S.H.A.P.E.
“We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, coined the acronym SHAPE and it really does a great job of describing how God has uniquely gifted each of us to serve Him.
Spiritual gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experience
Download your SHAPE profile here to help you gather your insights about your SHAPE to prepare to meet with one of our leaders to help you find your place for service.
SPIRTITUAL GIFTS
The Holy Spirit is given to everyone who believes in Jesus (Acts 2:38, Romans 8:9) and at the same time God gives at least one spiritual gift to every believer (1 Cor 12:7, 11, Eph 4:4-7).
Three good tests for the presence of a spiritual gift are:
- you will enjoy using this ability;
- you will be effective in using this ability; and
- other people will confirm that God is using you in this way.
Take the Spiritual Gifts Inventory to help you discover your gift(s). Actual scores don’t matter, just look at what your highest categories are.
HEART
God has uniquely stirred each of our hearts to be passionate about different things.
- What are some things that excite you? For example, evangelism/discipleship, intercessory prayer, economic development, missions, etc.
- Or, what makes you angry? For example, child abuse, elder care, homelessness, abortion, health issues, etc.
- What people group do you enjoy serving? For example, children, students, singles, older adults, women, men, etc.
- What do you enjoy doing? For example, sports, quiet evenings, being outdoors, video games, gardening, etc.
ABILITIES
Our abilities are a combination of our God-given talents, our learned skills, and our professional qualifications. For example, graphic art, fixing things, cooking, carpentry, photography, athletics, writing, social media, etc.
You have some ‘motivated abilities’, areas where you are gifted/skilled and you’d love to use them to support Gracepoint and/or the community.
You may also have some abilities that you don’t want to use during this season but you would be willing to be a consultant and share expertise with a leader or team working in that area. (For example, you don’t do plumbing any more but you could give us advice.)
PERSONALITY
Personality is another aspect of how God has wired us and it’s helpful to know a little bit about this area when we are making service recommendations.
We are all parts of all of them but which one of the descriptions below describes you best? Some people are more fast and outspoken, while others are more cautious and reflective. Although we all do both, some tend to focus more on tasks while others tend to focus more on people. Some people are most productive working along and others are energized by working with others. Some people are great at detail and others prefer looking at the possibilities and big picture. There are no good or bad, God made them all, but understand your personality is another way we can try to plug you into the right slot.
EXPERIENCE
And finally, how have your experiences made you uniquely who you are. What has your life history prepared you to do? What was your family like growing up? What have your education and vocational experiences been? How has God developed you through spiritual experiences and ministry opportunities.
NEXT STEPS
We hope you will take a few minutes to download your SHAPE profile and prayerfully complete it. The videos below will provide you with more detailed instructions. When you are done, please send it to pat@gracepoint.net and we’ll reach out to you to set up an appointment to meet and discuss your SHAPE. We look forward to how God is going to use you at Gracepoint to change the world one life at a time!