Free leader guide
Spiritual Gifts Small Group Lesson
This guide is for small group leaders, pastors, and ministry leaders who want to run one evening on spiritual gifts with 6 to 12 people. It gives you a pastor’s note, a 60-minute plan with scripts you can read aloud, and a two-week follow-up. It’s free, and you can print it as a handout.
The Evening at a Glance
The evening opens with Scripture on who gives the gifts and why. The longest stretch goes to one exercise where each person hears something specific that others have seen in them. It ends with one small act of service each person picks, and a prayer.
- Time
- 60 minutes
- Group size
- 6 to 12 people
- Before the session
- Everyone takes the test (about 8 minutes) and brings their top gifts. Results stay private until the session.
- You will need
- Bibles or phones, pens, and a printed handout for everyone
- After the session
- A 15 to 20 minute follow-up at your next gathering, or a short message, two weeks later
A Note for Pastors and Ministry Leaders
The Bearing Fruit Spiritual Gifts Test is meant to start a conversation in your church. Here’s what it does, what it doesn’t do, and how to use it with care.
What this test is
It’s a 35-question starting point about how a person tends to serve and what they’ve enjoyed or seen bear fruit. It suggests up to three gifts from Scripture that may fit. Each result looks at Jesus’ own example, or says plainly where the Gospels show no clear scene, and at how the gift serves the body of Christ. It adds one thing to try this week and two questions to ask someone who knows the person. A short prayer closes it.
What it is not
A result says nothing about maturity or calling. Gifts are grace, freely given, and no proof of maturity or of a right standing with God. The Corinthians lacked no gift, yet Paul called them infants in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:7; 3:1). What marks maturity is love and the fruit of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:2; Galatians 5:22-23; see Matthew 7:22-23). A result doesn’t qualify or disqualify anyone for a church office, which is a conversation for your pastors. Nobody can predict what the Spirit will do, since He gives gifts as He determines (1 Corinthians 12:11) for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7).
How it is built
The questions are self-reported, so a result shows how someone saw themselves on one day. People sometimes score low on gifts they use without noticing and higher on gifts they admire. Each gift shows a band (Strong sense, Moderate sense, or Emerging sense) for how many answers pointed to it. There are no percentages and no ranking of people. A quick read after 10 questions is a rough first impression. That’s why this guide asks other people to speak into the results.
Where Christians differ
Faithful Christians differ on the sign gifts, and some differ on how gifts work at all. The optional last section asks about prophecy, tongues, interpretation, healing, and miracles and produces a separate ‘Ministry leanings’ card. The sign gifts section below describes the views in their own terms. Under Scripture, your church’s teaching guides how this is handled in your church.
Care in using it
Please don’t post or rank results, and don’t hand out roles from results without a conversation. A short list, or a result that’s still taking shape, says nothing bad about a person. Someone in the group who isn’t yet following Jesus is welcome, and the exercise still works, because it asks what others have seen in them. Be honest and kind about the larger picture: Scripture describes spiritual gifts as grace the Spirit gives to those who belong to Christ (1 Corinthians 12:3, 13; Ephesians 4:7). For someone still exploring, a result shows how they have seen themselves, and the greatest gift is Christ Himself, given to anyone who receives Him (John 1:12).
Privacy
There’s no account and no email, and the test doesn’t save results to a profile. A shared results link carries the person’s answers inside it, so it should go only to people they trust.
Before the Session
If you only have 20 minutes
- 1.Take the test yourself. A quick read after 10 questions is fine.
- 2.Read the plan and the hard moments once.
- 3.Send the invitation message below.
- 4.Print the handout.
- 5.Think of one true, specific thing you’ve seen in each person coming.
Invitation message to send ahead
Hi all. Before we meet, please take the Bearing Fruit Spiritual Gifts Test. It takes about 8 minutes, or you can stop for a quick read after 10 questions. Bring your top gifts, and if you can’t get to it, come anyway. Results stay private. I’d also love a few of you to read a short passage aloud. Tell me if you’d rather not.
If you’re leading
- Read the pastor’s note above. It takes about five minutes.
