Last night we had our first "IGNITE" service for our church youth and young adults. The purpose of this service is to create an atmosphere for the young people of Life Outreach Church to learn to surrender themselves to God's presence, increase their passion for the things of God, and see them released into their God-given powerful purpose. We opened the service with a time of praise and worship geared towards them. The sound was super loud, the band gave it all they had (I think I may have seen smoke coming off the electric guitars and drums at one point), and the singers were pushing in hard for God's presence. The lighting was changed to reflect off the platform in vibrant, changing colours and oh, the smoke machine!!! (Occasional poofs shot out smoke that created a cloud that seemed to dance through the lights.)
In spite of all efforts to make it seem youthful - they still had to choose wether or not to worship God in this atmosphere. I discovered that sometimes these young people just need a nudge or two in the right direction. Once I gave a couple of bold nudges, they started to put their best effort into worshipping God the way He deserves. Soon after, a few of the girls were called forward to pray. The first girl stated how she felt sick before she came and once she started pressing in, God healed her. At that, some came up for healing in their lives. The young girls stepped out to pray for God's healing power to come.
They started to rise up in the purpose God called them to.
As the service went on, I delivered a message called "4 Principles to Advancing with God"!
I will share more in detail each principle in future posts but here are the general points:
- Lose as much as you can
- Listen to the 'YES' in you
- Stay part of a healthy church body
- Break off limits and break through the crowd
As the message concluded a challenge went forth to all to either be a 'spectator' in God's kingdom or to break through their excuses and limits and cry out to Jesus for more!!! The altar quickly filled up - some had things broken off their lives, passion was stirred, and a couple were on their faces before the Lord. Others went out and prayed for 'freedom' to increase in their friends lives. One man who stayed in his seat had tears streaming down his face. It was obvious there was some deep healing taking place. I know some had more intense encounters than others....but, I can openly say for any who genuinely called upon Jesus Christ, He showed up in a powerful way!
The mission of the night was to see the ministry of the Holy Spirit happening in people's lives. Yay, "Mission Accomplished" ~ Thanks Jesus, you are awesome!!!!
Set ablaze for Jesus Christ,
Sheri Deobald
Sheri Deobald
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