Supernatural Church

Presence & Power

“Buzz is not the same as presence. Planning is not the same as listening to God. Talking is not preaching. Helping is not healing.... All those things are good ... BUT there is something fundamentally supernatural about Church. Miss it. Miss out.”

This quote from one of our local pastors really took my mind by storm. It crystallises all that I have been thinking about the gifts that the Holy Spirit has brought to the church but which have been so shamefully left on the shelf.

We are, like it or not, admit it or not, a supernatural church. Whether or not we actually utilise the weapons at our disposal depends on three things

1 – The teaching we receive and acceptance of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and in our church, and in our midst.

2 – Our willingness to activate that teaching rather than just putting it back on the shelf as being ‘another good teaching from pastor’

3 – Our willingness to ‘look a fool for Christ’s sake’ and step out in faith, using the gifts and authority the Lord has given us.

God forgive us our intransigence in the face of His power. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.” It is the Holy Spirit who demonstrates Gods power to the doubters and unbelievers of the world – including us.

In our meetings, having a great buzz is not the same as experiencing the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit. You can get a great buzz from secular meetings but that is never the same as having the Holy Spirit present and moving in the meeting.

All our planning is not the same as listening to God and doing His will. We can plan all we like but without God in those plans they remain our plans and not God’s. It is only when we listen to God and exercise our will to conform to His will that our plans are assured of success.

Talking about God and His goodness is not preaching the Gospel. Many people talk about God without once mentioning Jesus or what He has done for us. All this talk is so much hot air unless we do a little preaching too. The Gospel doesn’t need our explanation – it is the Holy Spirit’s invitation to the hearer to receive Jesus as Saviour and friend. He alone can make it ‘work’ and He alone can do its work in the hearts and minds of the lost.

Helping others is not healing them in Jesus Name and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Unless we are obedient to the Great Commission, no amount of help will help. Our prayers may well be for nothing if uttered with the sole motive of helping rather than with a genuine belief for healing. Helping a person who is ill or otherwise needs healing achieves nothing more than a very temporary easing of their condition. Healing by God’s Holy Spirit achieves complete healing of body, soul, and spirit.

Fundamentally supernatural....that is our faith and unless we practice and utilise our supernatural, God-given authority, we may achieve very little indeed. With that supernatural authority and power, we can allow the Holy Spirit to do His work and achieve His goals for us, with us, and through us. Without God’s presence, we may as well whistle in the wind. With His presence, we have no idea what can be achieved – “more than we can think or imagine”.

Miss the supernatural and you will miss out.