- Pick a reader for each of the four passages ahead of time.
- Read the sign gifts section below, and the full page ‘Are the Sign Gifts for Today?’
- Talk with your pastor about what your church teaches on the sign gifts, so you know where you stand before the evening.
- Take the test yourself and bring your result. You’ll go first in the exercise.
- A co-host is optional. It helps if you have one, and the evening works without one.
If you’re coming
- Take the test before the session. It’s 35 questions and takes about 8 minutes.
- Bring your top gifts and the band beside each one. Use Print or save as PDF on the result page, or just write them down.
- If your result says your answers didn’t point clearly to one gift yet, or you chose ‘None of these fits me’ a lot, bring it anyway.
- The last section, on prophecy, tongues, interpretation, healing, and miracles, is optional. You can skip it.
- Please keep your results to yourself and don’t post them.
Materials
- Bibles or phones (the passages are on this page)
- Pens
- A printed handout for everyone
- A clock or phone timer
- Each person’s top gifts, printed or written down
Someone who hasn’t taken the test can still take part. The exercise is about what others have seen in them, and that doesn’t depend on a result. They can take the test afterward and bring it to the follow-up.
The 60-Minute Plan
The evening has seven parts, and the longest is the exercise in the middle. The times are a guide, so let a good conversation run a minute or two over and trim somewhere else.
- 0–5 minWelcome and opening prayerWelcome everyone, set the tone, and pray.
- 5–14 minRead and talk about the giftsFour readers, four short passages, one question.
- 14–18 minRules of the roomRead the five rules aloud and invite changes.
- 18–42 minName one thing I saw in youEach person hears what others have seen them do.
- 42–50 minHonest questions, or spare timeTake up the one hard moment that’s live, or use the time to catch up.
- 50–55 minOne next stepEach person picks one small act of service and tells one person.
- 55–60 minClosing prayerThe leader or a volunteer prays aloud.
- 0–5 min
Welcome and opening prayer
You can say
Tonight isn’t about ranking anyone. We’ll look at what Scripture says about gifts, and then help each other notice what we’ve seen in one another. Your result isn’t a grade, and you don’t have to agree with all of it. Let’s pray.
- Welcome people by name and say the evening will end on time.
- Pray briefly. Thank Jesus for giving us to one another and ask Him for humility and love.
- 5–14 min
Read and talk about the gifts
- Reader 1 reads 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. Reader 2 reads 1 Corinthians 12:18-26. Reader 3 reads Romans 12:3-8. Reader 4 reads 1 Peter 4:10-11. Pause a few seconds after each.
- Ask, What do you notice about who gives the gifts, and why? Let two or three people answer.
- If nobody says it, you can: the Spirit gives the gifts as He determines (1 Corinthians 12:11), they are for the common good (12:7), and every member is needed (12:21-22).
The passages are printed in full below.
- 14–18 min
Rules of the room
- Say before anyone shares, What people share tonight stays here. The one exception is if someone is in real trouble, and then I would get our pastor involved.
- Read the rules on the handout aloud, one at a time.
- Ask, Does anyone want to change or add anything? Wait a few seconds. You don’t need a spoken yes from each person.
The reason behind each rule is in the Rules of the room section.
- 18–42 min
Name one thing I saw in you
- Choose a format from the group-size table in the exercise section.
- Go first yourself, then go around.
- Keep time kindly and keep every comment about something someone saw.
Steps, sentence starters, and what to do when nobody can think of anything are in the exercise section.
- 42–50 min
Honest questions, or spare time
- Pick only the situation that’s live in the room. The Hard moments section has a script for each.
- This slot is also the spare time. If nothing hard comes up, use it to catch up on the exercise and finish early.
- Or ask the ‘ask someone’ question from the result page, which is a question to put to someone who knows you well.
Most evenings only one hard moment comes up, and many evenings none.
- 50–55 min
One next step
You can say
Find the box on your handout that says ‘one thing I will do this week.’ Write one act of service in it. It can come from the Try this week on your result, or be something you already had in mind. Then tell one person here what you wrote. Nobody here is checking.
