Discovering

My Ministry
S E R V E
Class 301: Discovering My Ministry—PARTICIPANT’S GUIDE
Copyright © 2019 Rick Warren

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form, without the written permission from Purpose Driven Publishers.

Published by Purpose Driven Publishers

23182 Arroyo Vista, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688

Scripture quotations noted GNT are from the Scripture quotations noted NIV are from THE HOLY
GOOD NEWS TRANSLATION — SECOND EDITION. BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®
Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide
Scripture quotations noted JB are from THE JERUSALEM Scripture quotations noted NLT are from THE HOLY
BIBLE copyright © 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd, BIBLE, NEW LIVING TRANSLATION. Copyright 1996.
Ltd. and Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
Publishing Group, Inc. Reprinted by permission. Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations noted NASB are from the NEW Scripture quotations noted Phillips are from THE
AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © 1960, 1962, 1963, HOLY BIBLE, PHILLIPS VERSION BIBLE. Used
1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman by permission of TouchStone Publishing House,
Foundation. Used by permission. New York, NY 10020. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations noted NCV are from THE HOLY Scripture quotations noted TLB are from THE LIVING
BIBLE, NEW CENTURY VERSION. Copyright 1987, BIBLE (copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers,
1988, and 1991 by Word Publishing, a division of Wheaton, Illinois) and are used by permission.
Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations noted VOICE are from The Voice™.
Scripture quotations noted NIV84 are from the HOLY Copyright © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by
BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright permission. All rights reserved.
©1973, 1978, and 1984 by International Bible Society.
Excerpts from The Purpose Driven® Life used by
Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishing
permission. Copyright © 2002 by Rick Warren.
House. All rights reserved.
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 (ISBN:
0-310-20571-9)
Table of Contents
WELCOME 5

Class Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

SESSION ONE: Saddleback’s Strategy for Service 9

Serving and the Role of the Pastors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

The Goal of Our Ministry at Saddleback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
We Focus on Attending to Five Kinds of Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
What We Believe about Ministry in the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

S E S S I O N T W O : T h e P r i o r i t y o f M i n i s t r y 23

About Your Significance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

S E S S I O N T H R E E : Yo u r S H A P E 29

Introduction to SHAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
The Apostle Paul’s SHAPE for Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Discovering Your Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Discovering Your Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Discovering Your Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Discovering Your Experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

S E S S I O N F O U R : Yo u r S e r v i c e 67

Committing Yourself to Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Four Great Places to Start Serving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
What Are My Next Steps? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

ANSWER KEY 75
CLASS 301
Welcome
Class 301:  Discovering My Ministry is the third of Saddleback’s
foundational classes.

• In Class 101:  Discovering Our Church Family, you

committed to being a Member of God’s family.

• In Class 201:  Discovering My Spiritual Maturity, you

committed to the habits of Spiritual Maturity.

We are convinced that you must first be committed to membership in a

church family and committed to the habits for spiritual growth before
you are ready for ministry. Membership and Spiritual Maturity are the
foundations for ministry.
CLASS 301
CLASS

WELCOME
PURPOSE

First we will focus on what the Bible says about ministry and Saddleback’s
strategy for ministry. We will then look at the Five Personal Factors that

DISCOVERING MY MINISTRY
continue to shape the “real” you. By identifying the specific traits you
possess in each of these areas, the ministry for which God has designed
you will become clearer. Finally, you will have the opportunity to sign-up
for ministry and start serving!

YOU ARE HERE

 INTRODUCTION
CLASS 301

“Service is the pathway to real significance.”

THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE, PAGE 232
DISCOVERING MY MINISTRY

What Are Your Goals for Today?

My goals for Class 301 are:

What Are Our Goals for Class 301?

Our goals for the class are to help you embrace your God-given SHAPE and
find a few great ways to start expressing it in ministry for God’s glory.
SESSION
ONE

Saddleback’s
Strategy
for Service
W H Y W E D O W H AT W E D O
 SERVING AND
CLASS 301

THE ROLE OF
T H E PA S TO R S
At Saddleback, we focus on an individual approach to serving rather than an
DISCOVERING MY MINISTRY

institutional approach.

Saddleback’s ministry is determined by .................................... purposes and the

.............................................. or ........................................... of our congregation.

It was he [Christ] who gave . . . pastors and

teachers to prepare God’s people for works of
service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.
EPHESIANS 4:11–12 (NIV84)

The Bible says:

• The pastors are the ................................................................................... .

• The people are the ................................................................................... .

10
What the Bible Says about Ministry

SESSION ONE
Definition
Greek word “diakonos” = “to serve”

S A D D L E B A C K ’ S S T R AT E G Y F O R S E R V I C E
M I N I S T R Y I S U S I N G
W H AT E V E R G O D H A S
GIVEN ME TO SERVE
HIM AND THE NEEDS
OF OTHERS.
11