Twelve Weeks of Prayerful Discernment
Listening Together for Where God Is Leading Holy Trinity
Week 9: Recognizing the Gifts God Has Already Given Us
Scripture Readings
Read:
1 Corinthians 12:4–27
Romans 12:3–8
1 Peter 4:7–11
Reflection
Over the past several weeks, our questions have increasingly turned outward.
Whom has God placed before us?
What needs do we see?
Where is Christ sending us?
Last week, we brought those questions together by asking:
What has God already given Holy Trinity that might help us serve the people and needs He has placed before us?
This week, we stay with that question.
Because discernment is not only about recognizing where God might be sending us.
It is also about recognizing what God has already given us for the journey.
Paul writes:
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord.”
Then he gives us one of Scripture’s most beautiful pictures of the Church:
The Body of Christ.
- A body has many members.
- An eye is not an ear.
- A hand is not a foot.
And Paul’s point is that this diversity is not a problem to overcome.
It is God's design.
Paul says:
“But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose.”
Pause there for a moment.
God arranged the members.
That means the people who make up Holy Trinity are not merely names on a membership list.
They are members of Christ’s Body.
- They have experiences.
- Abilities.
- Relationships.
- Vocations.
- Resources.
- Passions.
- Knowledge.
- And spiritual gifts.
Some are obvious.
Others may have been quietly serving Christ for decades without ever thinking of what they do as a “gift.”
Still others may be gifts we have not yet recognized.
And perhaps this is another important part of our discernment.
Instead of beginning with:
“What programs should Holy Trinity have?”
perhaps we should ask:
“What has God already given Holy Trinity?”
And then:
“What might those gifts tell us about where He is leading us?”
That changes the conversation.
- We do not have to become another congregation.
- We do not need to copy the church down the road.
- We do not need every ministry imaginable.
God has not called Holy Trinity to be everything to everyone.
He has called us to be faithful with what He has entrusted to us.
Peter writes:
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace.”
There is the key word:
Stewards.
A steward does not create what belongs to him.
He receives something entrusted to him and faithfully puts it to use.
Perhaps we should think about Holy Trinity in the same way.
God has entrusted something to us.
- He has given us people.
- He has given us a congregation.
- He has given us His Word and Sacraments.
- He has given us a preschool.
- He has given us a place in this community.
- He has given us relationships with people beyond our walls.
- He has given us decades of history and experience.
- He has given us people with gifts we may not even know about yet.
So this week, I want us to look carefully at what is already here.
Not because everything should remain exactly as it is.
Discernment may eventually lead us to change.
It may lead us to begin something.
Strengthen something.
End something.
Or use something we already have in an entirely new way.
But before asking what we lack, perhaps we should first recognize what God has provided.
Because the same God who calls His Church into mission also gives His Church what she needs to participate in that mission.
So look around.
Look at the people sitting beside you on Sunday morning.
Look at our children.
- Our families.
- Our older members.
- Our preschool.
- Our property.
- Our community relationships.
And look at yourself.
What has God placed here?
Perhaps some of the clearest clues about where He is leading us are already sitting in the pews.
Luther’s Five Questions
Instruction
- What do these passages teach us about gifts within the Body of Christ?
- Who gives these gifts?
- Why does God give different gifts to different people?
- What does it mean to be a steward of God’s gifts rather than simply possessing them?
Thanksgiving
- What gifts in other members of Holy Trinity cause you to thank God?
- What ministries, relationships, facilities, experiences, or resources has God entrusted to our congregation?
- What gifts has God given you personally that have allowed you to serve others?
Confession
- Have we sometimes focused more on what Holy Trinity lacks than on what God has already provided?
- Have we overlooked the gifts of certain members because their service happens quietly?
- Have we expected a small number of people to do the work of the whole Body?
- Have you ever assumed that you have little to contribute?
Petition
- Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal gifts among us that we have overlooked.
- Pray that members would recognize their own gifts and joyfully use them in service to others.
- Ask God for wisdom to steward our congregation’s people, property, relationships, experience, and resources faithfully.
Recognition
This week, spend particular time here.
- Who at Holy Trinity has a gift that you believe should be encouraged?
- What does our congregation do particularly well?
- What relationships or resources do we possess that might easily be overlooked?
- What opportunities seem especially well matched to the gifts God has already given us?
Three Layers of Reflection
Personal Reflection
- What has God given you that could be used in service to your neighbor?
- What abilities, experiences, relationships, or interests might you have never considered part of your Christian vocation?
- Is there a gift another Christian has recognized in you that you have been reluctant to acknowledge or use?
Congregational Reflection
Try something different this week.
Make a list.
What has God already given Holy Trinity?
Think broadly:
- People.
- Skills.
- Experience.
- Relationships.
- Ministries.
- Our preschool.
- Our facilities and property.
- Our location.
- Community connections.
- Financial resources.
- History.
- Reputation.
And anything else that comes to mind.
Then ask:
Which of these gifts might we be underusing?
Discernment Reflection
Now place the past several weeks beside one another.
We have been asking:
Who are the people God has placed before us?
What needs do we see?
And now:
What gifts has God given us?
Look for places where those three things intersect.
People + Needs + Gifts
Those intersections may deserve our attention.
- Where does a need in our community correspond with a strength already present at Holy Trinity?
- Where do members already have relationships with people we hope to serve?
- What existing ministry seems especially fruitful and might deserve greater attention?
- What gift or resource appears to be underused?
- Are you beginning to see recurring themes from previous weeks?
Write them down.
And please share them with the Planning Committee.
Conversation Challenge
This week, ask another member:
“What do you think God has given Holy Trinity that we sometimes take for granted?”
Then ask:
“What do you think we are particularly good at as a congregation?”
And finally:
“Do you see a gift in this congregation that we aren't fully using?”
Listen carefully.
You may hear someone identify something you have walked past every Sunday for years without noticing.
And if several people independently identify the same gift, strength, relationship, or opportunity, pay attention.
That does not automatically mean we have discovered God’s answer.
But it may be another thread in the tapestry.
After nine weeks, some threads should begin appearing more than once.
Bring those threads into conversation.
Talk about them with one another.
Share them with the Planning Committee.
And continue to pray.
We are not trying to manufacture a future for Holy Trinity.
We are seeking to faithfully steward what Christ has entrusted to us as we discern where He is leading His Church.