May 29, 2025 • 46 mins
Recorded live at Elim Leaders Summit 2025, these sessions focus on one of the fivefold ministry gifts described in Ephesians 4: apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, shepherding, and teaching. Together, they form the APEST framework—helping leaders understand their unique calling and how it contributes to the life and mission of the Church.
You’ll hear leaders reflect on how their APEST gifting shapes their leadership, ministry relationships, and team dynamics. These sessions are practical, honest, and full of insight—ideal for anyone seeking to grow in their primary and secondary ministry strengths.
Whether you're exploring your own APEST profile or leading others through theirs, these recordings are a great next step for deeper clarity, collaboration, and whole-body ministry.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
And I think whenever we hear theword teacher, we can have an
inbuilt stereotype and think that a teacher is a pastor, a
leader or an elder. Why do we think this?
Well, as teachers, we're told, aren't we in Titus 19 that
elders need to be able to teach?Told it again in one Timothy 3,
verse 2, that elders should havea propensity and an ability to
(00:20):
teach. So then is this gift just for
the pastors or the elders or theleaders or those who have a
title in a local church? Well, I would say no.
See, the teaching grade shows upin all sorts of forms and
formats. I'm going to, I'm going to
struggle with this because I'm amover, OK, Wherever someone
helps others see and understand.This is where this gift is
(00:45):
flowing a little bit differentlyto yesterday I was a teacher
teaching teachers. Today I'm a teacher teaching
prophets and evangelists and andshepherds and apostles.
So I would say it like this. If your secondary gift is a
teacher, your primary gift is the filter through which
teaching floats. But you're talking to Steve
Gibson, talking about Helen Youssef.
(01:07):
What an amazing ministry and anointing Helen carries.
Clearly Apostolic, clearly prophetic, but you can see the
teaching waving through that lens and it's the same for all
of us as we're sitting here. This needs to come through your
filter of your primary gift. Mine being teacher will look a
little bit differently. So we need to do a little bit of
work where we get there. But what I will say is this,
(01:30):
this is true of your primary gift and your secondary gift is
I think in a Western mindset, particularly if you've been
bought up in, in the West or by God's grace, Birmingham, where I
was bought up. You can tell my by lovely exotic
accents. We almost have an inbuilt
cultural filter and whenever we take a test or an assessment, we
(01:52):
can think If we score high on that test, it automatically
means we're good at it because we've done SAT, we've done GCS,
ES, we've done A levels, we've done university degrees.
And if we score high, it means we've done better.
But this is where we need to make sure language is, is really
clear. It's not the apest test, it's
the apest assessment. OK, So if you're scoring high in
(02:17):
any of the gifts, first or second, primary or secondary, it
doesn't mean you're an expert and it certainly doesn't mean
you're mature. It means you have a propensity
towards this gift or these gifts.
Again, important language propensity.
What does that mean? Well, as a 7 or 8 year old, I
(02:38):
had a propensity towards music. I just had the ability to sit
down at a piano and and tap out a melody.
I'd hear something on the radio.Well, I'd say the radio.
I was born up, brought up in thenaughties, so I'd I'd hear
Hillsong. We weren't allowed to listen to
the radio or Hillsong kids and Iwould able to tap out a melody
of the leading line in the song.But what that didn't mean, at 8
(02:59):
years old, that I could sit downat a piano and play Beethoven's
Moonlight Sonata. I had a propensity.
But I still needed to invest in the gift that I'd been given.
And I can remember now many, many, many painful Monday
afternoons where I was sat in anold man's living room, tapping
away at scales and arpeggios at the piano.
(03:20):
But I remember one, one day, it was about 5 or 6 years in, just
feeling of freedom as I understood that all the work and
the investment and the intentionof those Monday afternoons came
into its fore because no longer was I banned by sheet music.
I had the knowledge, not just a propensity, but the investment
to be able to flourish in that gift.
And it's exactly the same with us.
(03:42):
So what I will say is a propensity is not a conclusion.
What this is this week. It's not a conclusion of now I
can go back to my local church and tell them I'm not a pastor,
I'm an apostle or another prophet.
I'm here with one of my elders. And he looked horrified when I
told him that my locust Grayskorwas a shepherd because I'm a
pastor of a local church. It doesn't mean we get we don't
(04:06):
have to do this anymore cart. It means we have to invest
intentionally. Think of the parable of the
talents in Matthew 2514 to 30. Jesus looks at 3-3 people in
this story. So 1 he gives 1 bag of silver to
another two to another five. And he says go and invest.
So I've been in the midst of now12 years, and it was only two
(04:28):
years ago I invested in my ministry as a teacher and I
began a masters course. And I'll tell you what, it's the
hardest, but it's the best thingI've ever done.
As soon as we think we've arrived at a conclusion, we're
in trouble before. We're teachers, we're prophets,
evangelists, shepherds, apostles.
We're firstly disciples, students.
(04:51):
So much so, I've got it tattooedon my arm, Mathetes in Greek.
I had to check it both with Keith Warrington and Simo before
I got it tattooed on my arm. That it doesn't say something
like, you know, kebab disciple, students, learner.
So my job in the classroom this morning is just to spend the
next 10 minutes or so grounding this theologically, grounding it
(05:14):
biblically. Every grace finds its beginning
its middle and its end its fullness, of course, in Jesus.
I love the illustration Mark used on Tuesday of Jesus
ascending to heaven. These are called the ascension
gifts of him pulling himself into five pieces and and giving
these gifts to the church. And again, as a teacher,
(05:35):
language is important. We refer to them as gifts and
again, endemically in our culture, we often hear the
phrase, this is a gift with no strings attached.
We're intentionally calling these grace gifts because
strings are attached. As soon as the strings are
disattached from Jesus, we're nolonger serving Him and His
church. We serve in ego.
(05:56):
This is the only gift where strings must be at all costs
attached. So let's look at Jesus.
We know he was the great apostlethat sent one from the Father.
We know he's the prophet who spoke God's heart.
Of course, he's the great evangelist talking about the
Kingdom of God coming to earth. He's the shepherd who runs after
(06:16):
the one, and he is rabbi, he is the master teacher.
And we see Jesus teaching, of course, all through the Gospels,
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And his Magnus opus I think is
Matthew 5 to 7. If you're a preacher, you've
preached on this, the Sermon on the Mount.
But there's also 2 verses, I think when we're talking about
Jesus as rabbi, as teacher, thatare really important.
(06:38):
And it's these found in Matthew 1128 to 30.
Jesus looking at his disciples, the 12 and his followers then,
but also to us now. He says this.
He says, come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and
I will give you rest. Now this is an important line.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
(06:59):
humbling heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
If you've ever done any sort of Bible training, whether that be
at your local church level or atRegents or another Bible
college, you would have heard ofexegesis where we look at the
text in its context. Who was it written to?
(07:19):
We always talk about the Bible being written to us, but
actually the Bible wasn't written to us.
It was written for us. It was written to a specific
people at a specific time and a specific place, if I can say the
word specific, but it's also written to us as well.
So what we do now in 2025, sometimes an intentionally is we
(07:41):
isogee. That means we put our own
cultural lens on the text and weread it through our own
presuppositions, our own cultural background and our own
experience. So when we read yoke, we
understand that Jesus lived in an Agricultural Society, that
farming terminology was often used.
We see this through his parablesagain and again, but actually,
exegetically, yoke would have meant so much more to the people
(08:04):
listening, because yoke wasn't just the tool used for oxen in
farmland. A yoke is what people would have
understood as a understood as a rabbi's teaching, a rabbi's
interpretation of Torah, which we know is God's words.
And literally a yoke was how a certain preacher, let's bring it
into 2025, Stephen Furtick or Mike Tard or Mark Pugh.
(08:29):
This is how they interpret scripture.
So what Jesus is saying is you have heard it said that this is
how we should interpret law. But my yoke, my teaching is
different. We see him call out the
Pharisees time and time again. Matthew 23 four he says this
looks at the Pharisees. I I believe half in pity and
(08:49):
half in anger and he says, guys,what you're doing, you're
weighing people down. I know your heart is right.
You want people to come to God, but you were just burdening
them. 613 rules in the mitzvot. That's how many rules the
Pharisees had to try and keep. And to do that they had the
Mishnah. It was rules to keep the rules
(09:10):
saying I can see where you're going, but it's just getting too
difficult looking at this crowd,his disciples, his followers,
his congregation. He says this is the way the
rabbis say to do it, But I say there's a different way.
