The Church That God Sees: A Church Empowered by the Spirit

Acts 2:1–8

In 1906, a small group of believers on the streets of Los Angeles refused to settle for dry religion. They were hungry for more of God. They were desperate for the Holy Spirit to move again like He did in Acts chapter two. At the center of this hunger was a thirty five year old preacher named William Seymour. He had only one good eye. His parents had been slaves in Louisiana. He carried no title and no influence. But he carried fire.

He preached one message with boldness. The Holy Spirit is still being poured out today. People resisted him. Doors were chained shut in his face. Some churches refused to let him inside. But hunger has a way of creating its own upper room. A small group invited him to a house on Bonnie Brae Street. They gathered. They prayed. They waited. And the fire fell.

The porch collapsed from the weight of people praising God. Services lasted through the night. Neighbors called the fire department because they thought the building was literally burning. Miracles were reported. People were healed. Many were filled with the Spirit. Within months they moved into an old horse stable on three twelve Azusa Street. Crowds filled it every day for three and a half years. Hunger multiplied. Prayer deepened. Revival spread. From that one room, thousands of churches were planted. Entire movements were birthed. Missionaries were launched to the ends of the earth. Today more than five hundred million Spirit filled believers trace their story back to that revival.

And all of it began because a handful of believers refused to let the coals grow cold.

The Church today must choose whether to cool down or catch fire again.

Somewhere along the way, the fire that once fell on dirt floors transitioned into something safer. Cushioned chairs. Air conditioned sanctuaries. Programs that entertain but never transform. Services timed to the minute. Prayer replaced by planning. Hunger replaced by convenience. And while the Church in America settled into comfort, over four thousand churches began closing every year.

The same nation that once sent missionaries around the world has become a mission field again. But there is still a remnant. There are still coals under the ash. There is still a spark waiting for breath. On the day of Pentecost there were one hundred twenty believers who chose to wait while others went about their routines. They were warm but not burning yet. They were ready to be ignited. They were praying for the wind to blow.

This passage reminds us what happens when the Spirit fills a surrendered people.

Acts chapter two takes place fifty days after the death of Jesus, forty seven days after His resurrection, and ten days after His ascension. Jerusalem overflowed with hundreds of thousands of people celebrating Pentecost. While the crowds gathered at the temple for ritual and tradition, one hundred twenty believers gathered in an upper room for encounter. They did not know when the Spirit would come. They did not know how it would happen. They only knew the One who promised it.

Then the wind came. Then the fire appeared. Then the Spirit filled every person in the room. Heaven touched earth in a single moment. And everything changed.

The Spirit does not fall on spectators.

Spectators watch. Spectators critique. Spectators wait for someone else to move first. But the Spirit falls on those who place their lives on the altar. Paul said to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. You cannot place a sacrifice without something dying. You cannot see fire fall unless there is something for God to consume.

Too many believers want Pentecost fire without Pentecost surrender. We want revival without repentance. We want anointing without altar time. But the Spirit still honors the same posture. If you want the fire to fall, build an altar. If you want the wind to blow, give Him something to breathe on.

The Spirit falls on those willing to burn.

The Spirit does not come to make you comfortable.

Jesus said He came to cast fire on the earth. He was not speaking about ease. He was speaking about urgency. He was preparing His disciples for a Kingdom that would confront darkness, not coexist with it. A few months later the Spirit came exactly as promised. Not to decorate the Church. Not to create an atmosphere. Not to give goosebumps. He came as power. The word used is dynamis, the root of our word dynamite. He moves with force. He transforms everything He touches. A Spirit filled believer becomes a dangerous believer.

The Church God sees is still burning today.

Every generation has claimed the fire is gone. But the fire did not die in Acts chapter two. The fire did not fade after Azusa Street. The fire did not disappear when culture shifted. The Spirit of God is still filling those who hunger. He is still empowering those who pray. He is still igniting those who make room for Him.

Some have never experienced His fullness. Some only know the smoke. Some do not understand the gifts. But the invitation is still open. The Spirit is still moving. The world is groaning for sons and daughters who are willing to burn again.

John Wesley once said, set yourself on fire with passion and people will come for miles to watch you burn. The Church God sees is not cooling down. It is catching fire again.

May Mountain Valley Chapel become that Church.