Spiritual Gifts Test

Last month, I took the spiritual gifts test at http://www.spiritualgiftstest.com/tests along with some of the other youth at my church. In our Sunday morning youth class, one week we talked about spiritual gifts and concluded that everyone has at least one spiritual gift. We even talked about gifts within our church and what we thought our spiritual gifts were. Most of the gifts we came up with were related to what we did in the church, or what we were good at, whether it be music, working with kids, cooking, speaking, writing, and other things like that. 

When I took this test, I thought it would talk about the same things, but it was completely different. If you take the test yourself, it gives statements that you rate on a scale of 0 to 5, then scores you into the following categories: Administration, discernment, evangelism, exhortation, faith, giving, leadership, mercy, pastor, serving, and teaching. Even if you don't take the test, it might be a good idea to read up on what each of the categories are.

My top three gifts were:

1. Serving

2. Faith

3. Administration

I wasn't surprised that serving and administration were in my top three. I enjoy doing small, detailed tasks and helping out wherever help is needed, but I never thought of it as a gift. Having faith as number two was a shock to me though. Looking back at my answers, I realized that anytime there was a statement regarding faith, I didn't even hesitate and gave it five out of five. 

The good thing about this test, is it also gives your score for the other gifts, that way you can see how you fit into those categories as well. I know this is just a test, and the results are not going to be perfect, but I'd really recommend taking this test. Let me know what your top three are!

Week 2: Goodness

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control; against such things there is no law. 

What does it mean to be good? Well, I looked up synonyms for goodness, and this is what I found: Moral, generous, kind, friendly, honest, and gracious. Goodness isn't just one idea, I guess it's a combination of good characteristics and other fruit of the spirit too.

All throughout my life, I've been labeled as a good person. In my high school yearbook, I was even voted the "most likely to become a saint". But just like everyone else, I'm not perfect. I've made mistakes in my life, and I don't always do the right thing.

In the theme of goodness, I've been reading Grace for the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman. (Book review to come!) One chapter focuses on Mary and Martha. Martha was trying to be a good host and became easily worried and stressed when her sister listened to Jesus speak rather than help her. Another chapter focuses on the parable of the lost son. The younger son took his share of his father's land, left home, and lost all he had. When he returned home, his father was overjoyed and began planning a celebration. The older son who had not done anything to displease his father, became angry and jealous of his brother.

When I was reading these stories again, I came to the realization that I could relate to Martha and the older son. When other people are rewarded for their good behavior, I think what about me? I've been doing the right thing this whole time, where's my reward? But goodness should come with humility, and just because you're not praised for doing the right thing, doesn't mean you should stop.

But why is it important to be good? Jesus says in Luke 6:33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. As a Christian, I think it's so important to do good to everyone around you, because by doing good, you'll be showing God's goodness through your actions.

Bathurst Update: Mission Complete

Read week one here!

Day 8: Sunday
The group that was in Campbellton participated in their morning service and in the afternoon, we all attended the service at St. Luke's. After staying at the church for a week for meals and setting up, it was good to see the congregation again and to see the church being used by people other than us. During the service, Kim and Shoolie performed a small skit depicting a conversation between a woman and God. She told God her list of things she needed to be done, and He simply told her to give all those things to Him.

That evening, some of us went to play soccer with Chaleur Generation again (Can you tell we like soccer?) and some of us did some finishing touches on the VBS decorations. Bathurst has fireworks at the end of their summer festival, Hospitality Days. So many people came to watch, the entire bridge and waterfront were filled with people!

Fireworks!

Day 9: Monday
Welcome to day one of VBS! We learned that God's love helps us stand strong! I was so excited to see lots of kids from last year and some new faces too. Since I was a station leader, I was in charge of taking 6 kids around to the different stations throughout the morning. I love being a station leader, because I get to experience VBS with the kids by going to each station with them. These stations include Tournament Games for kingdom related games, Chadder's Royal Theater for a daily video, The King's Kitchen for a tasty snack, Epic Bible Adventure for an awesome bible story and the Imagination Station for fun experiments.

Day 10: Tuesday
VBS day two was just as fun as day one. We learned that friends and family help us stand strong! During the Epic Bible Adventure, the kids learned about how Esther's cousin Mordecai helped her stand strong. The kids encouraged our very own Esther before she had to talk to the King.

Esther Becomes Queen Esther

That evening we went deep sea fishing! While some of us caught more than twenty fish, I managed to get five mackerel and two cod. Kim even caught a jellyfish tentacle (Gross!). Those with strong stomachs helped gut and clean the fish before we took them home. But the best part of catching all those fish is eating them!

Kim's a Natural

We Caught Tons of Fish

Day 11: Wednesday
On day three of VBS, we learned that prayer helps us stand strong! During VBS, Landie, Christian, and Shoolie became Sir Brodie, Sir Gogos-A-Lot and Sir Flight. To make VBS a little more interesting, we decided to make a couple of videos of our knights looking for and slaying a dragon. The first one showed Sir Brodie escaping from the fire breathing dragon during training.

Watch The Dragon Video #1
Watch The Dragon Video #2

Sir Gogos-A-Lot

Filming The Dragon Video

Day 12: Thursday
Our energy levels were running low on the fourth day of VBS but we managed to stay energetic for the kids. We learned that trusting God helps us stand strong! That evening, we had a combined worship service with Chaleur Generation. Since they are a bilingual group, we sang songs like Forever and Revelation Song in both French and English. I can still remember that chanton means sing praise.

Worship With Chaleur Generation

Day 13: Friday
The final day of VBS is always bitter sweet, especially since we have to wait another year before we see the kids again. We learned that God's word helps us stand strong! Our knights finally slayed the dragon at the Fanfare Finale and they got to share how God helped them stand strong. Parents that came early were able to see a little bit of what we've been doing all week. Lunch was also provided, giving us the opportunity to say our final goodbyes and to meet parents and family members.

Zachary Helps Sir Brodie Slay The Dragon

Kingdom Rock!

We had dinner at a seafood restaurant near Pabineau Falls. We would have visited the falls after, but it was raining. A lot. So instead of taking our team picture at the falls, we went to the gazebo by the waterfront.

The Team 2013

Then we headed back to the church for our final debrief. This included worship, some time to share what the trip meant to us, and some time to talk in smaller groups. Even some members of the congregation and VBS volunteers joined us.

Day 14: Saturday
Once we finally packed, cleaned up and got into our vans, it was difficult to say goodbye to Bathurst for another year. After another long car ride, we arrived in Quebec City, but this time to stay for a few days.

Walking Around Quebec

Day 15: Sunday
I really enjoyed the service at St. Andrew's that morning. Since the church is in Old Quebec, there were some other tourists there too. That evening, we teamed up with the youth of St. Andrew's to create a contemporary worship service. We split up into teams where we worked together to present different parts of the service. This included a call to worship, prayer, worship through art and worship through music.

Christian and Esther Present The Call To Worship

Day 16: Monday
After a lengthy drive filled with many needed bathroom breaks and Tim Horton's stops, we finally made it back to Toronto.

Even though the title says mission complete, it's not actually over. I can't wait to see what this mission trip is going to bring to the Bathurst community and to our own community here in Agincourt.