Five times in Matthew 5, as I said, his Magnus opus, a Sermon
on the Mount, he says this. You have heard it said, but this
(09:32):
is what I say, you have heard itsaid, go right.
But I say actually, let's do it differently.
You can't understand how revolutionary these words would
have been to a 1st century Jew, and of course today for us as
well. But what's amazing about Jesus
is he doesn't just teach us lifelessons when he gives us a yoke.
(09:53):
He teaches us a way. I don't believe it's a
coincidence or we were ever called Christians in Antioch.
We were known as followers of the way.
Why away? Because a way is a lifetime
thing. He calls us, doesn't.
He doesn't just call us to a way.
He says I am the way, follow me.But Jesus, of course, doesn't
(10:16):
just demonstrate the teacher grace.
He distributes it. That's why you're in this room,
because He has given a part of himself in proportion to you in
your context, whether that be behind a pulpit in a classroom,
as a parent to a youth group or a kids group, wherever and
wherever your context is. Jesus distributes this gift.
(10:41):
Ephesians 4, our key text for this week.
So Christ himself gathered the apostles, the prophets, the
evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers to equip his people
for works of service. Why?
So that the body of Christ may be built up.
This is the key of why we do what we do.
(11:01):
It's not to get a bigger platform.
It's not to look good to get more social media followers to
fill our church pews. It's to build up the church.
Somewhere in history it's got wrong and the church are serving
the fivefold gifts. The fivefold gifts are always
gifts of service to serve the body.
Paul says this in one Corinthians 8 verse one.
(11:23):
It says knowledge puffs up, but love builds up and motivation
always, always needs to be loved.
Want to take you back two weeks?And I'm sat in a garden in
Northampton. You heard this morning Becky's
parents pastor our church in Northampton and and we're there
for my middle son's birthday party.
(11:44):
And my middle son is the stereotype of middle son
syndrome. So we get his Christmas list in
August, Boxing Day we're talkingabout his birthday in April and
what Ace wanted to do this year is have all his family together
in in the garden for a BBQ. So we did that, we got all the
(12:05):
family there and my brothers allcame.
I'm the eldest of four, I'm the shortest, fattest and baldest of
all four boys. I think the bad dreams got out
first and then then the other three.
Greek God like 6 foot 3 and built like tanks.
But anyway, not bitter about that at all.
Thanks Mum and Dad and I'm getting to that age now, I'm
only 36 but I've got an old soul.
(12:25):
Whenever we get together we reminisce because we all live in
different parts of the country, myself in Luton and other in
Milton Keynes 2 in Birmingham and we always end up talking
about school and it's amazing talking to my brothers because
we all had different experiencesof school.
I absolutely loved it. Sarah, Gary's going to go and
(12:47):
lead the main session in the auditorium.
So let's pray for Gary. Bless you guys.
No, no problem. So I'm sat in this garden with
my brothers. We're reminiscing about school.
My youngest brother had really struggled with school.
I went to an all boys school so we had none of the girl drama.
(13:08):
We we, we just got on with it. There were lots of fights, but
with boys we fight, we get over it.
And thankfully I never got bullied because I was friends
with the bully. I never did the bullying but I
was friends with the bully so ithelped.
And we're just talking about experiencing school and I love
school every day. I got to go with my friends and
academically I was quite good. Teaching Grace.
It manifested academically but there were two subjects I just
could not get on with. The first one said yesterday
(13:30):
it's a swear word in my house. Maths just can't do it.
Second one was French, Five years of French.
I can say Jemma pal Mike with a Birmingham accent and Ouest le
Poissin, which I think means where is the fish?
My French teacher is actually inprison today, but that's another
story for another time. Probably why I didn't get a
(13:51):
great, great academic in French.But my middle brother,
Christian, he's a lawyer and he's very, he's very astute in
his thinking and he's just got apropensity toward language and
he's invested in that propensity.
For the first time last year, weall went on a holiday together
to Lorette de Mar in Spain. What's amazing, going to Spain
with someone who can speak Spanish, is it changes the game.
(14:15):
And it was amazing. And I apologise if there's any
Spanish people in the room, but you'd walk into a shop or a
cafe, they'd, they'd hear the English accent and you could see
their faces drop. Here we go.
Here are the ignorant British people who expect everyone to
know their language but are willing to invest.
But then Christian comes, Sun behind him, radiant, 6 foot 3
(14:35):
Adonis. And you could see their face.
Like, do you know what? It was the most amazing.
We got free coffee, we got free cakes, we were given special
tables because Christian had took the time to invest and
learn Spanish. All that to say, the teaching
grace when you invest in knowledge builds others up by
opening doors and rooms, ideas and truths that they couldn't
(14:57):
access before. And as a good teacher, I
literally took my phone out in Spain last year.
I've been waiting all year to use this illustration thinking
this will preach so well. Just seeing opening up doors
that I would never be able to access without you.
This is what the teaching grace does.
At his best, we see Jesus do it again and again, Matthew 5 to 7.
He takes these complex theological eternal truths and
(15:21):
then he talks about salt and plants and farming and money.
He takes the complex and He makes it accessible at His
heart. This is exactly what the
teaching grace does. This is what we're called to do
in all of the graces, but particularly in the teaching
grace is ask ourselves to remember this wristband.
I've got one on today. Or the 1990s church kids who
(15:44):
were forced to go week in, week out and giving these bracelets
as rewards. What would Jesus do?
I thought about this a few months ago.
You know what? We spent thousands of pounds,
hundreds of hours investing in discipleship models and courses
to help us be better believers, better followers of the Bay,
better Christians, little Jesus's.
(16:07):
And we've made ourselves skint for no reason.
This is the discipleship model 101.
What would Jesus do? One of my favorite teachers, a
man called John Mark Comer. Some people love him, some
people hate him. He he's the most understated
teacher. He's not charismatic.
He doesn't move a lot. He doesn't shout, but he just
(16:27):
oozes wisdom. And in his latest book,
practising the Way he talks about what would Jesus do?
And he says, there's one thing Iwould add to those bracelets.
Now I would add IHWY this is howwe take information to
formation. See the thing with information
as a teacher and formation, the difference is in information
(16:48):
goes in and it stays there. Formation it goes in and it
comes out. When I was getting this tattoo
with Mathetez Disciple, I did think about getting this
tattooed, but I'd look like a spec Savers board, so I didn't
do it. Can you read it?
Go back, go forward. So as I come in to close again
(17:09):
as a primarily teacher, I'm not at all to Becky's horror in
marrying me. I'm married a quick so she
couldn't find out. I'm not at all handy.
Anything ever goes wrong, I justcall her dad.
Friday, getting ready to go to Els, sorting our kids out, you
know, buying the cages and the padlocks and getting them ready.
I'm joking. There's no safeguarding officers
in the room. Is that fantastic?
(17:32):
Just getting getting the stuff ready, packing our bags, getting
the boot lid up, turn the car onand there was this light on the
dashboard. And there's something about the
lights, they all just look horrific.
This was a red one. It was a triangle with a huge
exclamation mark thinking it's like a bum on the car.
Turns out Google, it's just the tire pressure.
But with all of the graces we have these warning lights we
(17:53):
need to look out for and we needto get ready to address once
that flash up for the teacher, the blind spot is this confusing
information with formation, knowledge for obedience, our job
as teachers as a primary or a secondary grades because all of
us really, we're the best gradesas teachers because you're
(18:14):
teaching in all of them. All of them need to be about
formation. As I said, the difference is
those two letters IN informationgoes in and it stays there.
Formation, it goes in, comes out, it's applied.
The danger of information is we can get stuck in ivory towers.
We can fall in love with knowledge.
To say again one Corinthians 8 verse one, knowledge puffs up
(18:39):
but love builds up. It's a beautiful proverb proverb
19 two not to bash knowledge. Passion without knowledge is no
good. Hasty feet miss the way it's
always got to be a fusion of both.
Don't just get caught with information.
It must have intentional investment to become formation.
(19:01):
Let's hand over to Shiv. Come on.
So I can Shiv up, she comes. Let's give it up for Mike.
(19:26):
Bear with me guys. The teacher in me has to have a
little set up going on so give someone a high 5 next to you.
(20:06):
OK, so you would have seen on Mike's slides the IHWY.
So it's what would Jesus do if he were you?
Is that correct, Mike? Yeah.
OK. For those of you who are strong
teachers, write that down. What would Jesus do if he were
(20:31):
you? Yeah.
