MORE POWER!
Last week, I shared with you a burden that God had given me concerning searching for His direction for our church. We looked at the example of the church at Antioch in Acts 13 and how while things were going well, the people of the church, instead of resting on their accomplishments, sought after God to find out what He had in store for them.
Our church, has had some incredible successes in the past year. God has moved, has blessed and has touched many people’s lives. And so, this past week, many of us took the message I shared seriously and fasted and prayed on Wednesday. I am asking that we do this again this week, and that we fast again on Wednesday and gather for prayer here in the sanctuary on Wednesday to seek God’s face for His direction for our church. I hope that you will share with me some of your experiences with seeking God in this very intense manner.
This morning, I wanted to examine the typical Christian reaction to difficulty:
Have you ever gotten pretty sick and tired of how our world is going to hell in a handbasket, how there seems to be so much evil and so little regard for God? Do you ever want to throw up your hands and say, “why God, doesn’t the world pay attention to You?”
i. We say, “Isn’t it just terrible the way people are living out there.”
ii. We say, “I’m going to send my kids to a private school because I don’t want them to be influenced by these things.”
iii. While it may be true that the world is out of control, we are missing our calling when we do this.
iv. The church was never called to become a monastery, where God’s people hide, but rather to be salt and light to the world.
i. This attitude has an entire Christian industry at work, with radio commentators, editorial writers relentlessly attacking and analyzing sinners in high and low places.
ii. The bible’s harshest words aren’t directed at the unbelieving masses but at the church herself. (1 Cor. 3:1-3, 1 Cor 10:21-22, Heb 3:12-13, Rev. 3:15-16).
i. George Barna has indicated that Christians are shockingly similar in their behavior to the world they condemn.
1. % of people who bought a lottery ticket:
a. NonChristians 27%
b. Christians 23%
2. Divorced
a. NonChristians 23%
b. Christians 27%
3. And there are even more shocking statistics that I don’t even feel are appropriate to share in mixed company.
ii. The values of the world have invaded the church and we no longer see a difference between the church and the world.
1. In fact, most non-Christians don’t see any compelling reason to become Christians because the only differences they see is that Christians go to church, try not to say bad language, and give money to their church.
2. Why is this so?
a. It is because many churches in America are more concerned about church growth schemes, the next great program to begin, or how to develop a marketing scheme that will bring in more visitors.
b. It is much easier to hire an expert to consult leaders on building membership and attracting visitors than it is to seek God.
iii. It is because we have churches across America who do not serve a living, all powerful, holy God.
1. They serve a god of convenience, of budgets, of social welfare and of marketing.
2.
iv. What is missing?
1. Where is the prayer meeting that was the engine of the apostolic church?
2. Where are the testimonies of the people whose lives have been changed by the power of the gospel?
a. (We have many of them here!)
3. Where are the testimonies of those who have been healed by the power of God through the prayers of the saints?
a. (We have many testimonies in our congregation!)
4. But they are missing from many churches in mainstream America.
v. Prayer and the Power of God must be at the center of the church.
vi. When prayer and the power of the Spirit of God is missing from the church, it is like disconnecting the nuclear reactor from an aircraft carrier.
1. Most wouldn’t notice immediately, because its momentum would carry it for some distance. Soon, however, it would be motionless in the water.
2. Go on for too long, and the people on board would forget its purpose is to go somewhere and instead believe that its mission is to be a FLOATING platform for launching airplanes rather than a MOVING base of operations.
vii. The church of today has forgotten why it is here!
1. The church exists to bring the kingdom of God into people’s hearts and lives and to turn their lives right-side up with the person of Jesus Christ.
2. The power of the Holy Spirit is to be the prime MOVER of the church.
i. The early church faced persecution in Jerusalem.
ii. And then in the Roman empire, with threats of death.
iii. Yet, they received power from on high and their lives had a dimension of supernatural ability that we are lacking today.
iv. The church in other centuries confronted their culture, not with social programs and media attacks, but with the very Power of God.
i. But Jesus tells his early disciples, to “Wait…until you are clothed with power from on high.”
ii. You see, the work of the church is not about just having the right message.
iii. The work of the church is unique in that we are to operate in the power that Jesus promised his followers.
i. That power is found in prayer.
i. A "dead balloon" -- has no life. It continues to lie wherever you put it. It doesn't move. It has no power. Take a "dead balloon" and do what Jesus did -- blow in it. What happens? It's full of air; but it is still dead, going nowhere until that power isreleased. [As an illustration, the "powered balloon" can be released. Under the "spirit's/breath's/wind's" power, the balloon can move.
i. There would still be services, programs for the kids, and offerings in the plate to meet the budget. Church for many would go on as if nothing had happened. This is because God is just an intellectual concept or a genie for many.
i. People’s lives are changed.
ii. People are set free from bondage to things that hold them captive.
iii. People are healed from illnesses.
iv. People are freed from the captivity of self and sin.
v. People know that they need Jesus and they aren’t sure why. They just know.
vi. This is because God works through His Spirit.
