good news that Jesus is Lord of all things. Even those gifts that are exercised completely inside of the Church and for the benefit of those who already know Christ exist for this same purpose. The Spirit gives gifts to strengthen the Church and its members but the reason the Church needs to be strengthened is so that it has the power to accomplish its mission in the world.

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B. What are spiritual gifts?

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1. Charisma : God’s grace working in and through us

a. The word most commonly translated as “spiritual gift” is the Greek word charisma . This word comes from the Greek word for grace ( charis ) and literally means “gifts of grace.” According to Romans 5.15-16, salvation itself is seen as the primary gift of grace—the gift from which all other gifts flow. But the word charisma or spiritual gift is used in a more specific way in a number of New Testament texts.