Galatians 2:20 (NLT): My old self has been crucified with Christ.It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The House of God is a place to come to be refreshed. It is a place where the Holy Spirit moves; to convict where conviction is needed; to bring change where needed; and to refresh the believers. When we make room for the Spirit, He moves on our behalf.

There are four aspects of the House where one can encounter God and His Spirit:
–Fellowship: God moves in friendship; no one can truly survive the trials of life alone, we need friends to walk beside us and hold us up.
–Worship: We encounter God in worship. The worship leaders worship; they lead us into worship, and it is there that we encounter God.
–The Word: the Word is preached in this church. No matter who is speaking, they are speaking from the Word. The seed is scattered, and when it hits your heart and takes root, your world will change.
–The Alter: The supernatural happens on the alter. Healing, repentance, freed–it all happens here.

Now, the Spirit of God empowered Jesus. Wherever Jesus went, the Spirit went with Him. W have a spirit in us–upon conception, something eternal was created in the physical. It is part of being made in the image of God. That spirit part is the part that will never die. The human body will die, but the spirit will live on. When we are born in the physical, we are born into a fallen world; God waits for us to come to Him for a rebirth into the supernatural. This happens upon accepting Jesus’ sacrifice. When we come to that point, we encounter the Holy Spirit and are filled with Him!

Jesus was reunited with the Holy Spirit upon His baptism. From then on, Jesus and the Holy Spirit worked hand in hand to reach the World. Jesus would withdraw to pray. He, The Holy Spirit, and God would be one for a little while, then Jesus would return to perform the miracles growing inside of Him. The Holy Spirit would work through Him to change people’s lives. And when Jesus died the physical death on the cross, it was the Spirit that brought Him back three days later.

Then, in John 20:22, Jesus imparted the Spirit to His disciples. It was like receiving a new toy; they weren’t certain what to do with it, but they went for it anyway! They followed Jesus example: they went to pray. And when they prayed, the Spirit showed up! (The Spirit is in us; the Spirit fills the room around us.) Then, Peter–the disciple known for sticking his foot in his mouth–stood and preached! He was a fisherman! yet, when the Spirit came upon him, he did something he had never done before–he spoke with power, eloquence, authority, and theological accuracy! When the Spirit comes upon you, you do things you never would have done before! And what’s more, Peter already had boldness; the Spirit used his boldness to bring honor and glory to God! The Spirit takes what you already have and magnifies it for use in the Kingdom! He takes you into things you’ve never done and uses the gifts you already have! It is all for the benefit of the Kingdom!

The Holy Spirit is powerful! And He empowers us to perform miracles! He is in us! In every aspect of who we are. Paul said it in Galatians. It is no longer we who live, but Christ’s SPIRIT lives in us. He is in our hands, our minds, our hearts, and our feet. Where we go, He goes. And where the Spirit goes, there is also freedom! The Spirit brings freedom.

As God is three in one–God, Jesus, Holy Spirit–so, too, is humanity. We are created with a body, a soul, and a spirit. All three parts are sanctified when we accept Christ as our Savior. We commune spirit to Spirit with God through the relationship established by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead. It is in our spirit that we feel God the most. However, there are days when we don’t feel particularly spiritual. That is when we engage all three parts to seek God again.

All things of God engage all three aspects of who we are. The human body struggles to submit to the spirit. The soul is the battle ground where we battle our broken sin nature with its corrupted thoughts and propensity to lean towards the ungodly with the new nature God gave us upon Salvation. These two aspects of who we are, the parts we sometimes feel is what makes us less godly, are parts that have also been sanctified by God. And when we feel less spiritual, we engage these two parts to stir the spirit: We go to our God Zone.

The God Zone is prayer. We pray. We physically take ourselves to a place of solitude. We pour out our souls before God. We pray and seek Him; we seek His will. And our spirits are revived. God said in Joel that He
would pour His spirit out on all people, and they would Prophesy! In the God Zone, we engage that gifting. All three aspects of humanity come together in prophesy. The spirit stirs–whether upon hearing bad news or seeing something tragic or whatever else–and the body and soul engage.

Prophesy is speaking out truth into your world or into the worlds of others. You literally speak. The power of God manifests in speech. God spoke and the world came into being. When we speak, we change our worlds. Good or bad; believer or non-believer; as long as you have faith in what you are saying, it will happen. This principle goes across the board. Imagine what would happen if you align your words and belief with God’s Word? The Word of God is the Power of God. When we align ourselves with His Word and speak HIS truths into our worlds, great things happen. What He promises comes to pass.