Mike. Yeah.
Amazing. I know everyone was on the edge
of their seat. Like what?
What was it, Mike? You didn't finish.
Amazing. So my name is Shiv.
I currently work at City Gate. I oversee the kids ministry
there. Well, thanks guys.
I've been doing this role for eight years, but I was recruited
(20:54):
to serve within the kids ministry.
I'd say officially about 15, butunofficially about 5.
And I grew up as an unofficial pastor's kid in our our original
Baptist Church. And my parents just said you're
in. So the teaching grace has
definitely been in me for a very, very long time.
I'm going to read a passage of Scripture.
Ecclesiastes 12/9 to 12 says notonly was the teacher wise, but
(21:20):
he also imparted knowledge to the people.
He pondered and searched out andset in order many proverbs.
The teacher searched to find just the right words, and what
he wrote was upright and true. Let's pray.
Yeah. Father God, I just thank you
Lord, even just for the opportunity to explore apes,
(21:41):
Lord God, Lord, I know there maybe people in this room who may
be surprised by their grace score, Lord God, but Lord God, I
just pray that you know we as anEaling family will use this as
an opportunity to spur one another, one to encourage one
another to speak truth and to call out these graces within
people in our teams as well. In Jesus name I pray.
(22:03):
Amen. Amen.
Amen. OK, so raise your hand if you
were surprised by your apes grace anyone just a couple.
OK, so most of you like no, no, no.
I knew that I was shepherd teacher.
I knew that I was apostle. OK, OK, understood.
I was I wasn't surprised. My scores were teacher shepherd.
(22:24):
And for me it it kind of made sense.
And for some of you might make sense.
For others, you're like, help me.
So we're all here to help one another.
I am in no way an expert. I'm here to learn from you all
as well. So it's not uncommon.
Actually, you might find out this week that many people were
shocked by the results. And the good news is, whatever
(22:48):
apes grace you did score, there is a need for you.
So turn to someone and say we need you.
You guys sound like a mighty choir.
I love it. Don't be upset if I asked you to
repeat things back because you guys sound amazing.
So how does this grace work in teams and collaborate with other
(23:09):
graces? Romans 12 verse 3 says For by
the grace given to me, I say to everyone of you, not to think
more highly of yourselves than you ought to think, but to think
with sober discernment. As God has distributed to each
of you a measure of faith, so it's important that we avoid
(23:31):
hierarchy. We need to constantly remind
ourselves and our teams that every grace is equal.
And actually team members with different graces, they can lead
different meetings depending on the context and the content.
Now this verse in Romans 12, it emphasizes the importance of
(23:51):
remaining humble and recognizingGod's unique gift of faith to
each of us. Say there is no hierarchy.
There we go. That's a teacher in me.
So our role today is to affirm the legitimacy of your grace
result, even if it was a surprise to you.
(24:12):
So as you probably know, all teams can be led by any of the
five graces. So don't worry if you're a
pastor and you scored a low shepherd in grace, I don't think
you'll lose your credentials. I don't think now each grace is
to serve the body of Christ. But today I'll speak on some
(24:32):
real life examples of this teacher grace.
And at the end, I'd love to encourage us all to maybe share
our own experiences amongst one another as well.
So be slow to label and quick tobless.
So this week the Els team, we want you to understand and to
help you understand your grace alittle bit better.
(24:55):
And you know, as you heard Mike shared from a biblical and
theological perspective. But what does this look like on
a practical level or in real life situations?
Now, when this title says be slow to label and quick to
bless, this means that OK, I'm going to make a conscious effort
not to say Mike, you are a shepherd.
(25:15):
Go forth and do shepherd things.Much rather, I be quick to bless
Mike and speak life without limiting him to a category or to
a title. So, for example, I might say,
Mike, I've seen the way you really get around people.
I sense you have a real shepherding gift.
Have you ever considered servingin the Alpha ministry?
(25:36):
Now these APIs, graces, they don't define our identity.
Just because you got teacher or shepherd, it doesn't mean you
are just a teacher or just a shepherd.
It's our duty as leaders to recognise the primary grace and
work within people around us andcelebrate it.
(25:56):
Now what does this teaching grace look like?
So in real life, the teacher flourishes in the classroom,
doing presentations, making notes.
This is my bread and butter right here.
Tell me to make notes. Being a lecturer, that is me
right there. Storytelling, writing, editing,
podcast, collecting data. And a biblical example would be
(26:18):
Matthew 13. He, Jesus used parables to teach
profound spiritual truths. Now the teacher grace shows up
beautifully in everyday life. Now somebody asked me a really
good question yesterday said a lot of the talk is about sort of
ministry or those who are, you know, working in ministry
pastors. Well, what does that look like
in everyday? You know, I'm not in full time
(26:40):
ministry. I kind of just I'm in and out
actually. So what does that look like?
So it shows up beautifully in everyday life.
It can be expressed outside of church for those of you who may
not work at a church. So the teacher makes the
complicated simple. The teacher loves helping others
grow through learning. The teacher is deeply rooted in
(27:04):
the truth and lives it out. And the teacher builds people up
through wisdom and clarity. You probably love that word.
Can you clarify what you just said?
You know, so it's not about needing to be right, it's about
guiding others towards understanding.
Amen. Everyone say call it out.
(27:28):
So how does my own experience equip me to identify what other
people carry? Now, as I said, I started
serving at my local church when I was around 15 and my youth
leader at the time, Manushka Mukuran, she was the one who
called out the grace within me that I hadn't yet seen.
She said, Shiv, I think you'd begreat at working with the kids
(27:51):
and serving in the kids ministryand teaching.
Now that I do that role, I understand what she was doing.
She was just recruiting me. No, definitely not.
She definitely called out a grace gift within me.
And actually 10 years later, I, you know, the Lord opened the
door for me to oversee the ministry.
And I've been there for eight years now.
And it's, it's such a beautiful ministry.
(28:13):
As most of you all know, servingwithin the kids department, not
only do I get the opportunity tolead a great team of volunteers,
but we get to teach children howthey can have a personal
relationship with Jesus and we get to journey with families as
we go through biblical discipleship.
Now the reality is somebody called out that grace gift
(28:36):
within me before I even knew it,and that is what the teacher
does. So no matter what grace, we all
have that responsibility to callout the grace at work in other
people, whether you're leading A-Team, pastoring a church, or
serving within a ministry. In fact, how many of us have
(28:56):
heard the words I see something in you now Sometimes identifying
these gifts and graces in otherslooks like being someone's
source of encouragement. Because you might be slightly
further along. You might be in ministry for a
longer amount of time in your discipleship journey.
So let's be primary encouragers.Let's call out that grace in
(29:20):
someone else. So a bit of a practical
application. How does this grace show up in
everyday life? And I'll sort of break it down
in discipleship, leadership, everyday ministry, and community
life. So in discipleship, teachers are
naturally inclined to ground disciples in the Scripture.
(29:42):
We're the ones who are helping them to apply information
wisely. Teachers explain spiritual
truths in ways that are understandable.
We connect doctrine to everyday life.
For example, what does it mean to really trust God when you're
going through hardship? We read it in the Word, but how
(30:04):
do I apply that to my life? In discipleship settings,
teachers ask thoughtful questions that draw out deeper
reflection rather than just handing out quick answers.
We often love to mentor others in studying the Bible for for
themselves, helping to raise up self feeding and discerning
(30:25):
believers. An example would be the teacher
might lead a Bible study not just by presenting information,
but by patiently walking alongside other people, helping
them to understand how the gospel impacts their workplace,
their home and their everyday life.
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Next one is leadership, so the teachers are protectors of the
truth. Within a team, ministry or
organization, we ensure decisions are biblically sound
and theologically grounded. We design elite training
sessions. We equip the Saints through
practical workshops, classes, and even informal teaching
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moments. Now teachers, as I said before,
we love clarity and we may ask questions to make sure the
team's mission stays aligned with God's Word.
We often create pathways for growth, so discipleship tracks
leadership training programs or Bible study guides.
Another example would be a leader with the teaching grace
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might notice that the team needsto understand better servant
leadership and then host the series of sessions exploring how
Jesus models this leadership. The next one is everyday
ministry. So the teachers.
We value accuracy, facts, and often we're the ones who are
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discipling people through conversation.