- Give people about two minutes to write and three to tell someone.
- Say the date of the follow-up.
- 55–60 min
Closing prayer
- The leader prays, or asks a volunteer ahead of time. It takes about a minute.
- Use the minute left over to thank people and repeat the follow-up date.
The prayer is in the Closing prayer section.
Passages to Read Aloud
Give each reader a passage before the evening. The text is the Berean Standard Bible, and any translation your group prefers works.
- Reader 1. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
- Reader 2. 1 Corinthians 12:18-26
- Reader 3. Romans 12:3-8
- Reader 4. 1 Peter 4:10-11
Show the 4 passages
Reader 1. Paul begins with who gives the gifts and who they’re for.
“There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines.”
Reader 2. Here Paul describes the church as a body and says how its parts treat one another.
“But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you.’ Nor can the head say to the feet, ‘I do not need you.’ On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts we consider less honorable, we treat with greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with special modesty, whereas our presentable parts have no such need. But God has composed the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”
Reader 3. Paul names several gifts and says how to hold them with sober judgment.
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all members have the same function, so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another. We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”
Reader 4. Peter says what gifts are for and who gets the glory.
“As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another. If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”
Ask: What do you notice about who gives the gifts, and why?
Rules of the Room
Read these aloud, one at a time. Then ask if anyone wants to change or add anything.
- 1
No result outranks another. Nobody compares or jokes about a gift.
Bands show how many answers pointed to a gift, and say nothing about a person’s worth. When Paul speaks of greater gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31; 14:5), he points to gifts that build up the church (14:5, 12). That gives no one higher standing, because every gift is received (1 Corinthians 4:7) and God gives greater honor to the parts that seem weaker (12:22-24).
- 2
Anyone may pass.
People share more freely when they know they don’t have to.
- 3
Keep each other’s stories private.
Don’t repeat what someone shares outside the group without asking. Say this before anyone shares, along with the one exception: if someone seems to be in danger or needs help, you will bring in your pastor, in keeping with your church’s safeguarding policy.
- 4
A result is a starting point, and others may see what we don’t.
This sets up the exercise and takes the pressure off a result that feels off.
- 5
Say what you saw someone do. Leave advice and impressions for another time.
Tonight we share what we have seen, and we leave ‘the Lord showed me’ for another time. This keeps the evening on what we have all seen, and says nothing about anyone’s view of prophecy.
Name One Thing I Saw in You
Gifts are easier to see from the outside. The result page already suggests two questions to ask someone who knows you. Here the room asks them for each other.
- 1
Say your gifts in a sentence
When it’s your turn, say your top gifts in one sentence, and the band for each if you like. You don’t need to explain or defend the result.
- 2
Others each say one moment
Each person names one thing they’ve seen you do. They say what happened and who it helped. If you don’t know each other well yet, say so, and the person can say what they’ve enjoyed doing in service.
- 3
Say thank you and write it down
Your only reply is thank you. Jot down what you heard on your handout to take home.
- 4
The leader keeps it specific
If someone offers a label, ask what they saw the person do. When a comment starts to turn into advice, move on kindly.
Ways to start a sentence
- ‘One thing I have seen in you is...’
- ‘I remember when you...’
- ‘The time you helped, I noticed...’
- ‘Something you did that stayed with me was...’
A moment is easier to keep than a label
Here is how the same thought sounds as a label and as a moment.
A label‘You’re so encouraging.’
A moment‘When I was ready to quit the class, you texted me that night, and I stayed.’
A label‘You’re a great teacher.’
A moment‘You explained that passage to my son at the picnic, and he talked about it all week.’
A label‘You’re really generous.’
A moment‘You covered the groceries for the family two doors down and never mentioned it.’
Fitting your group in 20 minutes
The exercise has 24 minutes, and each row below fits inside it. If it runs over, take the time from the spare slot after it. Put a quieter person with someone who knows them well, and put the person who talks most with someone who will keep time. For a newer group, arrange triads so each person is with at least one person who knows them. If most of you are strangers, spend the time on ways each person has served or would like to serve, and skip the observations.
