Pastor Josiah reminded us of his sermon last week when he said, “I dream of a church
that puts Him at the center of its pursuit and never changes the bullseye.” It’s a church
that understands who they are and what they are called to do, makes disciples, thinks of
generations beyond them, and is filled with power. But there is so much more…
The church is the hope for humanity, founded in Jesus Christ, called to proclaim the
Word of God. God uses the church, equips the church, established the church and
partnered with the church for this great purpose. Pastor said, “My intention is to get you
dreaming.” We often give up on dreams as we get busy, get discouraged, or get older.
When we dream WITH God (whose timetable is very different than ours), our job is to
say, Lord, you take control…and then come into agreement with Him. Continue to
dream with God. If we can align with His perfect will at Faith Chapel, buckle up!
Something great is about to happen!
Let’s dream of a church with healthy pillars of prayer, worship and the Word. These
healthy pillars should be established in your life and in our life corporately as a church.
Prayer
Many believers don’t pray or continue to pray because they don’t understand the
purpose of prayer, or they don’t understand who they are and what that means in
respect to prayer. Prayer is communication with God. The relationship between you and
God matters. We need to understand our relationship and how that relationship effects
what prayer is doing. You communicate differently with your wife than with a stranger.
Understanding our authority has a lot to do with understanding our role in prayer.
Understanding our position has a lot to do with understanding our identity. When we
gain understanding of our purpose on earth, we will see the vital role prayer has.
Understanding His power working in partnership with our faith, we will be stirred in
prayer in new ways.
Have you felt a grace to pray – where you are just led to pray? Sometimes you may not
even want to pray. Pastor Josiah used an analogy to healthy eating. We may plan to
always eat healthy – giving up French fires and burritos -and really mean well. But then,
fast food calls us and we do the opposite of our commitment. God gives us a grace to
pray, where He equips us even when we don’t want to pray! The grace gives us a whole
other move. That kind of grace to pray is coming to our church. It’s coming with an
understanding of our identity and an understanding of our authority.
Thank God for the anchors of prayer at our church – leaders who have been interceding
and people who have been praying for His perfect will! Thank you for praying. Can you
imagine what it will look like when anointed prayer saturates this place…when the Spirit
guides us to engaging with God and producing supernatural fruit?
In John 5:19 Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth: the Son can do nothing by
Himself…Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.”
Jesus walked a lifestyle of radical obedience, following God’s assignment. Jesus heard
the tune that God was playing. Jesus choreographed life to a beat of obedience to
match what God asked Him to do -even when there was a challenge or “it didn’t make
sense”.
Prayer is a powerful key of connection.
If Jesus is our perfect model, then we should be looking at His lifestyle. This is a key to
kingdom living. Do you have a set of keys that you carry? Some you use often, and
some not at all. Prayer should be a key that we utilize on a regular basis! We should be
going to God asking what He wants us to do – at work, in life, at church.
In Matt. 14:22, Jesus went to the mountaintop by Himself to pray. He knew that prayer
was a source of rejuvenation found in connecting with the Father. It was crucial. That’s
convicting. We often see prayer as a religious obligation. We find ourselves praying
because we think that we are supposed to, when we are in trouble and need a lifesaver,
or when we are desperate for a breakthrough. Prayer is more than these. There is a
better way that actually changes things. May Faith Chapel be a church that hears from
the Spirit of God. May we know that alone we don’t have the answers, but before the
throne of God, may the His will be done at FC.
Worship
What if we worshipped out of pure adoration of the King of Glory? Imagine Him as the
greatest desire of your heart. Worship isn’t about the music, song selection, volume,
lights….it all about HIM. Dream with me about a church who values His presence above
all else. The presence of God is everywhere – in a submarine, out in space, yes, even
at In n Out Burger! He is omnipresent. There is a greater degree of His nearness when
we pray. We want the manifest presence of God to fill this sanctuary with His presence
and glory. If we aim at His presence of Glory in the church, people will come to be in His
presence, not in the presence of your church. Seats will be filled. It’s got to be all about
Him – the beautiful, pure pursuit of God.