This could be in casual settings, over coffee, going for
a walk, or even texting someone a useful scripture for them to
explore. The teachers are the ones who
spot misunderstandings that could actually lead people to
confusion, and we're always aiming to build others up rather
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than tear them down. Now Matthew 22 verse 29 says he
Jesus explained the scriptures and corrected false teachings.
And an example would be when a friend misinterprets a Bible
passage, the teacher gently corrects and shows how shows the
hopeful meaning. Instead next one is community
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life. So here the teachers are the
ones who make a strong foundation so that the community
thrives in truth and love. The teachers naturally disciple
groups into maturity. We're the ones who are teaching
how to handle conflict biblically.
Even though we don't quite enjoyit, we still do it.
We're encouraging people to livein unity and to exercise these
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spiritual gifts responsibly. And the teachers often serve as
the backbone roles in ministry as well.
So you may not be upfront or forward facing.
It might be a little bit less flashy at times, but the
teachers are absolutely essential for depth, stability,
and faithfulness to the scriptures.
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The teachers help to create a culture of learning and
curiosity. Encourage encouraging others to
be students of the words and notjust consumers.
An example would be in a small group, the teaching grace shows
up when someone shares a devotional thought that ties
practical life issues with biblical truths, creating
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healthy conversation and growth.And then the last point is
everyday life, which because I'ma teacher, I added last night
and it's not on the slides, so bear with me.
So in everyday life, the teacher's the one who explains
clearly. They breakdown complex ideas so
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others can understand with ease.The teacher creates learning
tools, so you're often developing guides, resources, or
systems to help other people grow.
The teacher also encourages thoughtful questions, promoting
wisdom by asking why and not just what The teacher patiently
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teaches you. You're the ones who are willing
to repeat yourselves and walk with other people until they
understand it patiently. The teacher lives with
integrity. The teacher is the one who is
modelling consistency, truth andethical behaviour in everyday
life. And lastly, the teacher builds
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through knowledge points people to books, resources, tools and
has those conversations with them to help them grow.
So how can we develop this teacher leaders in your
settings? How can we release it to other
people? So let's say you've just found
out that you have the teacher grace.
Now it's time to cultivate it and to release it into others.
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Now you probably have heard thatgiftings grow through you.
So that means other people and and yourself as teachers need
opportunities where this gift can be exercised.
So we want to be intentional about giving other people others
with the teaching grace the space to practice.
For example, giving people publicly public ministry
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opportunities in your larger gathering, such as preaching,
teaching or hosting meetings, orallowing them to do the God slot
at your kids or youth group. That could be supporting them by
bringing clarity, answering their questions with biblical
truths, valuing them by being open to learning from them as
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well. As a teacher, we should always
remain teachable, giving people the space to develop curriculum,
classes or syllabuses. And most importantly, as I
shared before, calling out that strength in them that they may
not see yet, I remember having amember in my team who was always
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asking me questions. Why do you do this shift?
What about this? What do you do in this
situation? And I thought, OK, this is
great. Is it a test?
I'm thinking this must work for HR or something, trying to
figure something out. When actually I recognised that
she too had the teaching grace. And so I made the intentional
effort to spend a lot of time with her and invest in her and
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give her the opportunities to speak out within the kids
ministry as well. You can take a picture of that
one. I did.
I did go for it. Amazing.
All right, so how to build teamswith these graces?
There we go. All right, sorry, I'm whizzing
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through. Don't worry, we'll send you
this. We can send the slides, right?
We can send the slides. All right, point #1 identify and
celebrate the graces within the team members.
So each person in a team has strengths that align with one or
more of the APES graces. So identifying them allows you
to assign roles effectively. A practical example would be
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doing the APES test, as we've all done, doing it within your
own settings #2 develop a culture of honour and
collaboration. Now, I said this yesterday,
within the Elin family, we are great at honouring people and I
believe that each ministry gift balances and complements one
another, so a healthy team will respect each grace rather than
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prioritising one over the other.So we want to encourage mutual
respect. No grace is superior.
Every single one is needed. A practical step would be to
regularly reaffirm each team member's unique contribution and
encourage peer encouragement. Point #3 Empower each grace for
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effective functioning so each grace should operate freely
within its purpose while remaining accountable to the
team. In this way, no specific grace
would dominate the other one. A practical step would be to
design team meetings, staff meetings, where each grace has a
voice and function. So you'll have time for vision,
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you'll have time for teaching, you'll have time for pastoral
care, you'll have time for outreach, and you'll have time
for prophetic insight as well. And point #4 train, develop, and
multiply leaders. Now, as we know, Jesus himself
trained his disciples to continue his work.
So effective teams develop and equip others.
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So let's be intentional about mentoring people who are also
just discovering this grace gift.
And also allow yourself to be mentored.
The intention here is not cloning.
Turn to someone and say you're not a clone.
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I mean, someone's like I might be.
It's not about cloning, but it'sabout mentoring, coaching,
teamwork and accountability. A practical step would be to
create a leadership pipeline where each person is actually
developing someone else within their grace as well.
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And the last point is keep Christ at the centre.
Colossians 118 says he is the head of the body.
The church now APES isn't about individual roles or titles.
It's about Christ revealing himself in his fullness.
Therefore, we need to keep prayer, worship and the Word at
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the core of all of our team activities.
Let's regularly realign vision and mission with Christ's
example. A practical step would be to
hold team devotions and prayer meetings that focus on spiritual
alignment and team unity. So in closing, I wanted to say
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you are superheroes. Turn to someone and say you're a
superhero. We're all superheroes, but you
in particular, you're the best superhero.
So the teacher grace is so important, as are all the
others. But we are here to ensure the
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church is spiritually mature andequipped with knowledge and
understanding. Now, without that mindset, the
church will be full of people who may not be familiar with the
Scriptures or who lack wisdom and insight into the things of
God. Now Jesus was called Rabbi
Teacher. He was recognized as a teacher
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by his disciples, and he came and brought understanding and
revelations to those who followed him by explaining the
things of the Kingdom so that people could experience it.
He instructed, he guided, and hementored people around him.
Jesus reframed and represented the Scriptures, revealing what
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was already there, which may have been misunderstood or
overlooked. Jesus made his deep and profound
teachings into illustrations so it was accessible for all.
So you are the clarity bringers,the truth protectors, the wisdom
sharers across all areas of the Christian faith.
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So go in strength as you ground people in the truth.
Minister and make the gospel understandable.
Encourage faithfulness to God's Word, and build a community that
is healthy, mature, and rooted. Thank you.
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So we have about 10 minutes and we really wanted to use the
opportunity for you guys to be reflective on what you got from
this session to maybe speak about some experiences that you
have had in your own settings, within your community,
discipleship groups, leadership groups regarding teaching.
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So we had some questions. What resonated with you from the
two inputs? How does the teacher grace show
up in your story or church setting?
And where do you see this grace needed more in your church and
something to add to that as well.
Maybe a reflection point? Where are you investing in your
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grace? What are you reading,
practising, observing, or being mentored in?
So for the next 5 minutes, maybegrab someone you've never met
before, maybe someone in your row, and maybe ask one or two of
those questions. And then in 5 minutes time we'll
wrap up and we'll pray for you guys as we release you all.
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Thank you so much. OK, I know you could probably go
on for ages, but it is great. I would love it if we could
close in prayer. Should I do the teacher thing?
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Some of you do the clap. We do 1.
Yeah, at kids church we do. We do flat tyre.
We say flat tyre and the kids go.
So you can have that one for free.
Yeah. Let's pray if you're able.
Please stand. We are a family today and I
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would love to just pray over allof you, especially as we get
ready to go home, you know? So if you're able where you are,
just open your hands to receive.Yeah.
Thank you, Jesus, Lord God, out of this whole week, we can leave
saying thank you. Well, thank you for the
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opportunity that we have to gather as a family and Lord God,
for all that you have imparted. Lord, Lord God, I just pray,
Lord, as as people prepare to leave today and we get ready for
our last session. Lord, Lord, I just pray you
know, for that person who is still waiting on an answer from
you, Lord God. Lord God, as Tim said yesterday,
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you are a Roy, the God who sees and Lord you see every single
person in this room and beyond. So Lord, I just pray that you
will meet their needs according to your will.
Lord God, I just pray that new friendships will be formed in
this place, Lord God. Lord, that mentor mentee
relationships will come out of this place as well.
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Lord God. Lord, we thank you again for
what you have done and what you are doing.
Lord God, I pray that you place a seal upon all we have learnt
and taken in this week and that we can take it back to our home
settings, our churches and our ministries as well.
