A few Sundays ago here at Transformation Christian Fellowship, we had an amazing worship experience, truly a Sunday to remember! Granted, every worship experience here at TCF is amazing, but this one was extra special! What made it so special? God completely ruined my plans and replaced them with His own agenda! I was scheduled to preach on the last Sunday of November! Notice I used the word “scheduled”. Back in October, Pastor Brandon told me that I would be preaching on the first and last Sundays of November. I had already preached back in July so I was excited to bring the Word again to the partners and guests of TCF. The 1st Sunday of November went as scheduled: I preached a message entitled “On Faith I Stand”! With one of two scheduled messages already done, I was more than ready to release a second one to the congregation! Then, Sunday morning came…
As I looked over my message, I sensed something unusual in my spirit. I couldn’t explain it thoroughly, but I sensed that God was going to move powerfully in our service that evening, and my already prepared message didn’t seem to fit anywhere in that move! Pastor Brandon confirmed my suspicions when he texted me a few minutes later saying, “I feel something weird in my spirit about service tonight; I’m sensing a prophetic move from God!” I replied saying, “Me too!” He replied, “Be prepared, because you may not preach tonight! You may not say what you’ve already studied!” I immediately started praying; I had no idea how God was going to move, but I was determined to be ready for however He decided to use me! During my prayer time, the presence of the Lord saturated my basement. As I communed with Him, He shared some powerful revelation with me (don’t you love it when God talks back to you?)! After that encounter, I was about 99% convinced that I wasn’t preaching that evening, and oddly enough… I was fine with that!
Fast forward to the beginning of service, and my heart is heavy with anticipation! I’m pleading with God saying, “Lord, please prepare me for what you’re about to do tonight. I just want to be ready” and He tells me, “Just wait on Me!” Praise & worship starts and the Transformation Worship team is lighting the place on fire…not literally, but you get my drift (if you don’t believe me, watch the Moment of Transformation Worship clip on our YouTube page). As we ascended higher in worship, I became 100% convinced that I wasn't preaching that night. To be honest, I had a very brief moment of disappointment: I was really excited to release the message I had prepared! It stirred me up as I was studying, so I knew it was going to do the same for my church family. However, I quickly got over myself: the presence of God was so heavy among us all, and I wasn’t going to miss out by focusing on a message that I could easily preach at another time.
Flowing from praise & worship, Pastor Brandon led us into community prayer, where he prophesied over one of our guests, and me! I woke up that morning ready to deliver a word, but God saw fit to give me a word instead! And it was much needed! Not only did the accuracy of the word break me down, but also the power of God flowing from it! I live for prophetic moments; they serve as a constant reminder to me that God sees, hears, and is in tune with the present reality of my life! From there, Pastor Brandon led us into a time of corporate intercession: no music, no instruments, just the voices of the saints crying out to God, exalting His name, and praying in the Spirit! I couldn’t even describe this encounter to you if I tried; all I can say is that the power of God manifested in an incredible way! As Pastor Brandon began to conclude service, he called me on stage to release the Word of the Lord to the congregation! No pressure, right? Nevertheless, I released what God had been stirring in my spirit all afternoon & evening: “Stop hiding, and expose yourself!” I’ll just let you all reflect on that...
So...what did I learn that Sunday? God runs the program! He’s not obsessed with the order of the service as much as we are! While there’s nothing wrong with having a structured and orderly service, we must remember that we aren’t the ones directing it; God is! We are not the stars of the show; God is! We follow His lead, not our own! We are simply vessels that have the distinct privilege of being used by Him! We cannot be so confined to the structure and order of a service that we don’t leave room for God to move however He sees fit! Pastors and ministers of the gospel: I know that you spend countless hours preparing messages every week, but you must be open to receive and deliver new revelation from God! You must be sensitive enough to discern when He’s going off script, excuse me, YOUR script! Worship leaders: I know that you spend countless hours assembling that setlist every week, but you must be open to receive and release new songs from the Lord, ones that can’t be found or heard on any recording! As believers, we should come to church expecting God to move in new, supernatural ways! One of the reasons why the church has become so stagnant is because we’ve stopped believing God for the impossible, the intangible, and the indescribable! The very fact that He is alive & indestructible qualifies Him to do the impossible in our lives! If you'd agree, some of the most powerful and memorable moments of our lives were the ones that went off-script…