Where is the Power?

The depth and far reaching ramifications of that question can at times boggle the mind. Recently a lady in our church who is very skilled in demographic studies and collecting information, responded to a question of mine. "How many Christian churches are there within a five mile radius of our church?" After a few days of research, the answer she gave me was incredible. She said "Pastor, there are 250 churches within a five mile radius of our church." I was stunned to say the least! The questions that were immediately obvious were: "If there are 251 churches in a five mile radius (including our church), then why are there still homeless? Why are there hungry? Why are there so many bars? Why are there strip clubs?" In my questioning, I believe the Lord directed me to the answer. The church of Jesus Christ is powerless! This led to much prayer and searching of the Scriptures to try to determine what had gone wrong in Knoxville Tennessee if there was this kind of "Christian" presence. The resulting answer was brought about in a sermon that I first gave to our church around January of 2009 entitled: "Where is the Power?" The question was answered by a divine revelation that I believe God gave to me. The gospel message that the church in the West is proclaiming is devoid of the "power" of the Holy Ghost. We have reduced the Gospel message to a "strict moral code" to live by, but no power to back-up and reinforce what is being said!Connect the dots in the Gospel of Luke, the fourth chapter: 1) Jesus is baptized by John and subsequently filled with the Holy Spirit. 2) He is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2) After defeating the devil, He returns to His hometown and begins His public ministry. 4) He preaches the Gospel with authority. 5) He demonstrates the veracity of what He is preaching, as the Kingdom of God having come among them, by demonstrating the power of God's Kingdom by casting out a demon. Note, the miraculous power of the Holy Ghost accompanied the proclamation of the Gospel message! The message was simple: "The Kingdom of God was now among us and active, and YOU can have a restored relationship with God through His Son Jesus, and oh by the way, let me demonstrate the truth of what is being said by the powerful miraculous demonstration of the Power of God!" THAT...... was the way the Lord, His Disciples, and the Early Church proclaimed the Gospel!some 2000 years later, we have the "message, we have the words," but.......... "where is the power?" The power of the Holy Ghost is meant to be the "norm" for the Christian church, as they proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We don't, and subsequently, in an age where people are searching for something "tangible" and deeply "spiritual" the church is failing in delivering the one true thing that can change them. The Gospel message of the Kingdom of God, validated and confirmed by the miraculous power of the Holy Ghost!" SELAH.