Let the Holy Spirit Move In

The problem with the church, and hence believers, is the same thing that Paul saw in the Corinthians church, and that is they were more controlled by the world and their sinful desires than by the Holy Spirit.

“You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?” (1 Corinthians 3:3a)

When Paul looked at the church in Corinth, he wasn’t seeing anything different in them than those outside the faith. Paul didn’t see the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit so he basically asked, “What’s the difference?”

A person had a heart attack one Sunday during the pastor’s sermon. When the paramedics arrived the pastor was still preaching. As they were leaving the usher heard one paramedic say, “We had to pick up six people before we found the right one.”

Someone said that a lot of churches are like decaffeinated coffee. They look like the real thing, but with no energy or oomph. This may be why over 3,500 churches close every year.

The average church in America is 75 people, and 85 percent of them are either plateaued or on the decline. But Living Waters Fellowship is bucking that trend. We’ve been growing every year and need to expand real soon. We have people coming to know Jesus or rededicating their lives on a regular basis.

And it’s not from anything we’re doing; rather it’s what God is doing in our midst. And the neat thing is God wants to do so much more.

Jesus said that while Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10a), He has come to do the exact opposite and in spades.

“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10b NKJV)

So the question becomes, “Which side of the comma do we want to live? Do we want to live or really live? Do we want to just exist or thrive?”