Lord God, Lord God, thank you, thank you Lord, Lord, you are a
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good God, you are faithful. So Lord, go before us.
Lord, as we enjoy our break together.
Lord God, I pray for meaningful conversations as well.
And Lord, just thank you for allyou have done.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen, Amen.
Thank you guys, God bless you.
And I think whenever we hear theword teacher, we can have an
inbuilt stereotype and think that a teacher is a pastor, a
leader or an elder. Why do we think this?
Well, as teachers, we're told, aren't we in Titus 19 that
elders need to be able to teach?Told it again in one Timothy 3,
verse 2, that elders should havea propensity and an ability to
(00:20):
teach. So then is this gift just for
the pastors or the elders or theleaders or those who have a
title in a local church? Well, I would say no.
See, the teaching grade shows upin all sorts of forms and
formats. I'm going to, I'm going to
struggle with this because I'm amover, OK, Wherever someone
helps others see and understand.This is where this gift is
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flowing a little bit differentlyto yesterday I was a teacher
teaching teachers. Today I'm a teacher teaching
prophets and evangelists and andshepherds and apostles.
So I would say it like this. If your secondary gift is a
teacher, your primary gift is the filter through which
teaching floats. But you're talking to Steve
Gibson, talking about Helen Youssef.
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What an amazing ministry and anointing Helen carries.
Clearly Apostolic, clearly prophetic, but you can see the
teaching waving through that lens and it's the same for all
of us as we're sitting here. This needs to come through your
filter of your primary gift. Mine being teacher will look a
little bit differently. So we need to do a little bit of
work where we get there. But what I will say is this,
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this is true of your primary gift and your secondary gift is
I think in a Western mindset, particularly if you've been
bought up in, in the West or by God's grace, Birmingham, where I
was bought up. You can tell my by lovely exotic
accents. We almost have an inbuilt
cultural filter and whenever we take a test or an assessment, we
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can think If we score high on that test, it automatically
means we're good at it because we've done SAT, we've done GCS,
ES, we've done A levels, we've done university degrees.
And if we score high, it means we've done better.
But this is where we need to make sure language is, is really
clear. It's not the apest test, it's
the apest assessment. OK, So if you're scoring high in
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any of the gifts, first or second, primary or secondary, it
doesn't mean you're an expert and it certainly doesn't mean
you're mature. It means you have a propensity
towards this gift or these gifts.
Again, important language propensity.
What does that mean? Well, as a 7 or 8 year old, I
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had a propensity towards music. I just had the ability to sit
down at a piano and and tap out a melody.
I'd hear something on the radio.Well, I'd say the radio.
I was born up, brought up in thenaughties, so I'd I'd hear
Hillsong. We weren't allowed to listen to
the radio or Hillsong kids and Iwould able to tap out a melody
of the leading line in the song.But what that didn't mean, at 8
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years old, that I could sit downat a piano and play Beethoven's
Moonlight Sonata. I had a propensity.
But I still needed to invest in the gift that I'd been given.
And I can remember now many, many, many painful Monday
afternoons where I was sat in anold man's living room, tapping
away at scales and arpeggios at the piano.
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But I remember one, one day, it was about 5 or 6 years in, just
feeling of freedom as I understood that all the work and
the investment and the intentionof those Monday afternoons came
into its fore because no longer was I banned by sheet music.
I had the knowledge, not just a propensity, but the investment
to be able to flourish in that gift.
And it's exactly the same with us.
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So what I will say is a propensity is not a conclusion.
What this is this week. It's not a conclusion of now I
can go back to my local church and tell them I'm not a pastor,
I'm an apostle or another prophet.
I'm here with one of my elders. And he looked horrified when I
told him that my locust Grayskorwas a shepherd because I'm a
pastor of a local church. It doesn't mean we get we don't
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have to do this anymore cart. It means we have to invest
intentionally. Think of the parable of the
talents in Matthew 2514 to 30. Jesus looks at 3-3 people in
this story. So 1 he gives 1 bag of silver to
another two to another five. And he says go and invest.
So I've been in the midst of now12 years, and it was only two
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years ago I invested in my ministry as a teacher and I
began a masters course. And I'll tell you what, it's the
hardest, but it's the best thingI've ever done.
As soon as we think we've arrived at a conclusion, we're
in trouble before. We're teachers, we're prophets,
evangelists, shepherds, apostles.
We're firstly disciples, students.
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So much so, I've got it tattooedon my arm, Mathetes in Greek.
I had to check it both with Keith Warrington and Simo before
I got it tattooed on my arm. That it doesn't say something
like, you know, kebab disciple, students, learner.
So my job in the classroom this morning is just to spend the
next 10 minutes or so grounding this theologically, grounding it
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biblically. Every grace finds its beginning
its middle and its end its fullness, of course, in Jesus.
I love the illustration Mark used on Tuesday of Jesus
ascending to heaven. These are called the ascension
gifts of him pulling himself into five pieces and and giving
these gifts to the church. And again, as a teacher,
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language is important. We refer to them as gifts and
again, endemically in our culture, we often hear the
phrase, this is a gift with no strings attached.
We're intentionally calling these grace gifts because
strings are attached. As soon as the strings are
disattached from Jesus, we're nolonger serving Him and His
church. We serve in ego.
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This is the only gift where strings must be at all costs
attached. So let's look at Jesus.
We know he was the great apostlethat sent one from the Father.
We know he's the prophet who spoke God's heart.
Of course, he's the great evangelist talking about the
Kingdom of God coming to earth. He's the shepherd who runs after
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the one, and he is rabbi, he is the master teacher.
And we see Jesus teaching, of course, all through the Gospels,
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And his Magnus opus I think is
Matthew 5 to 7. If you're a preacher, you've
preached on this, the Sermon on the Mount.
But there's also 2 verses, I think when we're talking about
Jesus as rabbi, as teacher, thatare really important.
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And it's these found in Matthew 1128 to 30.
Jesus looking at his disciples, the 12 and his followers then,
but also to us now. He says this.
He says, come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and
I will give you rest. Now this is an important line.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
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humbling heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
If you've ever done any sort of Bible training, whether that be
at your local church level or atRegents or another Bible
college, you would have heard ofexegesis where we look at the
text in its context. Who was it written to?
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We always talk about the Bible being written to us, but
actually the Bible wasn't written to us.
It was written for us. It was written to a specific
people at a specific time and a specific place, if I can say the
word specific, but it's also written to us as well.
So what we do now in 2025, sometimes an intentionally is we
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isogee. That means we put our own
cultural lens on the text and weread it through our own
presuppositions, our own cultural background and our own
experience. So when we read yoke, we
understand that Jesus lived in an Agricultural Society, that
farming terminology was often used.
We see this through his parablesagain and again, but actually,
exegetically, yoke would have meant so much more to the people
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listening, because yoke wasn't just the tool used for oxen in
farmland. A yoke is what people would have
understood as a understood as a rabbi's teaching, a rabbi's
interpretation of Torah, which we know is God's words.
And literally a yoke was how a certain preacher, let's bring it
into 2025, Stephen Furtick or Mike Tard or Mark Pugh.
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This is how they interpret scripture.
So what Jesus is saying is you have heard it said that this is
how we should interpret law. But my yoke, my teaching is
different. We see him call out the
Pharisees time and time again. Matthew 23 four he says this
looks at the Pharisees. I I believe half in pity and
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half in anger and he says, guys,what you're doing, you're
weighing people down. I know your heart is right.
You want people to come to God, but you were just burdening
them. 613 rules in the mitzvot. That's how many rules the
Pharisees had to try and keep. And to do that they had the
Mishnah. It was rules to keep the rules
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saying I can see where you're going, but it's just getting too
difficult looking at this crowd,his disciples, his followers,
his congregation. He says this is the way the
rabbis say to do it, But I say there's a different way.
Five times in Matthew 5, as I said, his Magnus opus, a Sermon
on the Mount, he says this. You have heard it said, but this
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is what I say, you have heard itsaid, go right.
But I say actually, let's do it differently.
You can't understand how revolutionary these words would
have been to a 1st century Jew, and of course today for us as
well. But what's amazing about Jesus
is he doesn't just teach us lifelessons when he gives us a yoke.
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He teaches us a way. I don't believe it's a
coincidence or we were ever called Christians in Antioch.
We were known as followers of the way.
Why away? Because a way is a lifetime
thing. He calls us, doesn't.
He doesn't just call us to a way.