When you speak His truths over your world, your world is changed. You can speak His truths over the worlds of your family and friends, over your situations, over your finances, over everything! That is prophecy. Speaking into the future changes the future for the better! Speaking GOD into your future opens the doors for HIM to do what He does best: Be Awesome! He will go above and beyond your expectations! So, speak out in faith! Believe it! Engage your body, soul, and spirit, and let God move.

Vision is what drives us. If we don’t have vision, we go nowhere. As a man thinks, so he becomes.

You can only go so far without Divine power. Man’s wisdom only goes so far. When we reach our limits, and don’t want to accept defeat, we need to go to prayer. The only thing that can do anything is God, and we have his power inside of us when we give our live to Christ. There is nothing more powerful spiritually than when you give your heart to God.

The doorway into the power of God is the understanding of the promises of God- the Bible. If you don’t understand the words of God, then you will not understand the power of God. It is our job to get into the Bible, and get to know what God says about our lives. Stuff is going to happen in our lives; we are going to get challenged. We need to put the promises from the Bible into practice in our lives. When we step over into the supernatural, we are unstoppable.

Everyone has choices to make. Even Jesus had to make the right choices regarding temptations. We must choice, daily, to go with the right choice, or the wrong choice. Only you can make that choice for yourself. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, the Bible comes alive within you- not only written on the pages, but living inside of your heart. The Holy Spirit leads you into truth. He is there to help you make the right choices.

The power to make the right choices, get bold, and get confidence is found in your greatest trial. In the midst of the battle comes the power- when you tap into the supernatural of God’s strength. Know what the Bible says about you and be able to find where it is. In knowing what is said about you, and being able to quote it, you are able to make the right choices for all temptations sent your way.

God wants to anoint you with things and He has assignments to give you. Your job is to get in that assignment and do what God has appointed you to do. Get up off your butt, and use your gifts. Use your gifts to change the world you live in. if you do that, then your world will fall together.

When you came to Christ, you stepped into a new world, but don’t stop there. Keep marching on, through that great trial that seems impossible. You will come out greater than ever.

Get filled with the Holy Spirit. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, it’s all love. Love for people, love for God, and love for yourself. It’s all about love.

The difference between an adult and child is responsibility. The assumption and acceptance of responsibility will make you grow up fast. Sons and daughters bear the genetic code of the house. They are part of the structure of the house. They provide strength to hold the house up and hold up the people of the house. Daughters and sons take responsibility for the house and serve the house. Whatever is going on in the house, they get into it.

“Flourishing in their youth” also translates into “grown up in their youth”. One of the greatest catalysts for growth in the house comes when we serve in the house and accept responsibility for our lives. We decide that want to be part of the army. Our Christianity gets a context. “I want to be a son who serves – not just one who sits at the table and takes.” All of us have gifts inside that need expression. The house is the place in which these gifts are released.

You will never discover the meaning of your life until you serve. Servanthood is the key to the kingdom. It equips you to serve God. Serve others, serve the small to serve God and the greater vision. God says that if He can trust us with the small, He will trust us with the great. Through servanthood, you discover that life is not about you – it is about serving God and others. Once you get this revelation, it will transform your whole world. Serve Jesus and he gives you life and abundance.

Your vision has the power to create a future. Never underestimate the power of a vision in your mind. A lot of people who want to go toward abundance, prosperity, but they are going toward poverty and failure in their mindset. You can change your future with your mindset. Without a vision, people perish. It is a hope. Hope is the anticipation of something good. Having a vision also requires commitment coming up behind to support the vision. Vision feeds on the level of commitment supporting it. Commitment feeds vision, helps it come to pass. Get the vision from God. Don’t tarry – wait for it. It will surely come.

“May our barns be filled with crops of every kind.” – every time you get a chance, sow a seed in the house. When you give, you will reap crops of every kind.

“May the flocks in our fields multiply by the thousands, even tens of thousands” – May the believers flourish in the house so that they will be empowered and released to bring others into the house, growing the flock.

“May our oxen be loaded down with produce” – May our pastors and leaders be in abundance, and have the resources to carry the burden of the house, reach the lost and release believers to go forth and expand the Kingdom.

“May there be no enemy breaking through our walls” – the only way in to the church is through Jesus.

“No cries of distress, no forced exile – yes happy in are the people whose God is the Lord!”

This is the picture of a mission-shaped, Holy Spirit led church. This is our vision for our church.