Supernatural Introduction

Introduction

General intro about meCarolyn Moore: is the founding and lead pastor of Mosaic Church in Evans, Georgia.

Asbury Seminary alumni

Seedbed author

artofholiness.com

One of the more important teachers of our time and her voice is very important in the Methodist world. I have been profoundly impacted by her leadership.

This study is her wheelhouse, this is where she is contributing in incredible ways. So it is one thing to take someone’s bible study....it is another thing altogether to study with the teacher that is right central to her calling, passion, and experience.

Today, I needed to get books to you. I want to tease out the study a little and get us thinking about where we are.

Scripture

Acts 2:1–4 NIV

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Remember these three movements of the Spirit at Pentecost. I want to introduce you to movements of the Spirit in church history. We will use these three to frame it:

Blowing of a Violent Wind

Tongues of Fire

Speaking in other tongues

The Blowing of a Violent Wind: Spirit Movement for the People

Wittenburg, Germany 16th century. Awakening of the Holy Spirit

Catholic church was the most powerful entity in the world

At this point, most Europeans would meet no more than 1 person all of their life that could read the bible—it was in Latin and only the priests could read Latin

Saved through a priest

You would have to give as much money as you could

You would have to confess over and over again to a priest

You could not read the word of God but had to trust the priest about scripture

Enter Martin Luther

As he studied scripture he became certain by God’s word that all of this was jacked up.

Saved by faith alone….not through a priest, but because of faith in Jesus

We can never be good enough to earn salvation. Not by giving, not by confession to a priest every day of your life, but simply knowing God’s word, repentance of sin, and following Christ

October 31, 1517 95 theses

Translated the bible into German….2000 different publishings from Luther…like twitter wildfire

With translations of the bible every person could know this truth

Awakening of the Holy Spirit that brought salvation to the world.

Tongues of Fire: Revival in Power

John Wesley - Anglican priest. 18th century travels to the colonies on mission. He feels he is being called as a missionary to the colonists and more particularly the native Americans. Things go terribly wrong and after years in the mission field he nearly dies of a broken heart and illness because he feels he has failed. On the ship home a terrible storm overtook them. On that ship was a group of Christians called the Moravians. In the middle of a terrible storm as Wesley feels he is going to die. The Moravians are singing and praising God as if they have no fear of dying. Wesley is enamored and taken back by their faith. He feels that he does not have this assurance of faith. So Wesley returns to England and begins this pursuit of assurance of faith…of an awakening. On May 24, 1738 Wesley as a powerful experience of the Holy Spirit bringing him this assurance of faith.

Wesley becomes convinced that the Spirit of God can take away sin in a Christians life and that this message is for all people. A couple of months later he is meeting

Jan 1, 1739 New Years in London. 6 months after Wesley’s aldersgate experience. John, Charles and George Whitfield are praying together: suddenly the Holy Spirit comes on them mightily and they leave that prayer meeting changed people.

That very year: John Wesley began his field preaching career and England would never be the same

That very year: 50 of Charles Wesley’s hymns were published and he would write 6,000 more after that point

That very year: George Whitfield made his 1st voyage to America and his preaching in Philadelphia was such that it moved the whole city to the point that Benjamin Franklin wrote: “It seems as if the whole world is turning religious.”

This powerful awakening was the FIRE of the Holy Spirit. Because of this awakening, particularly at the hands of the Wesley’s Christians began to meet together in prayer meetings weekly. The small group meetings were meant to be a mode that would allow Christians to work out their faith. Convinced that God could truly transform us.

Speaking in other Tongues: Miracles

1906 – the son of freed slaves, a one-eye preacher William Seymour came and preached at a church in L.A. California. He began preaching on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. After 1 sermon, he was locked out of the church. He found a house to begin preaching and fasting and praying for God to do a new thing. For God to awaken the people of the church. The Holy Spirit began to fill people in powerful ways. People began to prophecy and speak in angelic tongues. Healings took place, reports of a man with no arm being prayed for and his arm growing back. Lifelong illnesses cured. Many many miracles. The revival lasted almost 10 years and was the birth of the Pentecostal church. They sent missionaries around the world and you can trace flourishing Christianity from all over Latin America and Africa to this 1900 revival.

God poured out his Holy Spirit….remember out Acts text…and they began to speak in languages that were not their own.

Stories of Awakening

I love these stories, they are inspirational and bring me chills just imagining what it would be like to be caught up in it all. However, it also kind of drives me nuts. Why them, why then? Why not now?

Where do you go when you think of these stories?

(Let them consider for a few moments, interact)

Some of us, it is immediately to a place of skepticism, or rationalizing away parts of it.

Some of us put it aside in a category that we just do not know what to do with it.

Do you think the Spirit still moves in the ways of the Bible, or do you believe that is reserved for a different time, different people, different circumstance?

What Supernatural experiences have you witnessed?

Supernatural Class

What you need:

Workbook

5 days per week to study

Prayer Journal

Be ready to be uncomfortable

How you engage will determine what comes in this season. If you marginally lean into this, sure you will learn a little about biblical perspective of the Holy Spirit and the supernatural. But if you lean in more....

Each day should not take you long to read, but sit with it a little. Engage with the prayer and write in your journal.

We will watch Carolyn provide short teaching every week and then discuss.

Next week, we will not meet. You have two weeks to do 5 lessons.

Prayer for openness.