Witnessing the Power and the Pain

This past weekend preaching at Shepherd of the Hills main services was a powerful time for me. The testimonies that I was blessed to hear from people who God spoke to through the message were amazing. One thing that I ask God to do often is confirm for me that I was obedient and that He spoke to people through the message. I even pray for specific testimonies sometimes.

This weekend I witnessed the power of God through His word, but also the hurt in His bride, the church. Even as I was preaching I saw more than the normal amount of tears flowing from people's eyes throughout the crowd. Usually there are a couple that you notice are being hit by the Spirit in that particular message, but this was different. I felt as if the Spirit of God was poking at dying embers hoping to get the flame raging again before going out completely. I personally heard the pain from addictions, hurting marriages, and secret sin issues. I know every week someone is hurting, but again, this was different. I wonder how many of these people are disguising their pain everyday like this...how many more?

But I also saw the power of God this weekend! The one story that stuck out to me the most was when a man came up to me after one of the services and told me that he knew of a man in the service who he had left his house Saturday night with a gun in his bag with every intention of killing another man. He had so much rage in his heart. After hearing the message Sunday morning on the supernatural healing power of forgiveness, God had snatched that rage out of his heart and replaced it with a sincere heart of forgiveness. All I could say was wow! I was speechless!

My ministry is very relational. Meaning, I spend a lot of time with people during the week. I see the hurt and hear of the power of God and how His Spirit is moving today. My vantage point as a pastor is unique in that God allows me (and hopefully most pastors) to see more of both ends. One thing is for sure to me, God wants to do this every week in worship. He wants to clean out and clean off His bride.

I hope your fire isn't fading.