SHAPE Discovering God s Unique Design for your life He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion. Phil. 1:6 1
SHAPE: Discovering what you are designed to do Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct. Gal. 6:4-5 I. Your journey to discover your SHAPE begins with answering the question: Who am I? A. You have a specific purpose in your life. 1. You have an assignment from God. 2. Only you can accomplish this assignment. 3. What will be the contribution of your life? B. You have a specific contribution to the body of Christ. 1. Within your generation, your specific assignment from the Lord causes you to be totally sold out to His purposes. 2. This will cause you to be authentically loving to others. C. Most people identify their purpose by: 1. What others say 2. What has happen in their life to shape them 3. But seeking God s assignment for your life means you are uniquely SHAPE for the assignment he has given you for your generation. II. SHAPE S-spiritual gifts: What are you gifted to do? H-heart passion: What passions do I have? A-abilities: What do I naturally do better than others? P-personality: How has God made me navigate life? E-experiences: What have I experienced and learned? ONLY YOU CAN BE YOU!!!! IF you are not you, the body of Christ suffers. 2
III. Questions for reflection: A. What does it mean to be a person in SHAPE? B. What does it mean to be a person out of SHAPE? C. How do you feel about being told you are God s masterpiece? D. How would you define your life today? E. How would your small group, your parish benefit from you being IN SHAPE? F. Through being in fellowship with other Christians, you can discover through discussion and others reflection your SHAPE. Who can you identify as some one to walk with you in this discovery? SHAPE: Discerning Spiritual gifts God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 1Pt. 4:10 I. Spiritual gifts are given to us in the sacrament of baptism and confirmation. A. There are gifts to help us grow in holiness such as fear of the Lord, wisdom, knowledge, courage etc. B. There are gifts given to us to serve the body of Christ and give witness to Christ. These are what we are speaking about in this session. C. Open yourselves to the gifts of the Spirit! Accept gratefully and obediently the charisms which the Spirit never ceases to bestow on us. John Paul II D. At the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church rediscovered the spiritual gifts. This meant a renewed appreciation and openness to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The Council fathers spoke of a rediscovery of the charismatic dimension of faith. 3
II. What are charisms? A. They are gifts or favors or grace of the Lord. They are given to build up the Church to carry out her mission in the world. B. They are furthermore special graces, also called charims after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning favor, gratuitous gift, benefit. Whatever their character-sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues-charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church. (Catechism #2003). C. The charisms are for all the baptized. From the acceptance of these charisms.there arise for each believer the right and duty to use them in the Church and in the world for the good of men and the building up of the Church. Decree on the Apostolate of the laity. D. Charisms differ from natural talents in that they build on natural talents but are manifestations of spiritual power to give witness to JESUS IS LORD! E. There are many charisms. The lists in the New Testament do not exhaust them! See 1Cor. 12:1, 7-11; Romans 12:4-8; 1Pt. 4:10-11; Eph. 4:11. III. Why do I need to Welcome these gifts in my life? A. It is part of Jesus plan and assignment for your life. B. It is essential for the health of the Church (and local parish) for its mission in the world. C. Jesus told his disciples to wait till they received power from on high. Acts 1:8. The Acts of the Apostles present Pentecost as the fulfillment of this promise and hence as the culmination of Jesus entire mission. Pope Benedict XVI. 4
D. We are told by St. Paul to not be ignorant of spiritual gifts. But to seek them. 1Cor. 14:1 E. The fresh breath of the Spirit, too, has come to awaken latent energies within the Church to stir up dormant charisms.pope Paul VI. F. Open yourselves meekly to the gifts of the Holy Spirit! Accept with gratitude and obedience the gifts that the Spirit does not cease to give. John Paul II. IV. How can I open myself to the gifts of the Holy Spirit? A. We make it our aim to please the Lord. (1Cor. 5:9). B. Repent of anything that is inconsistent with the Christian life. C. Pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in your life. Ask for a new freshness and stirring up of the life of the Spirit given in baptism and confirmation. D. Reflect on the gifts as mentioned in the audio aspect of the teaching. What gifts seem to be present in your life? Ask others that you trust in to state what gifts of the Spirit they see in your life. E. Serve in various roles to see how God uses you and what gifts he is blessing you with. Without service, the gifts will not appear. SHAPE: Hearing my Heartbeat Discovering the God-given desires of your heart As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. Proverbs 27:19 I. What are the desires of your heart? A. How do you long to impact the lives of others? B. We serve God by being a servant to others. 5