1. Oscar Cervantes is a dramatic example of the Spirit's power to transform lives. As a child, Oscar began to get into trouble. Then as he got older, he was jailed 17 times for brutal crimes. Prison psychiatrists said he was beyond help. But they were wrong! During a brief interval of freedom, Oscar met an elderly man who told him about Jesus. He placed his trust in the Lord and was changed into a kind, caring man. Shortly afterward he started a prison ministry. Chaplain H. C. Warwick describes it this way: "The third Saturday night of each month is 'Oscar Night' at Soledad. Inmates come to hear Oscar and they sing gospel songs with fervor; they sit intently for over 2 hours; they come freely to the chapel altar.... What professionals had failed to do for Oscar in years of counseling, Christ's Spirit did in a moment of conversion."
vii. Jesus Christ is in the business of changing lives. We have seen many people encounter him here. We have seen many lives changed here. Today, yours could be changed if you are willing to surrender to Him.
i. The word of God stabbed their consciences.
ii. The Holy Spirit produced something far from dull and ordinary.
iii. Acts 17:6 (Thessalonica) moaned, “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here.”
1. No more of the status quo.
2. God was coming. You can’t ignore Him! He is going to confront your life and make you uncomfortable! You will have to make a choice when you encounter God.
i. Why don’t we stop rationalizing and justifying the spiritual impotence that we see around us.
ii. Why not simply humble ourselves and seek God with all our heart for His presence, power and provision?
iii. Because prayer is the HARDEST THING to do; even though it is the easiest thing.
iv. The act of prayer is a humbling of oneself to God, admitting that you are not God, that God alone has the power and ability to do something. When we struggle with prayer, it is the result of our unbelief…that God can or will change things. When we struggle with prayer, we are really struggling with our trust in God or our trust in our own ability to do something.
i. Herod is making points with the people of Jerusalem, having killed James and now thinks he will get more popularity points if he kills Peter.
ii. But the Passover interferes, so he has to delay the trial. What is the church going to do?
iii. Well, I imagine that some folks could form a committee to raise bail for Peter.
iv. Others might get a group organized to form a political protest down at city hall, demanding that Peter’s civil rights be protected and demand an end to discrimination against Christians.
v. But no, something else occurs. Something counterintuitive. The bible says in v. 5 So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.
1. The church chose to pray instead of to act.
2. They chose to bombard heaven with prayer and pleas for Peter’s life. And they did it continuously, without end.
3. The word for fervent: Ektenos -earnestly, fervently, intensely. It means to be earnest, resolute, tense. (also used in 1Pe 1:22 – “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,” and in Lu 22:44 – “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. “)
a. Do you see that FERVENCE is more than just saying, “lets pray.” There is a sense of
i. Urgency
ii. Importance
iii. Passion
b. It is as if the church is saying to God, “Oh God, please spare Peter’s life! We’ve already lost James, and we’ll lose Peter too, unless you intervene. Our eyes are on you. No one can help but you!”
c. The church is powerless to impact the situation. They cannot get to Peter, he is inside the inner jail, chained between guards, behind doors and walls. They cannot encourage him. They cannot lay hands on him. They cannot even talk to him. He is totally inaccessible.
d. But what is unreachable physically is still reachable spiritually.
i. God can go where we cannot.
ii. If you have ever had a child grow up, you know this to be true.
iii. Where you cannot be, God can be. God can go and do things which you cannot.
4. The church at Jerusalem realized that what they needed, only God could provide. They didn’t try to do things with their own strength. They relied upon God to do what they could not. They believed in a God who can do anything.
vi. Are you tired of trying to open doors with your own strength?
1. God can accomplish much more in one day than you can in years of human effort.
2. I personally have tried to push doors open that only God can release.
3. Exp. God: Henry Blackaby tells of a burden he and his church leaders had to start a ministry among college students in the town they were in. But they had a problem. There were no college students in the church. There was no connection between them and the college. Yet the burden was plain and clear. So what could they do?
a. They could go take some seminars on how to start a collegiate ministry.
b. They could start a committee to study the problem and to hire a college minister.
c. But they did neither. They prayed. And they prayed. They waited for God, because they knew that if their vision for this ministry was from God, that God Himself would provide the person or persons needed. God himself would open the door.
d. Within a few weeks, a family with close ties to the college began attending their church. Before long, that family began to be the hub for ministering, and soon they had an effective ministry to the students at the college.
