The Holy Trinity Baptist Church
The Irresistible Church
Trait 1: An Irresistible Church Hungers for the Presence of God. (Psalm 42)
What comes to your mind when you hear this statement, “You are more concerned with the
absence of rain than you are about the presence of God.” (p.25)
Cordeiro says, “Without His (God’s) presence, a sunny filled-sky would only make it that-a
sunny day. But with His presence, even a rainy morning could be the beginning of a revival that
would transform the islands.” Bad weather does not stop God from showing up, therefore,
we should not be more concerned about the weather than we are about God. God can bless
you even in bad weather!!!!!!
What does it mean to Hunger for His Presence?
1) Since we know that God is already present (Omnipresent), we want to be more conscious
of Him. We want a greater awareness of Him in our midst. God promises us that as we
draw near to Him, He will draw near to us (James 4:8).
2) We long to be filled to full measure with His Holy Spirit. When this takes place, His
power is exerted through us and reveals itself in the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness. (Gal. 5:22-23).
3) When we request a special anointing from God for a specific task at a specific time. We
call this God’s manifest presence. It is a clear, even visible increase of God’s working in
a specific situation, event or life. (God’s manifest presence will always honor the person
of Jesus Christ and produce a greater hatred of sin and a greater love for righteousness).
Seeking the Presence of God should be of utmost importance in our churches. One man quipped,
“You can take the Holy Spirit out of half the churches in America and they would keep right on
going as if nothing happened.” An Irresistible Church longs for God’s presence more than
anything!
President Abraham Lincoln prayed- “without you Lord I must fail!” If God was not at the center
of his mission he did not want his mission to even exist, much less thrive.
Churches, by nature of being spiritual climates are often unwilling to acknowledge a lack of
God’s presence. If God’s Presence is not sensed in a church/ministry what can be done.
1) Recognize the vacuum. A church will seldom take action to move toward something
better unless it first realizes the need. Does any of these traits apply to the/your church.
Fruitless, Wordless, Careless, Visionless, Missionless, Numberless, Purposeless. (p.29)
2) Fill the vacuum with what is righteous. We must sync our hearts with heaven (In
agreement). We plug our heart into heaven’s heart so that we can see what God sees,
value what God values. Whatever touches God’s heart touches our heart. We work to
reverse everything on the above vacuum list!
3) Purposely exhibit tangible, visible signs of faith. Allow the vision of the church to be
visible at all times. Hebrews 2:1 says we must pay close attention to what we have heard
lest we drift away.
How do we recognize the presence of God in our midst?
Something God-honoring takes place whenever we hunger for Him. How God chooses to make
himself evident is up to Him.
ACTION STEP: Seek the presence of God!