C. God aligns our passions of the heart with his purposes of the kingdom. D. Our heart reflects our dreams and desires to impact the world for Christ. II. Questions for reflection: A. Who do you love to serve? B. What needs do you love to meet? C. What challenges do you love to engage in? D. What needs have God and/or others met in your life that you in turn can meet in others lives? E. What challenges do you love to conquer? F. Taking time to listen to God can make an eternal difference in the lives of others. God has uniquely made you for this. We need each other to help clarify his plans for us. SHAPE: Discovering my natural abilities Clarifying your God-given strengths The master said, Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let s celebrate together! Mt. 25:23 I. Natural abilities are the collection of strengths God wants you to have to fulfill your assignment in life. A. In the Catholic vision, grace (spiritual gifts in our discussion) builds on nature. B. The Word-Jesus- became flesh. Grace builds on nature. Just as we need to take grace and spiritual gifts seriously, we need to take nature seriously as well. C. All we need to do is be available and aware of what God has given us. D. God doesn t waste abilities. They are a strong indication of God s plans for you. 6
II. Where do you naturally excel? A. God has given you natural abilities to excel in certain areas for him. B. Evaluate your abilities in the light of God s eternal purposes and in the life situation in which he has placed you. C. So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Romans 14:12. D. Read the Parable of the Talents: Mt. 25:28-29. E. Life is too short than to do our best for God. SHAPE: Recognizing my Personality God loves variety God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 1Cor. 12:6 I. God loves variety. There is no right or wrong temperament. God wants to use our personality. A. The world places value on the externals, prestige, looks, money etc.god places the highest value on the heart motivation of each of us. B. The personality you have is God s gift to you. He created it for you for the glory of his name. C. Your personality is expressed in all areas of your life. II. Two key areas when reflecting on personality: A. How do I relate to others B. How do I respond to Opportunities to serve 7
III. Questions for reflection: A. What role does your personality play in the way you express worship to God? B. How is the full surrender of your personality for his use an expression of worship? C. In relating to others, are you. 1. Outgoing or reserved 2. Self-expressive or self-controlled 3. Cooperative or competitive D. In responding to opportunities to serve, are you.. 1. High risk or low risk 2. People driven or project driven 3. Follower or leader 4. Team player or more solo 5. Routine or variety SHAPE: Understanding my Experiences God uses our experiences for his Glory All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 2Cor. 1:3-4 I. Understanding our experiences A. God uses all our experiences- good or bad- for his glory. A. Read the story of Joseph: Gen. 37-50 1. Betrayed by his brothers 2. Sold into slavery 3. Thrown into prison 8
4. Rose to be the 2 nd highest and most powerful person in Egypt 5. Saved millions in a time of famine 6. Never forgot that God is in control You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Gen. 50: 20 B. God is a master artisan and he crafts every experience in our lives to complete a finished product. C. Consider the events of your life that have SHAPE you: 1. Childhood joys and sorrows 2. Pain and thrill of adolescence 3. Struggle and accomplishments of adulthood 4. Losses and successes of life 5. Sickness and recovery II. Your life is like a Gallery A. Think of life experiences in these areas: 1. Awards in your life 2. Patterns of achievement 3. Godly marriage or a friend who comforts or challenges you 4. Academic degrees or training, certificates, ongoing development 5. Spiritual experiences that have shaped your life 6. Experiences of prayer and/or leading others to Christ 7. Painful experiences in your life 9
SHAPE: Putting it all together And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Phil. 1:6 Spiritual Gifts: The spiritual gifts I believe God has given me are: I feel I could use these gifts in the following ways to serve him: Heart: What I have a passion for: Whom I love to serve: 10
The needs I love to meet in another s life are: The cause I feel God wants me to help him conquer: Abilities: Where I naturally excel My top abilities are: Personality: How God has made me I tend to related to others by being: Outgoing x reserved SElf-expressive x self-controlled Cooperative x competitive I tend to respond to opportunities that are: High-risk x low risk People-driven x project driven Follow x Lead 11
Team x Solo Routine x Variety Experiences: Where I have been My positive experiences include: Areas I feel I could help another person are: My painful experiences include: 12
These are areas God has helped me through that I can in turn help others through: Conclusion: Based on my SHAPE profile, I think I should explore the following ideas for ministry: 1. 2. 3. 13
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