The Map is the Mission – PRACTICE – 1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-12 (NLT)

4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice[b]; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.[c] 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages,[d] while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. One Body with Many Parts: 12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.
What are we doing to live this out?

What practices help in the practice and the process?

ResourcesConvergence – Jon Thompson (Paperback)

https://amzn.eu/d/0eEkVOLD

COLABhttps://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10Vt1OybVbDAOA4ANF9egdJrNLd6kXCszThe podcasts track with the talks from the Sunday communications at Elim Life Church in North Birmingham which you can find on the ELC Youtube channel.

Jonny is Lead Pastor at ELC and Sarah is Head of Prayer & Leadership Development, as well as leading a national role for Elim as head of prayer.

Moving on from last year's theme of Walking Well, they now look at how we Gather & Grow.

Got questions? Drop us a line on [email protected] or DM us on socials.

We believe the Kingdom of God brings hope to the hopeless, freedom to the oppressed, provision to those in need, welcomes the stranger and invites us to share the good news of Jesus. Perhaps these things have felt like a dream and not a reality all of the time?

In 2026, as we follow Jesus, we want to be an inspired community responding to this Holy invitation. It is a year to build on where we’ve been walking well.

Now is the time to Gather & Grow. 

How do we Gather & Grow?

Gathering - building community. From crowd to community. Our mission is always on. Our whole lives are worship. What is Holy Spirit inviting us into?

Growing - becoming more like Jesus; contributing to community formation, centred on Jesus in contemporary culture.We want more people loving Jesus and part of community.

The map is the mission. We are co-missioned to join what God is doing by His Spirit.

Where are you on the map? Where do you live or work? Where do you spend your time? Who do you connect with? How are we encouraging one another and choosing Jesus in all of our places and spaces?

Being on mission together is on purpose and with awareness of how we share Jesus. What is Holy Spirit inviting us into Soul, Home, Near and Far? 

We are thinking about:

· People - Who is involved and being reached?

· Places - Where is this happening?

· Presence - How is God’s presence being experienced?

· Practice - What are we doing to live this out?

The Map is the Mission. 

As the Kingdom expands, so too does community.

Our direction and intention is:

· Open to an 'always-on' mindset: spiritually and relationally aware. Using our grace gifts for Kingdom and community contribution.

· Gathering can happen anywhere. Community and collaboration is fluid, from shared Sundays to households and community spaces.

· Stepping into the unknown together with courage and faith.

In 2026, what does Gathering and Growing look like for us? Let’s find out!