May our hearts become so consumed and romanced by Him, revealed to you, that we
are flexible to His Spirit. I dream of a church that, yes, has an agenda and program and
schedule, but that may throw that agenda out when sensitive to God’s presence; when
God is doing something powerful in a service. Sometimes when His presence shows up
there’s an intentionality in what He’s trying to do, and it takes keen people to hear the
Spirit and honor Him. Teach us to cooperate with God. He promises: When you seek
me, you’ll find me. Look for Him.
What would it be like to come to church expecting to encounter God, knowing the living
God is present, knowing the KING is here, and honoring HIM with our deepest
affection? We can know that His precious Holy Spirit will be here to encounter in a
beautiful way. Imagine Him as the greatest desire of your heart.
In Ex. 33:18, Moses cried out, “Show me your glory”. Moses was more passionate
about the presence of God than the promise of God. He didn’t want to go to the
promised land without God’s presence.
In John 12, Mary used an extravagant display of worship when she put expensive oil on
Jesus’ feet. His presence was so valued. Our sacrifices are nothing in relation to what
Jesus gives us. Consider that we get to be in the presence of God, and it is magnificent!
We get to honor Him with the best we can. He owes us nothing, but we get to honor
Him in this house.
In Luke 24:17-32, the risen Jesus met men walking on the road to Emmaus. They
walked and talked with Him. They could tell His whole story, but couldn’t recognize His
presence. Many people today can tell you about Jesus, but don’t recognize His
presence in the room. It’s not enough to just know His story. We get good at “doing
church”, but sometimes leave God out, even while telling people that they need Him.
We need to be a people who depend on the powerful presence of God, not relying on
our gifts and intellect and skills (though these are important assets), but totally
depending on His spirit showing up to change lives! Imagine lives changing in the youth
group, at Meet the Need, in Connect groups, at the altar, and throughout our church and
community. His power is sufficient to save. We are just channels. We need to get to a
place of desperation to look for Him, recognize Him and yearn to worship Him!
Word
John1:1 says, “The Word was with God and the Word was God”. In the beginning the
Word already existed.
John 1:14 So the Word became human and made His home among us.”
Gal 3:27 “Clothe yourself…in Jesus Christ.”
The goal of reading the Word is getting to know the author. When we put on Christ, we
are clothing ourselves in the Word of Christ. Imagine that when people encounter you,
they encounter Him! It is important to be students of the Word – to be trained and have
understanding. Pray that the Holy Spirit reveals to us what He wants us to see. He may
illuminate a key verse when we are reading His Word.
See the scriptures with the eyes of permission.
When we read Bible stories, we aren’t merely reading about Jesus and characters from
the past. The stories are permission to do likewise, to walk in the way they did. Look at
the stories in the scriptures and live the same. Get motivated, especially by the life of
Christ. See what is available to you in the kingdom. Pastor Josiah said, “I dream of a
church, a family, a people, that think and believe that way.” Can you imagine what it
would be like:
if we saw what is truly available to us, to our children, to our grandchildren?
to be the people we are commissioned to be?
to walk in what He has called us to?
to walk in the destiny laid out for us?
As the service ended, Pastor Josiah invited the congregation to kneel and pray, praying
that God’s will would be accomplished in our midst; asking for repentance for making it
about anything but God. Come Holy Spirit. May Faith Chapel come into alignment with
you and be:
People who honor the Lord
Reverent again
Consumed with the things that please You
Examples to those who watch us
Welcoming to the Lord
It’s got to be all about you, God…Gods house, God’s ministries, God’s people!
What an exciting dream for the future of Faith Chapel! God is working powerfully in the
lives of His people and church. May we listen and hear Him individually and corporately
as God’s plans unfold. God is good…all the time!
Submitted by Debby Jarrell
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