#Gifts with Purpose: Building the Church in Love

·26 min·2 clips

The host announces a live prophecy exercise using photos to hear from God, shifting from theory to practice.

The episode begins with a recap of last week's teaching on spiritual gifts, emphasizing the need for a biblical worldview over a materialistic Western mindset. The host outlines three reasons for teaching on gifts: they are practical, involve every member ministry, and leaders are called to equip saints. He reads 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, listing the nine spiritual gifts—wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, and interpretation. These are grouped into revelation gifts (mind of God), power gifts (hand of God), and speaking gifts (voice of God). The host transitions to a practical exercise focused on prophecy, explaining that God speaks through various means like pictures, dreams, visions, audible voices, and songs. He describes an activation exercise inspired by James Barringer, using printed photos to help participants listen to God. Guidelines are given: share only encouragement, avoid negativity or specific predictions, use tentative language like 'I feel,' and weigh words with the Lord. The host demonstrates with an example using a photo of deck chairs. Participants then split into threes to practice, with options for those uncomfortable or online. After the exercise, a group including Taya, Raquel, and Steph Britton shares their experience. Taya emotionally recounts how a word about 'stacked stones' resonated with her chaotic life season involving leaving home, job changes, and marriage. Raquel discusses discerning God's voice versus personal knowledge. The host concludes by encouraging continued practice, noting that gifts grow with use and God delights in efforts, even with mistakes.

As heard by us

A warm church teaching that frames prophecy as a shared, low-pressure practice of listening for God.

This single-episode review moves the mini-series on the nine spiritual gifts from setup into practice, centering on prophecy as a way of listening for what God may be saying.

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Why you'd press play

Want to practice listening for God through a picture, a lyric, a noise, or even birdsong?

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