*Join in CCC's Season of Prayer! CLICK HERE for the prayer guide.*

“God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” Acts 2: 33-34

As I traveled this week, I passed an advertisement in the airport that challenged me to “Be Extraordinary!”  I was walking quickly to my gate, so I didn’t take the time to see exactly what I could buy that would suddenly make me extraordinary.  Maybe it was a cologne, an expensive watch, or a luxury suit.  I know whatever it was, I’d still be an ordinary guy, but maybe one who smelled a little better!

Looking at the Apostles in Acts 2, if we take out all the parts about the Holy Spirit, they were doing ordinary things.  Gathering with friends is ordinary.  Sharing a meal is ordinary.  Even hearing the rush of the wind, or someone speak in a foreign language can be very ordinary.  But when we add in the presence, power, and purpose of the Holy Spirit, those ordinary things become extraordinary.

The Apostles were ordinary people who gathered because of Jesus.  Jesus knew that he had chosen very ordinary people to spread the good word of Jesus to all ends of the earth.  But he filled those ordinary people with an extraordinary power.  These ordinary people would be accompanied by the extraordinary Holy Spirit of God.

In my own life, I can see how the extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit is empowering ordinary people with ordinary talents to accomplish extraordinary things.  Cooking is ordinary, but when I see church members cooking meals and bringing them to those in need, I’m see the extraordinary power of the Holy Spirt.  At church, I see ordinary people empowered by the Holy Spirit do extraordinary things with our children in Chatham Kids.  When I hear about someone with ordinary handyman talents using those talents to help make homes more accessible, I’m hearing about the extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit.  

Reflecting on that advertisement, I’m aware of how often this world shows me false paths to go from ordinary to extraordinary.  But studying the Holy Spirit these last few weeks has made me realize that an ordinary people with ordinary talents can be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do extraordinary things in our world.  And Jesus is inviting me to be one of those people! 

Think about all the “ordinary” talents or abilities you have.  How can you open yourself up to being empowered by the Holy Spirit to use one of those talents to do something extraordinary in the name of Jesus?