Guest post today is part 3 of 3 in a series by Travis Kolder who authors the blog, Pursuing Glory.
We’ve been talking about Spirit-led gatherings the last few posts. In our first post, we looked at what a Spirit-led meeting might look like in the first-century church. Next, we tried to define what the characteristics of a Spirit-led meeting are. Today I want to look at some examples of what a Spirit-led meeting might look like today.
Let me give you an example from a recent gathering that I participated in. For those of you who don’t know, I’m a house church planter and advocate. The church that meets in our house gathered a couple of weeks ago on a Wednesday night. We typically gather together, eat a meal, and then try to focus on whatever the Lord is doing or saying.
Normally, after the meal when we gather in the living room, there is a short, awkward period where those who are gathered aren’t sure what to do next. This is actually a good thing, because it forces us to turn to Jesus and get direction from Him about what we’re doing. He is the head of the body and it’s good for us to get direction from Him. This particular night, my wife asked everyone a question.
The question was an invitation for everyone in the room to talk about opportunities they had to share the Gospel with those around them this week. This opened the door for conversation and several people shared about different times where God had opened the door to speak about Christ. Gradually this transitioned into the topic of loving people. When that transition happened, we then began to talk about the best ways to love those in our midst. We talked about marriage, inner healing, and learning how to love others.
Somewhere in the midst of the conversation, my downstairs neighbor (also a believer, but not a part of our house church) popped up and joined us. As the conversation was winding down, we asked if we could pray for him (partly because he was heading to an Asian nation in a few days, partly because it’s our custom to pray for people new to our gatherings). The men in our group gathered and prayed as one of the others grabbed a guitar and sang. Prophetic words and prayer began to flow.
After the prayer and prophecies for our friend were finished, the singing and worship continued. One of the brothers stood up in the middle of the singing and my wife saw an opportunity to pray for some physical ailments he had. Another brother and I grabbed some oil and laid hands on him and there was a strong sense of the presence of the Lord as we prayed. (A few days later this same brother testified to a healing in his back as well as a significant healing in one of his organs that hasn’t been confirmed by a doctor but seems like is functioning much better.) We had started eating at 6:00 P.M. and now it was approaching 9:00 P.M., about the time folks start winding down and heading home.
Does every meeting work like this? No. Do supernatural things happen every time we gather? No. There have been really boring meetings. There have been meetings where most people are not engaged with the Holy Spirit. There have been meetings where one person has taken control of the meeting and talked the entire time. There have been meetings where verbal and almost physical fights have broken out. But honestly, even in these meetings, the Holy Spirit was working. He was strengthening, challenging, and growing us in the good things and through the bad. And every bad meeting has forced us to look more towards the Holy Spirit and less to our own control.
I guess I would sum everything up by saying that the Holy Spirit is alive and active. He’s not just able to lead individuals, but whole groups of people. If we look to Him and create an environment where He can lead, supernatural things will happen beyond what we can plan or orchestrate. Are you hungry to express Jesus with others and experience Him? Then find a small group of believers with the same heart and begin to wait on the Lord together. You will not be disappointed.
Part one of this series is Spirit Led Gatherings: Have You Met With Christians Like This?
Part two of this series is Spirit-Led Gatherings: Part Two- Definition
Photo Credit: dove-object-black2 by knowhimonline
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