The Apostolic-Prophetic mantle over our ministry gives every believer the opportunity to experience the fullness of the Lord under the guidance of Holy Spirit. For some of our visitors, this may be the first time you've experienced in this manner. As a result, we want to share with you those things you might experience. They include:
You will also see our children actively participating in the worship service. For some, this may seem like a distraction but for our church family this is an opportunity for our children to discover who they are as worshippers before a Holy God. Parents with infants, toddlers and older children are always encouraged to express themselves in the Lord.
Worship is our response to God for who He is and what He has done for us in Jesus Christ. The focus of our worship is God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are called to express our love and adoration to God. We are privileged to do so; thus, worship is an end in itself; the highest of all calls.
Worship allows the believer the opportunity to interact with the Father individually and corporately. The call to worship follows the heavenly pattern. Revelation 4:8 tells us that there are created beings whose sole purpose is to offer praise and worship day and night without ceasing. This is a heavenly pattern that should be duplicated on earth.
The importance of worship cannot be over emphasized. Worship must become the number one priority of all believers. “All of history is moving toward one great goal, the white-hot worship of God and His Son among all the peoples of the earth.” –Let the Nations be Glad p.15 Worship brings us into intimate communion with the Father. It allows us to realize that our existence is all about God and not about us. Worship humbles us so that we can acknowledge God and God alone is the center of all creation. He must increase and we must decrease.
Worship takes on many forms. It demands personal involvement and expression. Though the outward expression is meaningless to the Father if the heart is not right. God is looking for participators not spectators.
Many have questions about this topic. They want to know why do people sometimes fall down when they are prayed for? What is happening to them? Is it biblical? The following is a condensed version of an article by Pastor Eddie that gives biblical evidences to support what we are seeing.
When people are invited to the altar for prayer, you will see a number of things happening. You may see people taking a bottle of oil and pouring a small amount of oil on their hand. After pouring the oil, they will place their hands on the person being prayed for. There is no magic in the oil. We are following the instructions laid out in James 5:14 .
Some people may fall to the ground. They are not hurt; the Holy Spirit overwhelms them. There are many verses in scripture where the presence of the Lord made it impossible to stand. (I Kings 8:10-11 , II Chron 5:13 , Exod. 40:34-35 , Acts 9:3-4 , Acts 10:9-11 , Acts 22:17 , John 18:4-6 )
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, God used signs and wonders to confirm His word and His anointed. (Acts 2:22, Mark 16:20)
Here, the scripture breaks the supernatural manifestation of God into three separate categories: miracles, signs, and wonders. There are no scriptures that define or limit God as to the way He chooses to demonstrate His power. (Heb. 2:4)
My personal experience with falling out in the Spirit has always been the inability to stand. All strength leaves my legs, and I simply collapse. The first time this happened, I cried before the Lord. Then a tremendous peace flooded my entire being.
Many people have learned to respond to the presence of the Lord by yeilding and falling. Some, like myself, are just unable to stand. (It would not have mattered whether there was someone there to catch or not: we would have fallen.) I have known many people to be out for hours and notknow what was going on. I have known people to see visions, have personal revelation, be healed, and many other wonderful manifestations. To explain it would be like trying to explain the wind. I know it's real, and it's wonderful.
Is everyone who falls really under the power of the Holy Spirit? I sincerely doubt everyone that falls is real. There are some who simply fall as a courtesy to the one praying, but who knows which are real and which are false. The point is that many who fall under the power are experiencing the very real presence of the Holy Spirit of God. It is not my job to judge who is and who isn't real. It is not about falling down. It is about being transformed by the presence of God.
At Southside Christian Fellowship , we use the shofar during celebratory worship. We do not believe there is anything mystical or magical about the shofar. We simply are using it as an expression of worship; During the blowing of the shofar there can be very distinct sounds:
Tekiah is the sound of the King's coronation. And now, the shofar proclaims to ourselves and to the world: God is our King. It isn't enough that Christ is MY King alone. If ALL humanity doesn't recognize Christ as King, then there is something lacking in my own relationship with the Father. Part of my love for Jesus is to help guide all people to an appreciation of Him.
Shevarim - three medium, wailing blasts - is the sobbing heart, yearning to connect and to grow. Every Christian has the potential to change and be great. This can be accomplished much faster than you ever dreamed of. Don't let yourself be constrained by the past. You know you have enormous potential. At the moment the shofar is blown, we cry out to God from the depths of the soul. This is the moment when our souls stand before the Almighty in an open heaven.
Teruah - nine quick blasts in short succession - resembles an alarm clock, arousing us from our spiritual slumber. The shofar brings clarity, alertness, and focus to our call as Christians. God wants us to make an honest effort to maximize and utilize the gifts He gave us. You aren't expected to be anything you're not. But you can't hoodwink God, either.
The shofar was sounded:
and...
At the return of Jesus, the Messiah. "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." (I Thessalonians 4:16-18 NKJV)