And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Ezekiel 36:27 NIV
I grew up attending that kind of little church in the middle of nowhere. You know the one . . . it’s the type of church that is in every book about a small town which no one really thinks exists. It was a great church but the congregation was very, very small! So small in fact that we would have one service in the morning and would combine with a sister church for a second service in the evening.
The church we went to in the evening was still small by most standards but seemed considerably larger to me than our “morning church”. I think this church would be a bit of a culture shock for anyone used to today’s contemporary services without hymnals, and where the services clipps along at a predetermined pace. Not at this church. We would grab hymnals and sing, not to a fancy worship band but to the sound of the piano, a guitar or two, a violin, a couple of mandolins, and perhaps a flute—whatever instrument anyone could play would sound forth from the front pews of the church!
After singing there was prayer—and this is not the staid prayer of many churches. No, this was a vast chorus of many different voices praying out loud until the prayer leader said amen. Sometimes there was no time for preaching as people would be at the altar praying as burdens were heavy. (This is when the service timeline might go off the rails.) Oftentimes we would be invited to testify—to share what God was doing in their lives. People would testify how money for a bill had miraculously appeared; about a medical threat could no longer be found; how this prayer or that prayer had been answered. One person would finish and another would pop up—not every week—some weeks were quiet with one or two people sharing and other weeks the preaching part of the service would be skipped entirely as everyone had so much praise to offer! You simply cannot cut people off who are praising God and sharing what He is doing in their life! On those occasions our Pastor would say he simply could not top that! I don’t know why churches don’t do this today.
There were some saintly elderly people in the congregation and they are the ones I remember and miss the most. We might be in the testifying part of the service, if they felt the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they didn’t hold back! They would stand and shout, “Glory to God!” One of the older gentlemen would run a lap or two around the church shouting, “Praise and Glory to God, well I say Hallelujah!” These people were filled with the Holy Spirit!
I know these things might sound a little odd when compared to most church services these days—and if you don’t currently attend church and this sounds a little fanatical, please don’t let this dissuade you—most churches are not like this. I share this to say let us not become so attached to our schedules and what is expected that we don’t leave room for the Holy Spirit to work.
This is not just for church and the church services. What other times in your life does the Holy Spirit prompt you to do something? Do you need to share a hard time that you went through with another Christian to encourage them? Do you need to step out and invite someone to church for the first time? These things can be scary and uncomfortable but sharing the faith is what Christian life is all about. It doesn’t have to be something big, but the next time you feel an overwhelming impulse to share something with someone and you don’t feel like the thought came from you—do it! You never know how it could change someone’s life and impact them for years to come!