He says I am the way, follow me.But Jesus, of course, doesn't
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just demonstrate the teacher grace.
He distributes it. That's why you're in this room,
because He has given a part of himself in proportion to you in
your context, whether that be behind a pulpit in a classroom,
as a parent to a youth group or a kids group, wherever and
wherever your context is. Jesus distributes this gift.
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Ephesians 4, our key text for this week.
So Christ himself gathered the apostles, the prophets, the
evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers to equip his people
for works of service. Why?
So that the body of Christ may be built up.
This is the key of why we do what we do.
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It's not to get a bigger platform.
It's not to look good to get more social media followers to
fill our church pews. It's to build up the church.
Somewhere in history it's got wrong and the church are serving
the fivefold gifts. The fivefold gifts are always
gifts of service to serve the body.
Paul says this in one Corinthians 8 verse one.
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It says knowledge puffs up, but love builds up and motivation
always, always needs to be loved.
Want to take you back two weeks?And I'm sat in a garden in
Northampton. You heard this morning Becky's
parents pastor our church in Northampton and and we're there
for my middle son's birthday party.
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And my middle son is the stereotype of middle son
syndrome. So we get his Christmas list in
August, Boxing Day we're talkingabout his birthday in April and
what Ace wanted to do this year is have all his family together
in in the garden for a BBQ. So we did that, we got all the
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family there and my brothers allcame.
I'm the eldest of four, I'm the shortest, fattest and baldest of
all four boys. I think the bad dreams got out
first and then then the other three.
Greek God like 6 foot 3 and built like tanks.
But anyway, not bitter about that at all.
Thanks Mum and Dad and I'm getting to that age now, I'm
only 36 but I've got an old soul.
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Whenever we get together we reminisce because we all live in
different parts of the country, myself in Luton and other in
Milton Keynes 2 in Birmingham and we always end up talking
about school and it's amazing talking to my brothers because
we all had different experiencesof school.
I absolutely loved it. Sarah, Gary's going to go and
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lead the main session in the auditorium.
So let's pray for Gary. Bless you guys.
No, no problem. So I'm sat in this garden with
my brothers. We're reminiscing about school.
My youngest brother had really struggled with school.
I went to an all boys school so we had none of the girl drama.
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We we, we just got on with it. There were lots of fights, but
with boys we fight, we get over it.
And thankfully I never got bullied because I was friends
with the bully. I never did the bullying but I
was friends with the bully so ithelped.
And we're just talking about experiencing school and I love
school every day. I got to go with my friends and
academically I was quite good. Teaching Grace.
It manifested academically but there were two subjects I just
could not get on with. The first one said yesterday
(13:30):
it's a swear word in my house. Maths just can't do it.
Second one was French, Five years of French.
I can say Jemma pal Mike with a Birmingham accent and Ouest le
Poissin, which I think means where is the fish?
My French teacher is actually inprison today, but that's another
story for another time. Probably why I didn't get a
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great, great academic in French.But my middle brother,
Christian, he's a lawyer and he's very, he's very astute in
his thinking and he's just got apropensity toward language and
he's invested in that propensity.
For the first time last year, weall went on a holiday together
to Lorette de Mar in Spain. What's amazing, going to Spain
with someone who can speak Spanish, is it changes the game.
(14:15):
And it was amazing. And I apologise if there's any
Spanish people in the room, but you'd walk into a shop or a
cafe, they'd, they'd hear the English accent and you could see
their faces drop. Here we go.
Here are the ignorant British people who expect everyone to
know their language but are willing to invest.
But then Christian comes, Sun behind him, radiant, 6 foot 3
(14:35):
Adonis. And you could see their face.
Like, do you know what? It was the most amazing.
We got free coffee, we got free cakes, we were given special
tables because Christian had took the time to invest and
learn Spanish. All that to say, the teaching
grace when you invest in knowledge builds others up by
opening doors and rooms, ideas and truths that they couldn't
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access before. And as a good teacher, I
literally took my phone out in Spain last year.
I've been waiting all year to use this illustration thinking
this will preach so well. Just seeing opening up doors
that I would never be able to access without you.
This is what the teaching grace does.
At his best, we see Jesus do it again and again, Matthew 5 to 7.
He takes these complex theological eternal truths and
(15:21):
then he talks about salt and plants and farming and money.
He takes the complex and He makes it accessible at His
heart. This is exactly what the
teaching grace does. This is what we're called to do
in all of the graces, but particularly in the teaching
grace is ask ourselves to remember this wristband.
I've got one on today. Or the 1990s church kids who
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were forced to go week in, week out and giving these bracelets
as rewards. What would Jesus do?
I thought about this a few months ago.
You know what? We spent thousands of pounds,
hundreds of hours investing in discipleship models and courses
to help us be better believers, better followers of the Bay,
better Christians, little Jesus's.
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And we've made ourselves skint for no reason.
This is the discipleship model 101.
What would Jesus do? One of my favorite teachers, a
man called John Mark Comer. Some people love him, some
people hate him. He he's the most understated
teacher. He's not charismatic.
He doesn't move a lot. He doesn't shout, but he just
(16:27):
oozes wisdom. And in his latest book,
practising the Way he talks about what would Jesus do?
And he says, there's one thing Iwould add to those bracelets.
Now I would add IHWY this is howwe take information to
formation. See the thing with information
as a teacher and formation, the difference is in information
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goes in and it stays there. Formation it goes in and it
comes out. When I was getting this tattoo
with Mathetez Disciple, I did think about getting this
tattooed, but I'd look like a spec Savers board, so I didn't
do it. Can you read it?
Go back, go forward. So as I come in to close again
(17:09):
as a primarily teacher, I'm not at all to Becky's horror in
marrying me. I'm married a quick so she
couldn't find out. I'm not at all handy.
Anything ever goes wrong, I justcall her dad.
Friday, getting ready to go to Els, sorting our kids out, you
know, buying the cages and the padlocks and getting them ready.
I'm joking. There's no safeguarding officers
in the room. Is that fantastic?
(17:32):
Just getting getting the stuff ready, packing our bags, getting
the boot lid up, turn the car onand there was this light on the
dashboard. And there's something about the
lights, they all just look horrific.
This was a red one. It was a triangle with a huge
exclamation mark thinking it's like a bum on the car.
Turns out Google, it's just the tire pressure.
But with all of the graces we have these warning lights we
(17:53):
need to look out for and we needto get ready to address once
that flash up for the teacher, the blind spot is this confusing
information with formation, knowledge for obedience, our job
as teachers as a primary or a secondary grades because all of
us really, we're the best gradesas teachers because you're
(18:14):
teaching in all of them. All of them need to be about
formation. As I said, the difference is
those two letters IN informationgoes in and it stays there.
Formation, it goes in, comes out, it's applied.
The danger of information is we can get stuck in ivory towers.
We can fall in love with knowledge.
To say again one Corinthians 8 verse one, knowledge puffs up
(18:39):
but love builds up. It's a beautiful proverb proverb
19 two not to bash knowledge. Passion without knowledge is no
good. Hasty feet miss the way it's
always got to be a fusion of both.
Don't just get caught with information.
It must have intentional investment to become formation.
(19:01):
Let's hand over to Shiv. Come on.
So I can Shiv up, she comes. Let's give it up for Mike.
(19:26):
Bear with me guys. The teacher in me has to have a
little set up going on so give someone a high 5 next to you.
(20:06):
OK, so you would have seen on Mike's slides the IHWY.
So it's what would Jesus do if he were you?
Is that correct, Mike? Yeah.
OK. For those of you who are strong
teachers, write that down. What would Jesus do if he were
(20:31):
you? Yeah.
Mike. Yeah.
Amazing. I know everyone was on the edge
of their seat. Like what?
What was it, Mike? You didn't finish.
Amazing. So my name is Shiv.
I currently work at City Gate. I oversee the kids ministry
there. Well, thanks guys.
I've been doing this role for eight years, but I was recruited
(20:54):
to serve within the kids ministry.
I'd say officially about 15, butunofficially about 5.
And I grew up as an unofficial pastor's kid in our our original
Baptist Church. And my parents just said you're
in. So the teaching grace has
definitely been in me for a very, very long time.
I'm going to read a passage of Scripture.
Ecclesiastes 12/9 to 12 says notonly was the teacher wise, but
(21:20):
he also imparted knowledge to the people.
He pondered and searched out andset in order many proverbs.
