WATCH TODAY’S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE.
CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
THE WORD OF THE LORD
Acts 2:43 NIV
Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
Acts 5:12 NIV
The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.
CONSIDER THIS . . .
In his Seedbed book, Livestream: Learning to Minister in the Power of the Holy Spirit, Ivan Filby writes about a time of prayer in a service in Hong Kong. The service had been billed as a miracle service, without him knowing about it, and he was the main speaker and ministry leader! Feeling out of his depth, he led with faith and had many words of knowledge for people and opportunities to pray for healing.
Receiving a word that the Lord wanted to heal a woman with pain in her right hip, a woman limped up to the front. After a few times of praying, she was miraculously delivered as her pain went from a ten to a zero!1
Most days, I’m not sure I’m aware just how desperate the world is for people who will gently, humbly, and compassionately pray for them with real faith that God will answer. I don’t know about you, but when I’m suffering or facing an inner struggle, I want people to see me and reach out.
The local church is intended to be a kingdom outpost in the world. The body of Christ is designed to be a community of apprentices of Jesus who are the first to pray for you, the last to pray for you, and the quickest to make sure you have what you need when trouble strikes.
In Acts 2:43 and 5:12, we see that the apostles are performing signs and wonders, just as their Master Rabbi had taught them. He commissioned them, empowered them, and launched them into the world as a spiritual force to be reckoned with. Their disciples would go on to do the same.
We see that the early church and its next generations believed in and practiced laying hands on the sick, delivering the demonized, praying blessings on those who persecuted them, and more. Signs and wonders followed those who believed in the name of Jesus.
I don’t know exactly what a “signs and wonders” church should be like, given that we have so many examples of churches that even put the word miracles on their billboard ads (yes, I’ve seen this) and make me want to stay away from such bold promises. But I do know this: God intends to do signs and wonders through his followers.
And a body of believers who have altogether taken up this mantle to be the hands and feet of Jesus is a kingdom outpost for their community.
It’s time for courage in the house of God. There are stories waiting to happen in souls all around us, stories where the plotline points to Jesus. We are no longer in a generation where words are enough. People are longing to see a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.
Let us be those who, with peace, discernment, expectation, and great love, take Jesus at his word—“[You] will do even greater things than these” (John 14:12b).
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, what would it take for our church to become known as a kingdom outpost where we use our spiritual gifts so that people can receive compassionate prayer and experience the nearness of God through gentle and humble ministry? Show me the part I am to play in encouraging this kind of awareness of our role as a community of apprentices of Jesus. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.
JOURNAL PROMPTS
Where in your life have you experienced a church acting like a true outpost of the kingdom of God in their community? Journal about what characteristics made that church so remarkable.
ACTIVATION
Today, pray for your church community to become known as a kingdom outpost for your town or city. Take a prayer walk in the main area of your community, and ask God for keys as to how he might want to use you to touch people there in his name.
SING
Today, we will sing “There Is a Redeemer” (hymn 30) from our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.
NOTE
- Ivan Filby, Livestream: Learning to Minister in the Power of the Holy Spirit (Seedbed Publishing, 2021), 98–100.
For the Awakening,
Dan Wilt
Dan Wilt is an author, communicator, pastor, and practitioner. With roots in the Vineyard stream of churches, Dan has served the development of followers of Jesus internationally and is part of the Seedbed Farm Team.
2 Responses
Upsize Your Faith
When faith is downsized
People are paralyzed
Unwilling to do
What Jesus says to.
Faith without works is
Merely empty words.
Learn to be Spirit led,
Not spiritually dead.
Let Jesus be your Head.
Listen to His voice,
Then go do what He said.
I have found that the ones I am praying for most truly believe that Jesus heals through our prayers. I have seen individuals that truly believe be healed. I have seen the ones that don’t truly believe not healed. I myself I have found I am lead to others or even advertisements for my healing. We have to truly believe, pray then listen and watch for ways we are to be healed. Our Faith and belief is truly a partnership between Jesus and the individual.