Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXIII
from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman
(Part 2 - Continue)
Mindset to reconsider: Most “church” activities should take place at the “church” building because that is where the “church” people attend.
Jesus never built structures for his own Presence, for he knew in dwellings had to be in the hearts of his believers, his priesthood, not in buildings. The very next chapter, Luke 10 begins:
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them…
sent them…
sent them two by two ahead of him…
ahead of him…
ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.
Then he gives them specific directions of what to do and not to do when they are “sent out”. What was the result of such a strategy?
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” (Luke 10:17)
How does Jesus react to the joy of their successful “missions trip”?
Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority…
have given you authority…
have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all he power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Versus 18-20)
Now for a dynamite revelation:
At that time, Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit said,”….
Wait, the Holy Spirit is about to lead Jesus into true worship! That’s right! Jesus is going to give back to the Father what the Father had just given him, and that is true worship by The True Worshiper, Jesus!
“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.” (vs. 21)
God brings revelation of Himself to his children, the “true worshipers” and is pleased. Then he continues to reveal:
“All things have been committed to me by the Father. No one knows who the son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (vs. 22)
Wow, the principle of being “sent out”, the Great Commission of the Church, is so central to the Gospel that that it was part of Jesus’ Priestly Prayer in John 17. The calling and the purpose of the Church is to be sent out! We have lost sight of that mindset. Being sent out as New Testament Priests, as believers in Jesus Christ, requires the supernatural to be effective, to survive, to be its life. Saul, as a good Parasitical Jew hung out in Jerusalem. Even the disciples now as apostles at first did the natural by hanging out in Jerusalem, but when the Holy Spirit was ready to move, its temple, the hearts of its believers, moved, and they physically moved their bodies, also their temples of the Holy Spirit, by being “sent out”. How many of us believers have become complacent in the natural, fearing the supernatural because the Holy Spirit supernaturally may call us to be “sent out”. Being “sent out” is not in our current routine of things, nor in our comfort zone, nor a thing we do naturally, so we fear it. That was the fear I faced when contemplating the move to make Jesus Lord of my life. We need not “fear” it, but through “faith” allow the Holy Spirit to be supernaturally natural in our life, so we can fulfilled the “Great Commission” that our High Priest, Jesus Christ, has given to his priesthood!
So to challenge our mindset I ask, “Should we be meeting with the ‘homeless; on their turf, or expect them to come to ours to discover God’s divine relationship with them through Jesus Christ?” If the Church comes to the homeless, it also allows the homeless to become true worshipers and worship by giving back to the Lord what little he or she has. The Church can be the Church if it sends out to the homeless to minister to the homeless, to worship with the homeless, and to empower the homeless to be sent out to become supernaturally effective ministers to others who are homeless with the aide and support of this active New Testament Priesthood, the Church.
Should “church” be held in the hospitals? Can we change the mindset from natural “hospital visitations” as a ministry of the local church to becoming supernatural “Holy Spirit visitations” bring the Church to the sick to be healed.