Wednesday Night: 7:00 PM
Our Wednesday night gatherings are at Ted & Sherri's home. Everyone is invited. (Click here for directions.)
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Our mid-week service centers around the presence of God and learning how to personally walk and minister in His presence.
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. -- Matthew 28:18-20
From the moment God spoke to me in my history class in high school it has been my desire to personally know Him better, walk in the manifested presence of God and help others to do the same.
The primary goal of In His Presence is to help train disciples to fear God, hear God and obey God. This teaches them to walk in the Spirit and the manifested presence and power of God.
Simple Progression
The fear of the Lord leads to hearing the Lord which leads to obeying the Lord which leads to the manifestation of the Lord which is a tangible evidence of His presence.
Foundation Stones
In His Presence is built on certain foundation “stones”. These stones are scriptural truths dealing with the presence of God and how they relate to born again Christians.
It has always been God’s desire to manifest His presence in the midst of His people. Beginning with Adam and proceeding to the present day, God has always desired fellowship with us. Now, through Christ’s finished work and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Christians have the privilege to live and move and have their being in the presence of God. In essence, all born again Christians are priests of the Most High God and may serve in His presence.
If tHis is so, then why is there powerlessness in the body of Christ? I believe the answer is twofold:
1. Many Christians have never been taught about God’s presence
2. Many Christians do not know how to live and minister in God’s presence
The Importance of God’s Presence
Moses knew the importance of the manifested presence of God:
“How will anyone know that You are pleased with me and with Your people unless You go with us? What else will distinguish me and Your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" -- Exodus 33:16
David knew the importance of the manifested presence of God:
Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. -- Psalm 51:11
I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. -- Psalm 61:2
Jesus knew the importance of the manifested presence of God:
Below are three of many examples of Jesus speaking of His Father’s presence:
So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working." For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. Yes, to your amazement He will show Him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent Him. -- John 5:16-23
“I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father." -- John 8:38
“Do not believe Me unless I do what My Father does.” -- John 10:37
The disciples knew the importance of the manifested presence of God:
You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached — how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him. -- Acts 10:37, 38
The apostle Paul summed it up this way:
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. -- 1 Corinthians 4:20
After Jesus ascended to heaven the disciples were commanded to wait until they received the manifested presence of God in the Holy Spirit before they carried out their mission. Just like Moses, they knew that without God’s manifested presence they would be no different than all the other peoples of the world.
And, hopefully, we will know and live in the manifested presence of God as well.
Jesus said to His disciples, and now also to us:
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” -- Matthew 28:20
Do you believe He is with you?
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Living in the Manifested Presence of God
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him.” -- John 14:23
If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. -- 1 John 1:6,7
We are God’s ambassadors in the earth. By ourselves we can accomplish nothing but with God we can accomplish anything. He desires to make Himself known through us. Listed below are just some of the ways God manifests His presence through us:
The manifestation of God’s presence through His love (agape):
- Love is patient
- Love is kind
- Love does not envy
- Love does not boast
- Love is not proud
- Love is not rude
- Love is not self-seeking
- Love is not easily angered
- Love keeps no record of wrongs
- Love does not delight in evil
- Love rejoices with the truth
- Love always protects
- Love always trusts
- Love always hopes
- Love always perseveres
- Love never fails
The fruit of the manifestation of God’s Spirit:
- The fruit of the Spirit is love
- The fruit of the Spirit is joy
- The fruit of the Spirit is peace
- The fruit of the Spirit is patience
- The fruit of the Spirit is kindness
- The fruit of the Spirit is goodness
- The fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness
- The fruit of the Spirit is gentleness
- The fruit of the Spirit is self-control
The manifestation of God’s presence through His wisdom:
- God’s wisdom is pure
- God’s wisdom is peace-loving
- God’s wisdom is considerate
- God’s wisdom is submissive
- God’s wisdom is full of mercy
- God’s wisdom is full of good fruit
- God’s wisdom is impartial
- God’s wisdom is sincere
- God’s wisdom is peacemaking
- God’s wisdom is reaps a harvest of righteousness
The manifestation of God’s presence through His charismata:
- Manifestation of Words of Knowledge
- Manifestation of Words of Wisdom
- Manifestation of Faith
- Manifestation of Healing
- Manifestation of Miracles
- Manifestation of Prophecy
- Manifestation of Discerning of Spirits
- Manifestation of Speaking in Tongues
- Manifestation of Interpreting Tongues
What the Manifestation of God’s Presence Means
- The manifestation of God’s presence means we will walk in His Spirit and not carry out the desires of the flesh.
- The manifestation of God’s presence means we will do our Father’s will and not our own will.
- The manifestation of God’s presence means we will walk in His authority and not our own authority.
- The manifestation of God’s presence means we will walk in His power and not our own strength.
- The manifestation of God’s presence means we will listen to His voice and not to other voices.
- The manifestation of God’s presence means we will preserve knowledge and not add to or take away from God’s revelation.
- The manifestation of God’s presence means we will give all glory and honor to Him and not to ourselves.
To put it simply, the fear of the Lord results in the manifested presence of God which results in the glorification of God.
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When we walk in the fear of the Lord and live in the manifested presence of God we will be effective ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. This results in things like:
- Freedom
- Sharing the Good News
- Sharing what God has done for you (your testimony)
- Salvation
- Visiting those in prison
- Visiting those in the hospital
- Feeding the hungry
- Clothing the naked
- Satisfying the thirsty
- Healing the sick
- Casting out demons
- Raising the dead
- Equipping the saints
- and so on...
When the body of Christ is walking in the fear of the Lord and the manifestation of His presence the body recognizes God’s true apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Then the body is led by those who are led by Christ.
When a church is walking in the fear of the Lord and the manifestation of His presence there is comfort, protection and manifested power for God’s people.
When a family is walking in the fear of the Lord and the manifestation of His presence there is comfort, protection and manifested power for the family.
Does this type of life interest you? Is there a longing in your soul to walk in the light as He is in the light and have fellowship with God?
Remember: all we’re really talking about is fearing God, hearing God and obeying God. Shouldn't we be saying to others what Jesus said:
“Do not believe me unless I do what My Father does.”
Please join us as we learn the fear of the Lord and how to live and minister in God’s presence.
-- Pastor Chris