Under Valued gifts (1)

Gifts of the Holy Spirit:

1. The Gift of Presence

As the series (sermon series at PBCam on What we believe) gets more practical I’m going to write a few short articles on some of the spiritual gifts you don’t hear about so often.

Let’s start with the gift of presence. I mean the gift you use at church (or Bible study group) by simply showing up. In order to exercise this gift you don’t really have to do anything else except say “G’Day!” It is really encouraging to see you every week. Your presence encourages everyone else that, in a world that rejects Jesus, you are still hanging on in there and you are still trying to follow him. It also communicates powerfully that you think it was worth getting out of bed to meet with God’s people. All that just from turning up!

However the effort comes in developing it as a habit. You see for the gift to be effective it has to happen regularly. Of course there are occasions when we have to miss church for all sorts of good reasons, but if I turn up no more often than I’m away then my absence speaks just as loud (if not louder) than my presence.

As I’ve said already this gift is probably more noticeable by its absence. What I notice is that if I miss church then I always feel more distant from people when I return - relationships become harder work. And that becomes a vicious circle - I’m less likely to come and so I feel more distant. (And I’m the Pastor :-) )

On the other hand it is immensely encouraging to meet the same people week after week. Some weeks all we do is smile but the connection has been made. The gift of presence has been exercised. I’m not mad making a church a priority after all! All these people stand with me in faith.

So here are some tips on how to develop this ministry. As you will see this is not just for the upfront or extrovert. Anybody can do this:

✓ turn up early (before 9.30am) - newcomers usually do!

✓ sing enthusiastically - the musos will feel their practice was worth it.

✓ listen attentively - the preacher will get so excited he will finish early.

✓ smile at people - they will think you are up to something.

✓ be the first to say ‘hello’ - then they have to think of something to say.

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another....” (Hebrews 10: 25)