January 11 | The Spirit of Power | When God Lives In You | Barry Rodriguez

One of the surprising outcomes of God’s Spirit taking up residence in the hearts of Christ-followers is that otherwise ordinary people began developing extraordinary power – power to heal, to serve, to teach, and to speak truth about the very heart of God. This power, otherwise known as the “spiritual gifts” given to believers, is one of the primary ways that God grows, supports, and guides his Church. As we use our Spirit-given gifts to serve, His power shapes the community of faith around us in unexpected ways. In a time when the brokenness of our world seems insurmountable and the Church struggles with division, it can be tempting to allow our faith to become little more than an individualistic relationship between us and God. However, with the Spirit empowering us, we can recover the vision of the Church as the body of Christ in our world and recapture the self-giving love we were created to demonstrate as a community. What might it look like to explore and live into our spiritual giftings in new ways this year as the Spirit empowers us to become the Church God desires?