6 people
Whole group. 4 min to explain and hand out the sheet, 2 min to jot one moment for each person, then 3 min per person. You go first.
4 + 2 + 18 = 24 min
7 to 8 people
Two groups of 4, or one of 3 and one of 4. Show how it sounds with a quick example of your own, about 2 min. Allow 4 min to explain and move, and 2 min to jot. Each person then gets 3 min in a group of 4, or 4 min in a group of 3. Someone in each group keeps time on a phone. Come back together for a 2 min share-back.
2 + 4 + 2 + 12 + 2 = 22 min
9 to 12 people
Groups of 3, or one of 4. You go first with the whole room to show how it sounds (about 2 min). Then 4 min to explain and move, 2 min to jot, and 4 min per person in a group of 3 (3 min in a group of 4). Someone in each group keeps time using the handout. Say up front, ‘Wave me over if it gets stuck,’ and walk around. Come back together and ask, ‘Would anyone like to share one thing you heard that surprised you? Passing is fine.’
2 + 4 + 2 + 12 + 2 = 22 min
If nobody can think of anything
Don’t invent praise or put anyone on the spot. Give the group a few moments. If nothing comes, invite the person to say something they’ve enjoyed doing or would like to try, thank them, and move on without making it awkward. Afterward, check in privately and look for ways others can get to know them.
Hard Moments and What to Say
These are the moments leaders ask about most. Pick only the one that’s live in the room.
Someone ranks or compares
You might hear: ‘I’m only a helper. Everyone else got the big gifts.’
You can say
Can I read you something? It’s about exactly this. [Read 1 Corinthians 12:22-25 aloud, slowly.] Who here has been helped by something like what you do?
- Draw out two lines from the reading: “the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable” (1 Corinthians 12:22) and “God has composed the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it” (1 Corinthians 12:24).
- Let the group answer the question, and thank them.
- Point back to the first rule if the comparing continues.
Someone says their results are nothing impressive
You might hear: ‘I got nothing. Mine are all Emerging sense.’ Or, ‘I just got the boring ones.’
You can say
A label isn’t the point. Let’s hear what people have actually seen you do, and then you can decide how it adds up. I’ll start.
- Give one true, specific thing first, then let others follow.
- Don’t single the person out or lengthen their turn unless they ask. Treat it like everyone’s.
- If they follow Jesus, remind them that Scripture says each believer has been given grace to serve (1 Peter 4:10; 1 Corinthians 12:7), and that a modest result says nothing about whether God has gifted them.
- If they aren’t yet following Jesus, thank them for what others have seen, and don’t tell them which spiritual gift they have.
- If they call theirs the boring ones, you might say, Serving is why the coffee gets made and the kids get picked up. Let’s hear what people saw you do.
- Gifts often become clearer as people serve. Don’t promise which one or when.
The result doesn’t sound like the person
You might hear: ‘That’s not me.’ Or, ‘I picked None of these fits me a lot.’ Or, ‘Mine says my answers didn’t point clearly to one gift yet.’
You can say
That’s a fair result. A test only sees the answers someone gave, and thirty-five questions can’t see everything. Let’s see what the room has noticed, and you can weigh it against your own sense.
- Don’t argue the result up or down.
- Invite them to take part in the exercise as usual, and don’t make their result a problem the group has to solve.
- Suggest they retake the test later, or ask the two questions on their result page of someone who knows them.
Someone talks a lot, or goes quiet in their turn
You might hear: A long story from one person. Or silence when it’s someone’s turn.
You can say
If someone talks long, you might say, Thank you. I want everyone to get their turn, so let’s hold that thought for after. If someone goes quiet, you might ask, Would you like to pass? That’s fine either way.
- Name the length of each turn before you start.
- For the person who goes quiet, ask softly, don’t push, and check in afterward.
- Don’t assume what a silent person is thinking.