The teacher searched to find just the right words, and what
he wrote was upright and true. Let's pray.
Yeah. Father God, I just thank you
Lord, even just for the opportunity to explore apes,
(21:41):
Lord God, Lord, I know there maybe people in this room who may
be surprised by their grace score, Lord God, but Lord God, I
just pray that you know we as anEaling family will use this as
an opportunity to spur one another, one to encourage one
another to speak truth and to call out these graces within
people in our teams as well. In Jesus name I pray.
(22:03):
Amen. Amen.
Amen. OK, so raise your hand if you
were surprised by your apes grace anyone just a couple.
OK, so most of you like no, no, no.
I knew that I was shepherd teacher.
I knew that I was apostle. OK, OK, understood.
I was I wasn't surprised. My scores were teacher shepherd.
(22:24):
And for me it it kind of made sense.
And for some of you might make sense.
For others, you're like, help me.
So we're all here to help one another.
I am in no way an expert. I'm here to learn from you all
as well. So it's not uncommon.
Actually, you might find out this week that many people were
shocked by the results. And the good news is, whatever
(22:48):
apes grace you did score, there is a need for you.
So turn to someone and say we need you.
You guys sound like a mighty choir.
I love it. Don't be upset if I asked you to
repeat things back because you guys sound amazing.
So how does this grace work in teams and collaborate with other
(23:09):
graces? Romans 12 verse 3 says For by
the grace given to me, I say to everyone of you, not to think
more highly of yourselves than you ought to think, but to think
with sober discernment. As God has distributed to each
of you a measure of faith, so it's important that we avoid
(23:31):
hierarchy. We need to constantly remind
ourselves and our teams that every grace is equal.
And actually team members with different graces, they can lead
different meetings depending on the context and the content.
Now this verse in Romans 12, it emphasizes the importance of
(23:51):
remaining humble and recognizingGod's unique gift of faith to
each of us. Say there is no hierarchy.
There we go. That's a teacher in me.
So our role today is to affirm the legitimacy of your grace
result, even if it was a surprise to you.
(24:12):
So as you probably know, all teams can be led by any of the
five graces. So don't worry if you're a
pastor and you scored a low shepherd in grace, I don't think
you'll lose your credentials. I don't think now each grace is
to serve the body of Christ. But today I'll speak on some
(24:32):
real life examples of this teacher grace.
And at the end, I'd love to encourage us all to maybe share
our own experiences amongst one another as well.
So be slow to label and quick tobless.
So this week the Els team, we want you to understand and to
help you understand your grace alittle bit better.
(24:55):
And you know, as you heard Mike shared from a biblical and
theological perspective. But what does this look like on
a practical level or in real life situations?
Now, when this title says be slow to label and quick to
bless, this means that OK, I'm going to make a conscious effort
not to say Mike, you are a shepherd.
(25:15):
Go forth and do shepherd things.Much rather, I be quick to bless
Mike and speak life without limiting him to a category or to
a title. So, for example, I might say,
Mike, I've seen the way you really get around people.
I sense you have a real shepherding gift.
Have you ever considered servingin the Alpha ministry?
(25:36):
Now these APIs, graces, they don't define our identity.
Just because you got teacher or shepherd, it doesn't mean you
are just a teacher or just a shepherd.
It's our duty as leaders to recognise the primary grace and
work within people around us andcelebrate it.
(25:56):
Now what does this teaching grace look like?
So in real life, the teacher flourishes in the classroom,
doing presentations, making notes.
This is my bread and butter right here.
Tell me to make notes. Being a lecturer, that is me
right there. Storytelling, writing, editing,
podcast, collecting data. And a biblical example would be
(26:18):
Matthew 13. He, Jesus used parables to teach
profound spiritual truths. Now the teacher grace shows up
beautifully in everyday life. Now somebody asked me a really
good question yesterday said a lot of the talk is about sort of
ministry or those who are, you know, working in ministry
pastors. Well, what does that look like
in everyday? You know, I'm not in full time
(26:40):
ministry. I kind of just I'm in and out
actually. So what does that look like?
So it shows up beautifully in everyday life.
It can be expressed outside of church for those of you who may
not work at a church. So the teacher makes the
complicated simple. The teacher loves helping others
grow through learning. The teacher is deeply rooted in
(27:04):
the truth and lives it out. And the teacher builds people up
through wisdom and clarity. You probably love that word.
Can you clarify what you just said?
You know, so it's not about needing to be right, it's about
guiding others towards understanding.
Amen. Everyone say call it out.
(27:28):
So how does my own experience equip me to identify what other
people carry? Now, as I said, I started
serving at my local church when I was around 15 and my youth
leader at the time, Manushka Mukuran, she was the one who
called out the grace within me that I hadn't yet seen.
She said, Shiv, I think you'd begreat at working with the kids
(27:51):
and serving in the kids ministryand teaching.
Now that I do that role, I understand what she was doing.
She was just recruiting me. No, definitely not.
She definitely called out a grace gift within me.
And actually 10 years later, I, you know, the Lord opened the
door for me to oversee the ministry.
And I've been there for eight years now.
And it's, it's such a beautiful ministry.
(28:13):
As most of you all know, servingwithin the kids department, not
only do I get the opportunity tolead a great team of volunteers,
but we get to teach children howthey can have a personal
relationship with Jesus and we get to journey with families as
we go through biblical discipleship.
Now the reality is somebody called out that grace gift
(28:36):
within me before I even knew it,and that is what the teacher
does. So no matter what grace, we all
have that responsibility to callout the grace at work in other
people, whether you're leading A-Team, pastoring a church, or
serving within a ministry. In fact, how many of us have
(28:56):
heard the words I see something in you now Sometimes identifying
these gifts and graces in otherslooks like being someone's
source of encouragement. Because you might be slightly
further along. You might be in ministry for a
longer amount of time in your discipleship journey.
So let's be primary encouragers.Let's call out that grace in
(29:20):
someone else. So a bit of a practical
application. How does this grace show up in
everyday life? And I'll sort of break it down
in discipleship, leadership, everyday ministry, and community
life. So in discipleship, teachers are
naturally inclined to ground disciples in the Scripture.
(29:42):
We're the ones who are helping them to apply information
wisely. Teachers explain spiritual
truths in ways that are understandable.
We connect doctrine to everyday life.
For example, what does it mean to really trust God when you're
going through hardship? We read it in the Word, but how
(30:04):
do I apply that to my life? In discipleship settings,
teachers ask thoughtful questions that draw out deeper
reflection rather than just handing out quick answers.
We often love to mentor others in studying the Bible for for
themselves, helping to raise up self feeding and discerning
(30:25):
believers. An example would be the teacher
might lead a Bible study not just by presenting information,
but by patiently walking alongside other people, helping
them to understand how the gospel impacts their workplace,
their home and their everyday life.
(30:45):
Next one is leadership, so the teachers are protectors of the
truth. Within a team, ministry or
organization, we ensure decisions are biblically sound
and theologically grounded. We design elite training
sessions. We equip the Saints through
practical workshops, classes, and even informal teaching
(31:09):
moments. Now teachers, as I said before,
we love clarity and we may ask questions to make sure the
team's mission stays aligned with God's Word.
We often create pathways for growth, so discipleship tracks
leadership training programs or Bible study guides.
Another example would be a leader with the teaching grace
(31:33):
might notice that the team needsto understand better servant
leadership and then host the series of sessions exploring how
Jesus models this leadership. The next one is everyday
ministry. So the teachers.
We value accuracy, facts, and often we're the ones who are
(31:53):
discipling people through conversation.
This could be in casual settings, over coffee, going for
a walk, or even texting someone a useful scripture for them to
explore. The teachers are the ones who
spot misunderstandings that could actually lead people to
confusion, and we're always aiming to build others up rather
(32:15):
than tear them down. Now Matthew 22 verse 29 says he
Jesus explained the scriptures and corrected false teachings.
And an example would be when a friend misinterprets a Bible
passage, the teacher gently corrects and shows how shows the
hopeful meaning. Instead next one is community
(32:40):
life. So here the teachers are the
ones who make a strong foundation so that the community
thrives in truth and love. The teachers naturally disciple
groups into maturity. We're the ones who are teaching
how to handle conflict biblically.
Even though we don't quite enjoyit, we still do it.
We're encouraging people to livein unity and to exercise these
(33:04):
spiritual gifts responsibly. And the teachers often serve as
the backbone roles in ministry as well.
So you may not be upfront or forward facing.
