The church is a family where everyone has a part to play.

At Sovereign Grace Wahroonga, we love seeing people passionately use what God has given them to love and serve Jesus and his people!

Although our culture views our gifts primarily as a means to self-fulfilment, we see our gifts as having been given by God for humble service of others even where it feels deeply uncomfortable. As servants, we want to think first and foremost of the needs that exist in our community and not our passions and desires. We follow the example of Jesus who despite his divinity poured out himself for the sake of others as a lowly servant (Phil 2:6–8).

Nevertheless, we believe God has given us many unique passions, desires and gifts! These gifts are as diverse in range as our health, wealth, experience, spiritual gifts and desires! After all, we’re a body with many parts (1 Cor 12:12–31) and so we want to do our best to help every part discover how God has gifted them uniquely and to see those gifts deployed for his glory!

Here are four questions to help you discern your gifts and how you might best use them to serve in our church.

1. What Spiritual gifts do you have that you’re aware of?

Many of us have never stopped to consider how God has gifted us through the Holy Spirit. That’s why we call these gifts capital ‘S’ Spiritual gifts. According to the Bible there’s a great range of gifts ranging from the more ‘visible’ gifts of teaching and prophecy to the less ‘visible’ but equally vital gifts of serving and administration. Whatever your gift mix might be in this season, all of these gifts come from the Holy Spirit with the same value and purpose - to love and serve the body of Christ, that is the church (1 Cor 12:7).

We’d suggest spending some time in God’s word, meditating on passages like 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 to get a feel for some of the different types of gifts God gives to his people. Then, spend some time in prayer asking God to reveal to you which gifts he’s given you. We’d also suggest speaking to a trusted Christian friend like a spouse, Gospel Community leader or Pastor for their perspective and affirmation.

2. What areas of serving are you most passionate about?

Although sacrificial service is at the heart of the calling of Jesus (e.g., Mark 10:45), we are indeed a body with many parts (e.g., 1 Cor 12) and so we'd love to get to know what desires God has given you.

You may not be in a season where you have much capacity to devote to the area of your greatest passion at the moment (e.g. a mum with very young children, in a season of sickness etc.) but helping us to know where your passions and desires are will help us to equip you to serve and connect you with opportunities as they arise in the future.

3. Do you have any skills, abilities or resources that you might be able to use to serve people in our community?

We all come from such varied backgrounds with many different resources, skills, experiences and abilities. God has provided us with these gifts in part to love and serve our church family (1 Peter 4:10-11). These could be related to your career, life experience or season, and, are as diverse as we are as people. Some examples could include: gardening skills, construction experience, financial resources, teaching ability, legal knowledge, craft skills etc.

4. Which of the following areas in Sovereign Grace Wahroonga are you open to serving in?

The final piece of the puzzle you’ll need is a complete list of all the different areas you can serve in at Sovereign Grace in Wahroonga. We’ve put together a more detailed list with a fuller description of what each service team is all about below.

Once you’ve spent some time considering your passions, gifts, resources and where you’re open to serving, simply jump online and fill out our Serve Refresh form. We’ll be in touch to organise a meeting with a member of the pastoral team for a coffee and chat so we can learn more about how best to deploy you for God’s glory!