At Faith Community Church, we are about to enter into a Season of Prayer where the theme will be hosting God’s presence.
I’m reading a fantastic book about the Holy Spirit at the moment called Holy Fire by RT Kendall. Kendall is a conservative reformed pastor (he was pastor of Westminster Chapel for 25 years in London) who has embraced the charismactic.
I am privileged to be part of a church that is full of the Word of God. We get great solid expository teaching every week. But I can tell you that without the power of the Holy Spirit, great teaching doesn’t change lives and impact our communities. AW Tozer once said: “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 per cent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference”. What a scary thought! What about in your own life? It’s a trap that’s easy to fall into. If you are successful at work, or at uni, or in ministry, let me ask you this: is it because of your intellect, your talent, your character? or did the Spirit of God have something to do with it?
These last few weeks have been really challenging for me and it’s been hard to feel rested. And at the same time, as I’ve been reading about the Holy Spirit, I feel a growing hunger for more of Him. Isaiah 62 says that sometimes God leads us into desert places so that He can speak tenderly to us. Sometimes difficult times and struggles are actually a grace from God.
Kendall says in his book “Could it be that God is calling you to bear a stigma – all for a greater measure of the Holy Spirit? How far are you willing to go in your commitment to Jesus Christ? Yes, God often uses hardships to prepare ordinary Christians for an extraordinary destiny”.
So this week’s songs are about God’s presence and His Spirit upon us. In particular, we are doing a new song called “Leave Me Astounded” by Planetshakers.
I actually haven’t been listening to Planetshakers for a while, but last year, I visited another church and they did this song which really blew me away. I resonated with the lyrics about “waiting in worship” for God; pleading for “heaven to invade earth”; and His “showing off His glory”. So we’re going to do it this week as the church moves into a Season of Prayer.
Here’s the songlist:
// Hosanna (Praise is Rising) (G)
// You’ll Come (E)
// Leave Me Astounded (E)
// Hosanna (Be Lifted Higher (E-F-G)
Let’s keep hungering for more!
The Worship Revolution 