It might be a little bit less flashy at times, but the
teachers are absolutely essential for depth, stability,
and faithfulness to the scriptures.
(33:26):
The teachers help to create a culture of learning and
curiosity. Encourage encouraging others to
be students of the words and notjust consumers.
An example would be in a small group, the teaching grace shows
up when someone shares a devotional thought that ties
practical life issues with biblical truths, creating
(33:47):
healthy conversation and growth.And then the last point is
everyday life, which because I'ma teacher, I added last night
and it's not on the slides, so bear with me.
So in everyday life, the teacher's the one who explains
clearly. They breakdown complex ideas so
(34:10):
others can understand with ease.The teacher creates learning
tools, so you're often developing guides, resources, or
systems to help other people grow.
The teacher also encourages thoughtful questions, promoting
wisdom by asking why and not just what The teacher patiently
(34:31):
teaches you. You're the ones who are willing
to repeat yourselves and walk with other people until they
understand it patiently. The teacher lives with
integrity. The teacher is the one who is
modelling consistency, truth andethical behaviour in everyday
life. And lastly, the teacher builds
(34:53):
through knowledge points people to books, resources, tools and
has those conversations with them to help them grow.
So how can we develop this teacher leaders in your
settings? How can we release it to other
people? So let's say you've just found
out that you have the teacher grace.
Now it's time to cultivate it and to release it into others.
(35:16):
Now you probably have heard thatgiftings grow through you.
So that means other people and and yourself as teachers need
opportunities where this gift can be exercised.
So we want to be intentional about giving other people others
with the teaching grace the space to practice.
For example, giving people publicly public ministry
(35:39):
opportunities in your larger gathering, such as preaching,
teaching or hosting meetings, orallowing them to do the God slot
at your kids or youth group. That could be supporting them by
bringing clarity, answering their questions with biblical
truths, valuing them by being open to learning from them as
(36:01):
well. As a teacher, we should always
remain teachable, giving people the space to develop curriculum,
classes or syllabuses. And most importantly, as I
shared before, calling out that strength in them that they may
not see yet, I remember having amember in my team who was always
(36:23):
asking me questions. Why do you do this shift?
What about this? What do you do in this
situation? And I thought, OK, this is
great. Is it a test?
I'm thinking this must work for HR or something, trying to
figure something out. When actually I recognised that
she too had the teaching grace. And so I made the intentional
effort to spend a lot of time with her and invest in her and
(36:44):
give her the opportunities to speak out within the kids
ministry as well. You can take a picture of that
one. I did.
I did go for it. Amazing.
All right, so how to build teamswith these graces?
There we go. All right, sorry, I'm whizzing
(37:08):
through. Don't worry, we'll send you
this. We can send the slides, right?
We can send the slides. All right, point #1 identify and
celebrate the graces within the team members.
So each person in a team has strengths that align with one or
more of the APES graces. So identifying them allows you
to assign roles effectively. A practical example would be
(37:29):
doing the APES test, as we've all done, doing it within your
own settings #2 develop a culture of honour and
collaboration. Now, I said this yesterday,
within the Elin family, we are great at honouring people and I
believe that each ministry gift balances and complements one
another, so a healthy team will respect each grace rather than
(37:54):
prioritising one over the other.So we want to encourage mutual
respect. No grace is superior.
Every single one is needed. A practical step would be to
regularly reaffirm each team member's unique contribution and
encourage peer encouragement. Point #3 Empower each grace for
(38:18):
effective functioning so each grace should operate freely
within its purpose while remaining accountable to the
team. In this way, no specific grace
would dominate the other one. A practical step would be to
design team meetings, staff meetings, where each grace has a
voice and function. So you'll have time for vision,
(38:42):
you'll have time for teaching, you'll have time for pastoral
care, you'll have time for outreach, and you'll have time
for prophetic insight as well. And point #4 train, develop, and
multiply leaders. Now, as we know, Jesus himself
trained his disciples to continue his work.
So effective teams develop and equip others.
(39:06):
So let's be intentional about mentoring people who are also
just discovering this grace gift.
And also allow yourself to be mentored.
The intention here is not cloning.
Turn to someone and say you're not a clone.
(39:26):
I mean, someone's like I might be.
It's not about cloning, but it'sabout mentoring, coaching,
teamwork and accountability. A practical step would be to
create a leadership pipeline where each person is actually
developing someone else within their grace as well.
(39:51):
And the last point is keep Christ at the centre.
Colossians 118 says he is the head of the body.
The church now APES isn't about individual roles or titles.
It's about Christ revealing himself in his fullness.
Therefore, we need to keep prayer, worship and the Word at
(40:15):
the core of all of our team activities.
Let's regularly realign vision and mission with Christ's
example. A practical step would be to
hold team devotions and prayer meetings that focus on spiritual
alignment and team unity. So in closing, I wanted to say
(40:37):
you are superheroes. Turn to someone and say you're a
superhero. We're all superheroes, but you
in particular, you're the best superhero.
So the teacher grace is so important, as are all the
others. But we are here to ensure the
(40:59):
church is spiritually mature andequipped with knowledge and
understanding. Now, without that mindset, the
church will be full of people who may not be familiar with the
Scriptures or who lack wisdom and insight into the things of
God. Now Jesus was called Rabbi
Teacher. He was recognized as a teacher
(41:20):
by his disciples, and he came and brought understanding and
revelations to those who followed him by explaining the
things of the Kingdom so that people could experience it.
He instructed, he guided, and hementored people around him.
Jesus reframed and represented the Scriptures, revealing what
(41:41):
was already there, which may have been misunderstood or
overlooked. Jesus made his deep and profound
teachings into illustrations so it was accessible for all.
So you are the clarity bringers,the truth protectors, the wisdom
sharers across all areas of the Christian faith.
(42:03):
So go in strength as you ground people in the truth.
Minister and make the gospel understandable.
Encourage faithfulness to God's Word, and build a community that
is healthy, mature, and rooted. Thank you.
(42:27):
So we have about 10 minutes and we really wanted to use the
opportunity for you guys to be reflective on what you got from
this session to maybe speak about some experiences that you
have had in your own settings, within your community,
discipleship groups, leadership groups regarding teaching.
(42:48):
So we had some questions. What resonated with you from the
two inputs? How does the teacher grace show
up in your story or church setting?
And where do you see this grace needed more in your church and
something to add to that as well.
Maybe a reflection point? Where are you investing in your
(43:10):
grace? What are you reading,
practising, observing, or being mentored in?
So for the next 5 minutes, maybegrab someone you've never met
before, maybe someone in your row, and maybe ask one or two of
those questions. And then in 5 minutes time we'll
wrap up and we'll pray for you guys as we release you all.
(43:32):
Thank you so much. OK, I know you could probably go
on for ages, but it is great. I would love it if we could
close in prayer. Should I do the teacher thing?
(43:59):
Some of you do the clap. We do 1.
Yeah, at kids church we do. We do flat tyre.
We say flat tyre and the kids go.
So you can have that one for free.
Yeah. Let's pray if you're able.
Please stand. We are a family today and I
(44:24):
would love to just pray over allof you, especially as we get
ready to go home, you know? So if you're able where you are,
just open your hands to receive.Yeah.
Thank you, Jesus, Lord God, out of this whole week, we can leave
saying thank you. Well, thank you for the
(44:44):
opportunity that we have to gather as a family and Lord God,
for all that you have imparted. Lord, Lord God, I just pray,
Lord, as as people prepare to leave today and we get ready for
our last session. Lord, Lord, I just pray you
know, for that person who is still waiting on an answer from
you, Lord God. Lord God, as Tim said yesterday,
(45:05):
you are a Roy, the God who sees and Lord you see every single
person in this room and beyond. So Lord, I just pray that you
will meet their needs according to your will.
Lord God, I just pray that new friendships will be formed in
this place, Lord God. Lord, that mentor mentee
relationships will come out of this place as well.
(45:26):
Lord God. Lord, we thank you again for
what you have done and what you are doing.
Lord God, I pray that you place a seal upon all we have learnt
and taken in this week and that we can take it back to our home
settings, our churches and our ministries as well.
Lord God, Lord God, thank you, thank you Lord, Lord, you are a
(45:46):
good God, you are faithful. So Lord, go before us.
Lord, as we enjoy our break together.
Lord God, I pray for meaningful conversations as well.
And Lord, just thank you for allyou have done.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen, Amen.
Thank you guys, God bless you.
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