When Your Group Sees the Sign Gifts Differently
The optional section of the test asks about prophecy, tongues, interpretation, healing, and miracles. Some churches hold that all these gifts are still given. Others hold that certain gifts had a special role in the apostolic era and are no longer regularly given, though God still heals and works miracles. Others hold a position between. ‘Sign gifts’ is the name cessationist writers tend to use, and many continuationists simply say spiritual gifts. This guide uses the common name so people can find it, and it doesn’t ask your group to settle the question.
Continuationist
The Spirit still gives the gifts the New Testament names, including prophecy, tongues, interpretation, healing, and miracles. Many continuationists hold that the foundational office of apostle was unique to the first generation. They lean on 1 Corinthians 12:31, 14:1, and 14:39, on 1 Corinthians 1:7, and on Acts 2:17-18 and 2:39. They note that no passage says these gifts would end before Christ returns, and that Christ gave gifts to equip the church until we all reach unity in the faith (Ephesians 4:11-13). Many read Ephesians 2:20 as describing the apostles and the prophets who spoke with apostolic authority, and do not take it to cover every later gift of prophecy. Classical Pentecostals also hold that baptism in the Holy Spirit is a distinct experience after conversion, usually shown by speaking in tongues (Acts 2:4; 10:44-46; 19:6), while other continuationists see Spirit baptism as part of conversion (1 Corinthians 12:13). They read what Paul says is coming in 1 Corinthians 13:10 as Christ’s return, when we see face to face (13:12), so the gifts continue until then. They point to testimony of these gifts across church history and in the global church today. They hold that the canon is closed and that prophecy never adds to Scripture or stands over it, so every prophecy is weighed by Scripture (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21; 1 Corinthians 14:29). They affirm that God heals and answers prayer as He wills, and that no one should promise healing or blame a person when it doesn’t come.
Cessationist
The revelatory and sign gifts, meaning prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues, and the gifts of healing and miracles, served to confirm the apostles’ message and ended as the apostolic age closed. They lean on Ephesians 2:20, where the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, which they read as laid once in the first generation. They lean on Hebrews 2:3-4, where the message was confirmed to us by those who heard the Lord, with God testifying through signs and wonders and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which they read as tied to that apostolic generation. They add 2 Corinthians 12:12, where signs mark a true apostle. Because God has spoken finally in His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2) and the faith was handed down once for all (Jude 3), they hold that no new revelation is given. They note that miracles in Scripture cluster around times of new revelation, from Moses through Elijah to Christ and the apostles. On 1 Corinthians 13:8-12, some read what is coming as the completed New Testament, and many others agree it means Christ’s return and rest their case on the texts above. They affirm that God still heals, answers prayer, and can act miraculously as He chooses, though not through people given these gifts, and that the Spirit still works through conviction and sanctification. They hold that teaching, serving, mercy, and the other gifts continue.
Open but cautious
Some Christians find no passage that clearly says these gifts ended, so they stay open to the Spirit giving them. They also see the apostolic age as unique (Hebrews 2:3-4) and doubt that many modern claims match what the New Testament describes. They neither seek nor forbid these gifts, and they test every claim (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21; 1 Corinthians 14:29 and 14:40). They pray for the sick (James 5:14-16) without assuming that any person holds a gift or that an outcome is guaranteed. Others in this group believe the gifts continue but are rarer, or take a different form, than in the early church.
What all three views affirm
- No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3).
- The Spirit gives gifts for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7).
- Without love, the one using any gift is nothing and gains nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
- Scripture is the final authority for testing any claim (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
- We pray for the sick (James 5:14-16) and ask according to God’s will (1 John 5:14).
- Gatherings are to be orderly (1 Corinthians 14:40).
- Love outlasts every gift (1 Corinthians 13:8, 13).
- Scripture calls believers not to treat prophecies with contempt and to test everything (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21).
In the room
- Say it before people share, either at the welcome or when you read the rules. If nobody took the optional section, you can save it for when a question comes up. Use the script below.
- If someone wants to share what drew them to their Ministry leanings answers, welcome it without debate.
- Don’t ask anyone to demonstrate a gift.
- Don’t allow personal attacks, or suggestions that someone lacks faith because of what they hold. People may disagree about what Scripture teaches, but this evening isn’t the place for a long debate.
