Romans 15:18-19 – For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God…
The Trinity Church, where I have the honor of preaching most weekends, was born and has been sustained by, as Paul puts it “word and deed” and “by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God”.
When we lived in another state, we were unsure what God has for us next and we were in the time between the times, healing up and processing from a very difficult season for our family.
I felt inclined to go to a pastor’s conference in Florida. I wasn’t part of the network, but I had some friends going, so I got on a plane and went to Florida. In the last session before I was supposed to fly out, I felt the Holy Spirit leading me that I was supposed to leave to go meet with the Lord.
So, I left and was looking for a coffee shop. The directions took me to a dead end in the middle of nowhere. My time was running short, and I still hadn’t found my destination.
I turned around and passed a Mexican restaurant, so I pulled in. The moral of the story here is when all else fails, go to a Mexican restaurant. I walked in and grabbed a table and there were some people with their backs to me. One guy at the table, a pastor from Florida, who I’d never met, turned around and said, “Pastor Mark!” because he recognized my voice from listening to sermons online.
He asks me to come sit with them and tells me he’s been praying for me and for my family. It was so crazy; he was a total stranger, and I was completely across the country in Florida. He asked if they could pray for me and he did, I thanked him, and then headed back to my table to eat.
Before I left, he told me that, while he was praying, God gave him a vision. He told me that he saw my family and I packing up, moving to a different state in the desert where it was very hot, that we would plant a church as a family and that it would be fruitful, and that God would bless us. He asked if that made any sense to me.
I told him the crazy thing was that I was leaving for the airport in a matter of a couple hours to fly to Arizona. Grace and the kids were planning to meet me, and we were praying and asking God whether He’d called us to start a church here. I told Grace, “I think we got our confirmation.” We came to the Valley, met with some pastors, and they welcomed us and prayed over us.
A total stranger at a Mexican restaurant had the Holy Spirit, so God could speak to him and through him. And the same Holy Spirit led me away from my original plan of a coffee shop to that Mexican restaurant in Florida so that we could meet, and he could encourage me and my family. I’m so thankful that the Holy Spirit can speak to each of us individually, bring us to where we need to be, and give us a message we need to hear in that exact moment.
Have you ever had the Holy Spirit speak through you to someone else or through someone else to you?
To find the free Romans 12-16 digital study guide for individuals and small groups, hear Pastor Mark’s entire sermon series on Romans, or find a free mountain of Bible teaching visit realfaith.com or download the Real Faith app.