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Nsw - When God Came To Church
July 29, 2002
WHEN GOD CAME TO CHURCH
By Margaret O'Connor
Narrabri NSW Australia
On Sunday June 30th 2002 in Narrabri Christian Outreach Centre, God came in His Glory and Presence forever changing our lives.
Before God Came
We had been praying and believing for revival for years, but that was intensified after we went to a series of meetings where Pastors Steve and Kathy Gray from Smithton Outpouring ministered and imparted the fire of revival in June 2001.
There we found that revival didn't just "fall out of the sky" and that God wants to work in and through people. Every revival that has happened in history has been preceded by a group of people devoting themselves to prayer - hungry and desperate for God to move. That cry started coming from a "desperate" core of our fellowship.
We started by restoring honor to God more than ever before in prayer, worship, and lifestyle, drawing on the Kingdom of God, His will, and Presence to come to earth. From that time onward, His Presence started to increase.
We changed praise and worship to be more Christ-centered and more honoring to God. There were no more "me focused" songs. We were worshipping in the Spirit and began addressing worldliness in the church. There was brokenness, repentance, and an emptying of self in the people believing for revival.
In November 2001 Margaret Bird visited our area and prophesied that the glory of God would reside in this church and that it would be a seedbed to the nations. In March 2002, a lady in our fellowship prophesied about the coming revival and that God would move in June. The presence of God continued to increase.
God Came Sunday Morning June 30th 2002
By the end of June the expectancy was high. We came to the pre-service prayer meeting ready to put down our own agendas and open our hearts and lives to what God wanted to do. There was a crackling in the atmosphere that cold morning, we knew that God was up to something.
All during the previous year we had been starting our meetings with prayer, honoring God and raising our hands to Him. As the praise and worship started it was like any other Sunday morning a large percentage of the fellowship were expectant and worshipful yet others were just there.
After praise and worship we began to pray for people. Many were touched by God and fell to the floor. While on the floor for two hours my 19 year-old son, Daniel was staring at the ceiling. Later we found out that he had seen huge gates of gold open in the ceiling. He had gone through them and had spent two hours in heaven, while God came through the open gates from heaven into our service.
People saw the glory of God like a cloud moving through the room. I stood trembling slumped over the pulpit. The best I can describe it is that it was like lightning bolts piercing my body, followed by waves of glory. The lightning has continued hitting me intermittently for four weeks now and the glory waves have been washing over me every time I turn my thoughts toward Jesus, (which is often).
When my husband Pastor Wayne saw that the glory of God had come to the service and that God had struck me, he knew it was a now moment in God. He tried to lead me around but once I left the pulpit I was unable to stand. He picked me up and called to the congregation that whoever wanted to be part of what God was doing in His visitation to come out NOW!
As people rushed from their seats to the front, Wayne dragged me around to lay hands on people (at this point I am not real clear on what happened). Electricity was coming out of my fingers and people were being shot backwards as they rushed forwards, crumpling to the floor everywhere. The church was littered with people as waves of glory spread throughout the fellowship. Wayne was no longer able to stand so he let me slide to the floor.
What happened then was really beyond description. Spontaneous laughter broke out, cries of repentance, some of our tough men were weeping like babies, tears streaming down their faces and some saw angels. One 27-year-old man was experiencing shock waves as God dealt with areas in his life, he didn't even know were there. This went on for about two hours. In all, the morning's service went for 5 hours and it passed like the blink of an eye.
Somehow, Wayne managed to drive to Moree (100km away) where, 18 months ago we had started an annex church. In the evening service there, angels were seen and felt, as the Presence of God was moving. Peoples' lives were touched, challenged, and changed in both churches. We continue to be changed as God continues to shine His light on the darkness in our hearts.
The Holy Spirit also has continued to move at our prayer and home cell meetings. Every time we get together, He comes but in different ways.
On July 7th a major wave of repentance swept through, as the Holy Spirit was revealing to people the wickedness still remaining in our hearts. This move of God is bringing holiness to the church and casting out the worldliness. Many people were visibly touched, particularly the men, as they saw the glory of God weave through the people. Tears of repentance flowed as the Spirit of God changed hearts and lives.
One man who had been coming to church for about two months and had not responded to an altar call. He did not wait for an alter call on this day but came forward and told Wayne that he wanted to be "born again". After the service he told Wayne that God had said to him, "If you don't do it today, don't bother coming back".
A man we had never seen before came forward and said he wanted to be born again. It was learned that he had been on his way from Raymond Terrace to Moree to visit the hot mineral baths seeking relief from unbearable arthritis pain. His car had broken down in Narrabri and he slept the night in his car. One of the men of our church was helping him with his car and brought him to church. He too was saved, and then after prayer for healing, he was completely set free from arthritic pain. He said, "I don't know why I need to go to Moree now."
On July 14th God kept moving, continuing to work on our hearts, giving us more waves of His glory. That morning was such a blur, Wayne didn't even preach because God was moving so powerfully. I think the meeting went for about 4 hours.
One thing that I do remember is that a young man who was walking past our church was drawn in by the Presence of God. He came under the conviction of God and one of our men brought him to the front to be "born again". He was visiting Narrabri to work for a short period of time. He has since gone back to Lismore to pack up all his things and move here.
On Saturday 20th July we went as a fellowship to Burren Bore, an artesian thermal pool on the edge of the "outback" 100km west of Narrabri, to baptize some of the new believers (it?s the middle of Winter here and a 40=C baptism is better than freezing). Because it?s a free thermal pool in the middle of an open paddock (nowhere really) there were about 20-30 caravans there, with people from all over Australia taking advantage of the medicinal properties in the water while having a holiday. It became really interesting when the power of God manifest as the new believers were publicly dedicating their lives to Christ and being baptized. The Spirit of God came upon them, and they found it difficult to stand and started laughing. People looking on were fascinated at what God was doing.
On July 21st the power of God swept through like flames of fire! After a time of repentance for secret sins where I saw the altar filled with rubbish, we asked everyone to join hands in a big circle that went right around the church. Each person was asked to look around at others in the fellowship and love on them. God was restoring a supernatural love and devotion for each other. I saw a ring-of-fire just outside the circle with flames that almost reached the ceiling 4 metres in the air. We prayed for the fire of God. People fell backwards and later one of our ladies, Virginia, recalled the prophecy our church received at a ladies camp about two years prior, that the fire of God would rest on our fellowship.
On Monday 22nd July, we were at worship practice and then prayer. A time of powerful prayer and praise filled the church. At the end of the prayer meeting Wayne was about to release everyone to go, but God had other ideas. We broke into singing "These are the Days of Elijah" and while we were singing, "there is no God like Jehovah" the power of God fell and people broke into laughter. Karen, our Music Director, suddenly found everything so funny that her head hit the keyboard and she slid to the ground in fits of laughter. Spontaneously laughter filled the church and people were rolling around with the joy of the Lord for two hours. Everyone in the church came under the power of God and no one was left out. One of our men started singing "Everybody's Beautiful" as he lay "flat out" on the floor. This was all new to him and most of the people there had never experienced anything like the joy that broke out that night.
These things are a sampling of what has happened since "God Came to Church" on 30th June at Narrabri Christian Outreach Centre.
Margaret O'Connor
outpouring@openheaven.com.
Location: Narrabri - NSW, Australia
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