Burning With Desire

As a worshipping community of Christ we come under the empowering influence of the Holy Spirit. In the first chapter of the Book of Acts, Jesus says to the disciples, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). And the rest of the Book of Acts is a spelling out of what happened when that power came upon them.

They received power to discover their true identity as children of God and brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. They received power to be healed of all kinds of physical and emotional disorders. They received power to discern what they needed to do with their lives. But, more than that, they received power to set the world on fire with the Good News of the Risen Christ. They were given such power that at one point in the…