Pastor Matt's Thoughts
People Get Ready
Acts 2:1-4, 14-21
Calvary Assembly, I believe as the seasons change once again (winter-spring). god is wanting to take us into a new "shift" in the spirit. Hallelujah! We are all in need of something new that God has for us. God has been releasing dreams, visions and encounters to His people of all ages all around the world. We should all pray for more of God, but what does it look like when God actually answers our prayers? What if revival looks totally different than what we thought it would? Are we ready? Are we willing to say to God "Whatever it looks like, whatever it sounds like"?
Are we ready to give up our greatest heart sacrifice? What if our yes to God for more of Him causes us to do strange and seemingly outlandish things?(outside the box of our traditions)Are we ready and are we willing? We cry out for an upper room encounter and an Azusa Street encounter, but believe me they were far from what most would consider orderly and tidy. Baptisms of eternal fire, power, were most likely far from normal/acceptable for the day. Not to mention all the diverse language (spiritual tongues) that were being spoken and shouted out. Myrtle K. Shider wrote in the January 1907 issue of The Apostolic Faith of her own personal experience at Azusa Street, "By the time the chorus ended, the power of God was so heavy on me. I could scarcely open my mouth and every fiber of my being was trembling. Yet my feet felt glued to the floor and my knees stiff, so I could not sit down. I only got out a few broken sentences that I remember (I never fainted in my life and was never unconscious, but God certainly took me out of myself.)
He showed me things which there are not words enough in the English language to express.... I was under the power the reminder of the meeting, and for three days was as one drunken...since then, such waves of power roll over me from time to time. I can scarcely keep my feet, and I am sure if my old friends in California could see me, they would think I was indeed insane."
Calvary, are we in 2014 genuinely ready for this and much more? What if it's in the beginning of service or in the middle of a sermon? I would remind everyone that people getting filled and transformed by the power of God is not disorder. to me it seems like God's perfect order in preparing His people at Calvary to transform our world. I don't know for sure when or how but I can say people get ready!
