Naturally Supernatural

Connection/Tension

Open with prayer guide...

New series Vineyard 101: Finding Identity in our Distinctives.

Show Joel’s video...

Like Joel mentioned, one of the things I most love about the Vineyard movement is not simply that we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to change lives today, but the way we carry this belief. I was raised in a conservative southern church. After Julie and I graduated from college we moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma and began attending a Bible church. This Bible church was made up of people who had left the Southern Baptist church because they thought they were too liberal!

We loved that church and the people in it. We are forever indebted to them for helping two young Christians get their head on straight about marriage, family, and how to study the Bible. But one drawback was that they were cessationists - they believed that the supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit ended with the apostles. Originally, I bought into this hook, line, and sinker because they were trustworthy people and I didn’t know any better.

Their downfall, however, was that they did teach us how to study the Bible. And as I studied the Bible - in the way they taught me! - I came to the conclusion that their beliefs about the Holy Spirit were wrong. I started becoming a closet charismatic. I became open to the idea of the Holy Spirit still being active today, yet at the same time, when I looked at the Pentecostal and charismatic church of the time, I knew I could never become like them. The obvious showmanship and theatrics, the emotional excesses with people jumping pews and making laps around the building, the way healing and other miracles were practiced with people getting slapped on the head - all of that was off-putting. But then by a providential work of God, I became exposed to the Vineyard movement.

What drew me to the Vineyard right off the bat was that it was firmly committed to the Bible AND to the ministry of the Spirit - yet in a way that was NORMAL. No weird preacher voice. No dramatics. That is the distinctive I want to talk about this morning, which Joel already mentioned, which is that the Vineyard does ministry in a way that is Naturally Supernatural. For us, it means We announce and demonstrate God’s kingdom with authenticity and integrity.

Text

When we say that we are Naturally Supernatural, this is what we mean:

Walking in the Spirit in such a way that  we are aware God’s kingdom could break in at any time. 

Responding to that moment in a natural way, without hype, manipulation, or weirdness.

Doing ministry like Jesus.

The NT is full of examples of Jesus and the apostles doing ministry in this way, but I’m going to go with the first example that came to mind. It’s the first recorded healing by the apostles after Jesus ascended.

Acts 3:1-10

Looking at this text, I want to answer the question, “What does it look like to walk naturally supernatural?”

We expect God’s kingdom to come in our everyday routines

Peter and John, as all good Jews, were going up during one of the set hours of prayer. I won’t take the opportunity to talk about the validity of set prayers and set times of prayer...

The point is that they are doing their normal stuff. At this time, Jewish believers in Jesus are still keeping to their regular routines. That includes going up to the Temple to pray at certain times, attending synagogue, and just the normal things of life like shopping, eating with friends, etc. The coming of the Spirit didn’t take them out of their regular routine, it infused their regular routine with kingdom possibilities.

The kingdom of God doesn’t lead you out of the world, it leads you into the world with new purpose. As Joel mentioned, in the Vineyard, being naturally supernatural means that we can do the ministry of Jesus in the line at the grocery store, in the school hallway, in the break room at work - every sphere of our life become pregnant with kingdom possibilities. If Come, Holy Spirit is the central prayer liturgy of the Vineyard, then the primary way we work that out in the real world is in the seven word prayer, “Can I pray for you right now?” We take this prayer and God’s empowerment into our regular world. Julie is so good at this...

We learn to notice when God’s kingdom is breaking in

Peter looked intently at the lame man. We don’t know what it was that got his attention. It’s obvious that this man was here before. It’s likely this isn’t the first time Peter saw him. So what changed?

The kingdom of God and the power of the Holy Spirit!  Because of the infilling of the Spirit, Peter and John now had the capacity to see people and situations in a heightened way. They had God-vision. We don’t know exactly what caught their eye. But the HS caused this man to stand out to them as never before, prompting them to understand that he wanted them to do something.

This is something the Spirit regularly does. When preaching in the city of Lystra, the apostle Paul has a similar experience:

Acts 14:8–10 “In Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet and had never walked, for he had been crippled from birth. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. And Paul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And the man sprang up and began to walk.”