- Know your church’s teaching and represent it accurately. If a question comes up, say briefly that faithful Christians read these passages differently, give your church’s position in a sentence, and offer to follow up with a pastor. Don’t ask everyone to state a position. If your church has no stated position, say so and take the question to a pastor.
- Under Scripture, your church’s teaching guides how this is handled in your church.
You can say
Some of us probably read what Scripture says about tongues and healing differently, and faithful Christians do. You’re welcome here whatever you hold. We’re not settling it tonight. What we all agree on is that love comes first and the gifts are for building each other up. If a question is still bugging you, write it down and we’ll take it to the pastor.
Before the session, read the full page ‘Are the Sign Gifts for Today?’ so you know the views well. Read it here.
One Next Step, and Two Weeks Later
Each person picks one small act of service, from the Try this week on their result or gift page or from something they already had in mind, and tells one person in the room. It doesn’t need to be big.
Write the follow-up date where everyone can see it. Nobody needs to share what they wrote with the whole group.
Closing prayer
The leader prays this aloud, or asks a volunteer ahead of time. It takes about a minute.
Father, thank You for Jesus, who welcomes us by grace and not by anything we do. Thank You for giving us to one another, and for every gift Your Spirit gives to Your people.
Forgive us for the times we’ve measured ourselves against each other.
Give us humility, and teach us to love as Jesus loves.
Holy Spirit, help us serve with the strength You supply.
We ask that in everything Jesus be honored.
In His name we pray. Amen.
Put it in your own words if you prefer.
The follow-up conversation
Two weeks later, take 15 to 20 minutes at your next gathering, or send a message. Ask three questions and listen.
- 1.What did you try, however small?
- 2.What did you notice, about yourself or someone else?
- 3.Where in our church would you like to help, or whom would you like to ask?
- Listen more than you talk.
- Connect interested people with ministry leaders, and offer to make the introduction yourself.
- Don’t pressure anyone to commit to anything.
- Nobody is expected to have done anything. Some will have done nothing, and that’s fine.
A message you could send in between
Hi everyone. If you tried that small act of service, I’d love to hear how it went. If you didn’t get to it, that’s fine too.
Questions Leaders Ask
How long does the test take?
About 8 minutes for the 35 questions. A person can also get a quick read after 10 questions, which is a rough first impression. The last section, on prophecy, tongues, interpretation, healing, and miracles, is optional and can be skipped.
Does everyone have to share their results?
No. Anyone may pass, and that’s one of the rules of the room. People can share one gift, or none.
Can we run this if not everyone took the test?
Yes. The exercise is about what others have seen in a person, so someone without a result can still take part. They can take the test later and bring it to the follow-up.
Does it cost anything or need an account?
It’s free, and there’s no account and no email. The test doesn’t save results to a profile. A shared results link carries the person’s answers inside it, so send it only to people you trust.
Handout for the group
Spiritual Gifts Evening
One page per person. Use Print the handout only at the top of this page.
My top gifts:
Rules of the room
- 1.No result outranks another. Nobody compares or jokes about a gift.
- 2.Anyone may pass.
- 3.Keep each other’s stories private.
- 4.A result is a starting point, and others may see what we don’t.
- 5.Say what you saw someone do. Leave advice and impressions for another time.
Name one thing I saw in you
- 1.Say your gifts in a sentence. When it’s your turn, say your top gifts in one sentence, and the band for each if you like. You don’t need to explain or defend the result.
- 2.Others each say one moment. Each person names one thing they’ve seen you do. They say what happened and who it helped. If you don’t know each other well yet, say so, and the person can say what they’ve enjoyed doing in service.
- 3.Say thank you and write it down. Your only reply is thank you. Jot down what you heard on your handout to take home.
Ways to start: ‘One thing I have seen in you is...’ · ‘I remember when you...’ · ‘The time you helped, I noticed...’ · ‘Something you did that stayed with me was...’
What I heard
One thing I will do this week
Two weeks from now
- 1.What did you try, however small?
- 2.What did you notice, about yourself or someone else?
- 3.Where in our church would you like to help, or whom would you like to ask?
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