If the church is going to become the kind of community Paul has described, we need more than good intentions. We need the Spirit to strengthen us. We need Christ to shape us. We need the love of God to become the soil in which our lives are rooted.   Read More

Christ takes people who were far away and brings them near. Christ takes people who were separated and makes them family. Christ takes people who were spiritually dead and makes them alive. Then the Holy Spirit begins forming those people together into a place where the presence of God can be seen in the world.   Read More

We may sometimes wish that power looked more spectacular. But resurrection power often works quietly before it works visibly. It breaks the power of sin. It teaches us to forgive. It forms patience where anger once ruled. It creates generosity where fear once held tightly. It makes a divided group of people into the Body of Christ.   Read More

The gospel isn't God's program for polishing up the old life. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has begun something new. The Holy Spirit is already bringing that new creation to life among people who belong to Christ. And that new creation becomes visible when a church lives differently.   Read More

God’s grace comes first. The Spirit is already at work. Christ has already set us free. And because grace is at work, we can respond. We can surrender old desires. We can practice obedience. We can choose reconciliation over rivalry, service over selfish ambition, gentleness over anger, and love over the need to prove ourselves. Over time, what began as obedience becomes increasingly characteristic of who we are. That is sanctification.   Read More

Grace does more than change our status before God. Grace begins changing who we are. The Spirit who assures us that we are God’s children is also at work shaping us into the likeness of the Son.   Read More