Do You Want To Know How Sunday Went?
Sunday morning was unbelievable. The power of God fell on the service and there was worship going on with hands raised and voices lifted up! One of our young ladies sang with such anointing that the praise and worship seemed to swell bigger and bigger… the sermon seemed to flow as the Lord anointed his Word. Ezekiel saw dry bones come to life, and God told us to prophesy to the dry bones in our lives, and in our church through faithful obedience, prophesy through prayer, through encouragement, through faithfulness, through service, through worship, through teaching and preaching his Word… and the dry bone will live!
Sunday night was better still. The evening began with major sound system problems. It was as though we were doomed to just go through the motions! But without warning as we sang and as we prayed for one another at the altar, the Lord poured out his Spirit. With raised voices and deeply moved hearts, we prayed for, encouraged and prophesied over one another! There was a real sense of breakthrough and victory before we went home.
On the way to church Sunday morning, I was thinking about those whom God was especially blessing, whose lives to me seemed to be in revival. I counted 19 definite pockets of revival. But as we worshiped Sunday morning, my count increased to 24, and by Sunday night it was at 25, as I recognized those whom I have left off of my list. Almost 25% of our Sunday morning congregation is experiencing personal revival!
It’s Saturday Night!
It’s Saturday night, and I am thinking about Sunday. My heart is rejoicing as I listen to Praise and Worship by Hillsong. The evening is quiet and reflective. The sun just went down and it is dark outside. There is a restlessness developing in my spirit. I want to be in the sanctuary worshipping. I want to hear the passionate music swell through the building and the voices of the choir and musicians in harmony praising God.
O the glory and beauty of the voices of the saints in worship. I am ready to be thrilled as I watch those passionate few, who will not be able to hide the glory of God in their hearts, their smiles, tears, laughter, raised hands! I want to teach and preach, to be lost under the anointing of the Spirit, see the light come on in someone’s eyes, see the conviction fall, meet someone at the altar. I want to feel the presence of God, yield to him. I want to hear his voice and be brought under his power to change me in some way. I am ready for an encounter with the Lord! It’s Saturday night!
Fight for Ministry and Growth!
In John 10:10 Jesus says that the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. But he said, I have come to give life and give it to the fullest extent.” There is a battle raging in our world and around our spiritual lives between the enemy who is seeking to destroy us and Christ who is seeking to bring us life. It is up to us to decide which of the we will cooperate with!
If we think that personal spiritual growth is automatic as time passes, then we have fallen into the trap of the religious and pious. Religious people think it is enough to have an association with the church and even to have some kind of involvement, but as far as sacrificial investment is concerned, they have sidestepped a radical call of God to hardcore, lifetime devotion. It is hard to serve God, and it is especially hard to deepen one’s walk with Jesus Christ. The enemy resists and hinders us at every turn. He is literally seeking to steal, kill and destroy.
Ministry is the same way. To do the will of God in service and obedience requires the persistent effort of a sold-out and totally faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. The ramblers and wanderers in the church will never know the joy and satisfaction of sold-out devotion, and they tire easily of the efforts of the passionate in the church. It rocks their boats and shatters the peace of their quiet religious world. But Jesus said that the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, so effective and productive ministry has to be fought for inch by inch and yard by yard! It won’t come easily, but in the end it is worth the sacrifice, when God is well pleased with his servants and blesses their efforts with an anointing of power and success!
Paul the apostle said, “I have finished my course (run my race), I have fought the good fight” (2 Tim. 4:6-8). His metaphor was a serious, not a poetic one. Paul saw himself as a runner for the prize whose focus was narrowly, exclusively and obsessively toward the goal of his devotion to Christ (cf. Phil. 3:12-14). Every effort and energy was put into his fight to obey God and glorify his Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Paul was no wimp disciple. He was rugged fighter who fought for the kingdom and to express his devotion to God. He suffered hardships and difficulties all of his life and ministry, only to enter heaven at the sharp end of a Roman executioner’s sword (cf. 2 Cor. 6:3-10; 11:23-29).
If you are not prepared to fight for ministry and spiritual growth in the church, then please get out of the way of those who will. If you do not care to sell out your heart and soul in passion and devotion to God and his will, if you will not fight for ministry, then please don’t mock, hinder, grumble and gossip about or resist those who will. They are on the side of life, life lived to its fullest in Christ.
Building!
What a powerful morning at the WFPHC today! Nine people joined the church in the worship service today. Our voices resonated with the spirit of worship in our hearts, as our team led with passion and power. They have just reoriented the platform to produce a balanced and pleasing effect for the music, choir and team. Bro. Jerry reminded us that God was preparing us to for a harvest, to bring in the sheaves. But the progress of the church has to be fought for. Like our own personal devotional life, it can’t grow unless it is tended to, and well nurtured. Well, we are ready for God to build his kingdom in us… stone by stone, block by block, one soul after another, and with anticipation and an uncompromising urgency born of serious-minded commitment, we are prepared to follow God wherever he leads this year. America may be asleep, but we do not want to miss God’s next move!
