Ephesians 4:11-12

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

-Ephesians 4:11-12

What is the grace given that Paul spoke about back in verse 7?  Paul tells us about that here in verse 11.  What's given is the gifts or gifting of apostles, prophets, evangelists, etc.  People in the church were gifted differently from one another.  Certain people excelled at certain things according to God's gifting.  While it might be interesting to look into each individual gifting, I don't think that's the point of this passage.  Instead, we learn the reason for these different giftings as a whole.  There are two purposes given, "to equip the saints for the work of the ministry" and "for building up the body of Christ".  When thinking or using these giftings, I think it's important to remember the purpose.  If it's not being used for it's intended purpose, then it's not being used properly.