Over the past 7 days, the Lord has been moving mightily in His church. It is not that the Holy Spirit has not been present in previous services, but in the past two gatherings, His presence has been unique. In fact, it has been supernatural.On Monday, August 16th, at the conclusion of UNplugged, the Holy Spirit spoke through our closing prayer and invited people to step out and receive His gifts of healing, tongues, faith, etc. (See I Cor. 12). Several new people came forward to accept the Lord's salvation and healing. It was an incredible night, but unfortunately not everyone wanted to participate.
On Sunday, August 22nd, the Lord spoke loud and clear through the sermon that to attend church and identify with the Christian religion was not equal to salvation. To be "saved" means that an individual has let go of sin and abandon all aspects of his/her former way of life. Being a Christian is about living in the power and influence of God for the power and influence of God. In the case of Sunday's sermon, Esau was rejected by God because He refused to submit fully to the will and mission of God. Tragically, this same sinful behavior is present today...
No sooner had the worship service concluded, than did the Lord impart another emphatic call of action to His church. While Pastor Jeremy was attending to his duties outside the auditorium, the Holy Spirit enabled one of the women in the church to prophecy over the congregation. This biblical practice (see I Cor. 12 & 14) is not a regular occurrence for Sunday worship and certainly is not planned. It is possible only through the will of the Spirit, the enabling of the Holy Spirit, and the submission of a person to the Spirit's desire. All of these elements were in place Sunday morning, and the message spoken was incredible! Once again, however, many received the Lord's word, but just as many were eager to walk away...
God is not playing games in Forest Hills. FHCC is not a patsy, nominal Christian church. Our church is God's vessel and exists to serve His agenda through His means. We are humbled that three years ago He began a work and has sustained that work through challenges, personalities, and religious tendencies. However, now is the time to mature. Now is the time to actually do something. Passions, commitment levels, and personal witnessing need to increase regularly. We have done this at times in the past, but the participation of the church has been limited; this needs to change.
As we go forward under this holy "call out" from the Lord, it is imperative that we continue to live humbly, but also with joyful expectation and faith. God is going to continue to seek and save the Lost, but He also going to continue to seek willful vessels to fill with evangelistic power. Both of these types of people need to be willing to receive from the Lord in faith and humility. Christianity is not a spectator sport. It is a full-contact, 24/7 discipline where the buzzer doesn't sound until your dead.
It's time to get in the game...