Again, we see that Paul looked “intently” at the man. The HS caused Paul to not only notice this man, but with it came an unction that God wanted to heal him. Being naturally supernatural means we look beyond what can be seen on the surface to the real need under the surface. I don’t know about you, but I am guilty any time I am out doing my normal routine, of letting my eyes kind of glaze over, becoming somewhat blind to the people around me because I’m fixated on getting my task done. But the Spirit gives us the capacity to look intently at others.

This is what Peter is doing when he “looks intently” at this lame man. What is this man’s need?  He himself thinks it’s for material resources, and at one level it is. But Peter sees a deeper need that God wants to meet - the reason underneath his material lack. Peter doesn’t say he won’t give him money, only that he has none to give. Providing material resources is A way that the kingdom can be demonstrated to people. But it’s not the only way, and people have needs that exceed any amount of material lack. All the money in the world can’t compensate for someone’s legs or eyes. Often what people most need is what Peter gave to this man - transformation. Physical, emotional, spiritual. Being naturally supernatural means we learn to notice what the Spirit is doing around us.

We administer God’s kingdom through proclamation and activation.

Proclamation is giving the good news about the kingdom of God coming in Jesus. This includes the good news that our sins are forgiven and that we can have eternal life. But it also includes the good news that Jesus is healing the world by delivering people from addiction and demonic oppression, that he is healing minds and bodies, he is breaking the yoke of oppression and restoring people to abundant life. This is really good news.

But then we must invite them to act upon it. That may simply be inviting them to believe in Jesus. But sometimes it means taking them by the hand and lifting them up. This takes courage, and I don’t claim to have it all figured out. But one thing I do know, had Peter not taken the step to reach out and taken this man’s hand - helping him take action on the healing that was proclaimed - I’m pretty sure he would have remained an invalid.

One thing we have to reckon with as we walk naturally supernatural is the sequence of kingdom ministry. We usually want God to show us the power first, then we will step out and act. God says step out first and my power will come. John Wimber used to say, “Faith is spelled R-I-S-K”.

Notice what doesn’t happen as Peter and John walked naturally supernatural: no shouting, no theatrics, no smacking on the head, no emotional manipulation, not weirdness. Just a simple word and the taking of a hand. Proclamation then activation.

The entire ministry of Jesus, with a couple of exceptions, saw God’s kingdom come with a simple word of command and the activation of faith. No hype, no theatrics, no manipulation. What I love about being naturally supernatural is that it puts the cookies on the low shelf. Anyone can do it. It means:

You don’t have to become someone else for God to use you. You don’t need to change your voice or mannerisms. You can act normal, and God will still show up.

You don’t have to feel pressured to perform. No “fake it till you make it”. This keeps our message authentic.

The marketplace becomes the place for ministry, not just inside the Church.

Outsiders don’t feel intimidated or put off by prayer because there’s no weirdness, hype or manipulation. Receptivity to God increases dramatically.

And finally, being naturally supernatural paves the way for people to actually experience God’s loving and healing presence in a way that feels neither threatening nor embarrassing.

Gospel/Response

Last week we looked at the distinctive Come, Holy Spirit and we repented of where we have kept God’s Spirit at arms length, grieving him by our independent attitude and embarrassment of his personhood. We saw that God wants to fill us with his presence.

But he also wants to fill us with his empowerment. We have been ignorant of the power available to us through the Spirit. We have be paralyzed with fear, uncertainty, or apathy. We have believed the lie that this kind of ministry is only available to Christian superstars. And so we have been left paralyzed beside the road, being content with begging a few spiritual alms from God along the way. God’s word to us this morning is the same as Peter’s word to this lame man: Rise and walk.

This morning the Spirit wants to activate you for ministry. He is the gift of the Father bestowed because of the victory of the Son. The Spirit is God’s gift to you. He blessing. His promise. His filling. The Spirit is awakening a longing - maybe new, maybe an old one - to be more engaged in the kingdom. To have eyes to see what the Spirit is doing, and boldness to take a risk to participate. This morning I feel led to pray for anyone who wants it to be filled with the Spirit. Paul wrote to the Ephesian church to “keep on being filled with the Spirit.” Maybe you’ve been filled a hundred times, maybe never before. But I’d like us to spend our remaining time praying for anyone who would like to be filled afresh with God’s Spirit and released in ministry in a new way.