St. Mark’s
Presence, Prophecy, and Power
By Rev Gav
I have a confession to make. You may have thought I was a church minister serving in the Anglican Church of Bermuda, and that I am the Associate Priest of St. Mark’s Church in Smith’s Parish, but in reality, I run a local dating agency. If you could sum up my role and vocation and everything I work for and towards, it would be that my job is simply to set up dates — dates between people and God.
In my weekly articles and sermons, I spend a lot of time explaining theology — stuff about God, expounding the Bible, and the mechanisms of doctrines such as salvation, and so on, however — and this is important — at the end of the day, people do not want to hear about God, they want to meet with God. The Gospel is not an ideology or a way of life, it is a person and you can meet this person in here and now. And this is where I come in, for my job is simply to set up meetings where you can both get together.
Everything I do as a minister, and everything we do as a church at St. Mark’s is about this one thing: enabling people to encounter Jesus and be sustained in this encounter. Our words, our songs, our gatherings, our ceremonies, our buildings, our spaces, all of it, is to enable people to meet with God, and I and others can testify that, when invited, God shows up.
The reality is that the Spirit of God is in the world and can minister to our deepest needs and commune with us on every level. When we meet with God, the Spirit brings to us three things: presence, prophecy, and power.
The first thing the Spirit brings us is the comforting nearness or presence of God. If I am counselling someone or praying with someone, the first thing I do is ask the Holy Spirit to come into their lives and situation. It is a moving thing to witness someone experiencing God’s love. They often feel overwhelmed, cry, laugh, or experience a sense of supernatural peace, even in the midst of their troubles. This is the presence of God. It is no wonder that in the Bible, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit ‘the Comforter’.
The second thing the Spirit of God brings us is the ability to see the world with God’s eyes. As we connect ourselves to the source of all life, we ourselves become shaped and transformed from the inside out. This is what we call prophecy. Prophecy is not divination or about predicting the future, but more about seeing how the world could be when God’s will is welcomed (and what it is like when it is ignored). Prophecy is allowing God’s light — God’s radiance, splendour, and glory — to shine both in our own lives and in the world around us. Staying plugged into God or tuned into the Spirit, has massive implications for our relationships, and how we interact with and care for our world.
The third thing the Spirit brings us is power. The presence of God and the knowledge of God, wonderful as they are, are like having a car with an engine but never driving it. We are called to go out into the world, not in our own strength but equipped in the strength that comes from God. God has the power to transform lives, to cleanse people from sin, to heal through forgiveness, and to pour into us an overflowing love. Like learning to drive, as we practise, we get better and better at ministering to others through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We live in a world in great need, and even in our local community, there is so much pain and stress in people’s lives. Most of us put on a brave face to the world, and it is a bit like wearing make-up, making us look a bit ‘better’ and concealing our flaws, yet underneath the foundation and cosmetics are people, including me, with broken relationships, loneliness, past traumas, bereavement and loss, financial issues, and physical and mental health problems. Our real and compassionate God longs to get alongside us and to bind up our wounds and heal us, and this is where we, as Christians, come in.
When we encounter someone in need, as ambassadors of Jesus Christ, we see them with God’s eyes, get alongside them, invite God to be present with them, and invite God into their situation — to heal them and restore them. And it is not just the job of us ministers to do this (although we are paid to do so) because any Christian, open to the Holy Spirit of God, is called and equipped to be a minister of Jesus Christ.
Today, if you are able, invite God into your heart, and God will come and make her home with you. She will meet you where you are and minister to your deepest need, and if you would like to meet with me at St. Mark’s, to chat or to pray, our door is always open.
I will leave you with these words from a song, a song that speaks of the presence, prophecy, and power of God through the Spirit.
May God bless you.
Rev Gav
Be still, for the presence of the Lord,
The holy One, is here;
Come bow before him now
With reverence and fear
In him no sin is found
We stand on holy ground.
Be still, for the presence of the Lord,
The holy One, is here.
Be still, for the glory of the Lord
Is shining all around;
He burns with holy fire,
With splendour he is crowned:
How awesome is the sight
Our radiant king of light!
Be still, for the glory of the Lord
Is shining all around.
Be still, for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place:
He comes to cleanse and heal,
To minister his grace –
No work too hard for him.
In faith receive from him.
Be still, for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place.