4. Prayer & Praise – I shared not too long ago how I have a vision for our Prayer meetings to take on a flavor of praise and worship to facilitate prayer.
a. I believe that prayer comes from our mind until we enter into worship.
b. Then prayer can flow from our spirit and our heart. It isn’t forced. It comes naturally…albeit, supernaturally.
c. In addition, I would like to see our prayer meetings take on a ministry focus, to pray for people, to invite people that need ministry, healing, deliverance and freedom.
d. But none of this can happen unless we have a person or team who can provide the worship and praise guidance to lead us to the presence of God.
e. Now, I could go around trying to recruit someone. I could put an ad in the paper and say, “Prayer leader needed.”
f. But just as Henry Blackaby and his church heard God, they prayed until God met the need that the vision required.
g. We will pray for God to release and provide. To open the door.
5. Maybe you have a door in your life that you have been working at with a crowbar. You are frustrated. You want action, and it isn’t happening as fast as you want.
i. If preaching alone were the answer to our world’s trouble, don’t you think that America would be converted by now, with preachers on every corner and on many stations on the radio and television?
ii. If good gospel music, big sanctuaries, and multi-media were the answer, then everyone would be a Christian in America by now.
iii. But these things are not the source of change.
i. But it will never be enough to win a lost person to Christ. Unless the power of God is evidenced, through the testimonies of those who have been touched, or the presence of God during the service…the person without Christ has no reason to believe. We must have something and someone who bears witness with their life to the living and powerful savior.
i. In 1 Corinthians 3:16, Paul tells the church, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”
1. He doesn’t say, “you are supposed to be” or “you are supposed to act like” God’s temple.
2. He says you (plural) are God’s temple.
3. The word used for “temple” is the word that is used to describe the very innermost temple, the Holy of Holies, the place that the Jewish High Priest would go once a year to offer the sacrifice for the nation on the Day of Atonement.
a. It was a place where God’s presence and glory showed itself in an awesome way.
b. And yet, the Bible DARES to call you and I, the church, the Holy of Holies for the Spirit of God.
ii. We need to stop wondering if the temple will ever be rebuilt on the temple mount and become concerned with becoming the Holy of Holies for God’s Spirit.
1. God desires that the church be a place of AWE and WONDER.
a. I don’t mean that our architecture be awesome. I don’t mean that our buildings inspire wonder. I don’t even mean that when you walk in the building that you feel awed.
b. I mean that when the people of God gather together, because they have humbly been in the presence of God all week long, that the Presence of God is experienced by everyone that is gathered around.
c. I also mean that the power of God is so present that we are awed by His work and His actions and answer to our prayers.
2. The awareness of God’s presence and holiness has an incredible effect.
a. In every instance in the bible that God’s presence and holiness is demonstrated, men come under conviction of their sin, their separation from God, and repent.
b. It is a pity that so many services nowadays are so user friendly that a person can attend the services without any sense of conviction of sin.
i. It is not because sin isn’t condemned…we have more legalism and world bashing in our churches than ever before…
ii. It isn’t because we aren’t preaching the word of God.
c. Conviction of sin is missing because the Holy Presence and Power of God is missing from churches.
i. The truth is, Every Christian is a miracle of God.
1. If they are a born again believer, they are so not because someone talked them into it.
2. A born again believer is an act of God, done by the Power of God’s spirit. The new birth doesn’t happen by man’s will, but by God’s power. (John 1:12-13)
ii. A Christian is a supernatural event!
1. A Christian is the result of the holiness of God confronting the sinfulness of man, so as to result in one’s awareness of their need for a Savior.
2. A Christian is not someone you have convinced to pray a pray or walk an aisle.
3. A Christian is one who has come to grips with the truth that God is Holy, and that no one has a right to come before Him or be in heaven with Him, because as the bible says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
4. A Christian is one who, in the light of that truth, recognizes that God alone can provide the only sacrifice (Jesus) to pay for our un-holiness (sin – separation), and in recognizing it, accepts Jesus as his own personal covering for his sin.
a. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
iii. A Christian is one who is broken by their sin and raised up by Jesus’s blood and sacrifice for their sin.
i. If you have made that transaction, if you have traded your sins for God’s holiness by accepting Christ’s sacrifice, but have not made that decision public, you need to do that today. The bible says, “if you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and confess with your mouth that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
ii. Some people think they can be secret Christians. But every person Jesus Christ called, he called publicly. If he has called you, you must “confess that” by using your mouth to speak the same thing that is in your heart. Salvation becomes a reality when you confess Jesus as your savior and lord!
i. God’s presence is in this place. He is speaking to some people right now about their lives.
ii. He is telling someone here that they cannot continue to live like they have.
iii. God desires you to know Him, not as some intellectual object but as the Powerful, Living God who can change your life.
1. If you are that person, you will need to step out of your seat during our response time and come forward and tell me what you want God to do for you. I will pray with you and we will rejoice with God.