CAROLYN MOORE Experiencing the Power of God’s Kingdom CAROLYN MOORE Experiencing the Power of God’s Kingdom Copyright 2020 by Carolyn Moore All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture translations marked ESV are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®). ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. Scripture marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Scripture marked NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America Cover and page design by Strange Last Name Moore, Carolyn (Pastor) Supernatural : experiencing the power of God’s kingdom / Carolyn Moore. – Franklin, Tennessee : Seedbed Publishing, ©2020. pages ; cm. An eight session Bible study with an accompanying teaching video. ISBN 9781628247527 (paperback) ISBN 9781628247565 (DVD) ISBN 9781628247534 (Mobi) ISBN 9781628247541 (ePub) ISBN 9781628247558 (uPDF) 1. Power (Christian theology)--Biblical teaching. 2. Holy Spirit. 3. Kingdom of God. 4. Christian life--Methodist authors. I. Title. BT738.25.M66 2020 248.4 2019957578 SEEDBED PUBLISHING Franklin, Tennessee Seedbed.com CONTENTS How to Use This Book 7 Introduction 9 SECTION ONE 1 Sent People 13 2 The Mark of Supernatural Power 16 3 Just Do It 19 4 Truth Is a Person 22 5 Give What God Gives You 25 Group Gathering: 1–5 28 SECTION TWO 6 Boldly Vulnerable 31 7 The Gospel Is a Miracle 34 8 The Miracle of Chosenness 37 9 What You Believe Matters 40 10 The Gospel of Welcome (Part 1) 43 Group Gathering: 6–10 46 SECTION THREE 11 The Gospel of Welcome (Part 2) 49 12 Let’s Eat 52 13 Whom God Pursues 55 14 Gathering a Kingdom Welcome 58 15 What It Means to Be Alive 61 Group Gathering: 11–15 64 SECTION FOUR 16 Surrender and the Supernatural 67 17 I Am the God Who Heals You 70 18 What about Manifestations? 73 19 Awakened 76 20 Check Your Life 79 Group Gathering: 16–20 82 SECTION FIVE 21 From Shame to Grace 85 22 From Shame to Grace . to Glory! 88 23 Cloud, Fire, and Glory 91 24 Talking about Glory 94 25 A Religion of Miracles 97 Group Gathering: 21–25 100 SECTION SIX 26 What We Know about the Enemy of Our Souls 103 27 Jesus Wins 106 28 The Kingdom Advances 109 29 The Finger of God 112 30 Exposing the Kingdom of God 115 Group Gathering: 26–30 118 SECTION SEVEN 31 Shaken, Not Stirred 121 32 But What If I Don’t Want To? 124 33 No More Unholy Hesitation! 127 34 Jesus Plans to Wreck Your Life 130 35 But First . 133 Group Gathering: 31–35 136 SECTION EIGHT 36 Live This 139 37 Being Sent with Living Water 142 38 Do It Again 145 39 Go! 148 40 Receive the Holy Spirit 151 Group Gathering: 36–40 154 Notes 157 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK Let me warn you now: I have great expectations for you as you begin this study. Through your time in the Word, I expect your understanding of what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be “the church” to be radically changed. I expect, and am praying for you, to become hungry for the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and I earnestly hope you will be bold in seeking out his supernatural power. I am praying that you and I both will come to expect supernatural ministry inside our own communities of faith, and that what we breed in faith will spill out into the world to transform it. I need to tell you that I am not hoping you will only enjoy this study or that through it you will be able to tweak the practice of your faith. Nope. I’m expecting transformation. Listen, we serve such a glorious God. He is a supernatural force in this world, and he is good. Supernatural results are what I’m expecting through this study because Jesus is supernatural. In other words, I expect you to encounter God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—as you open the Word, embrace the wonder, and cry out for more. There are forty separate entries in this book. You could probably start anywhere and get something out of what you read (though I recommend taking them in order). By simply numbering them, I hope to give you multiple options for using this material. You might choose to use this as a personal devotional study, taking it one at a time over the course of forty days. Or you might gather a group for an eight-week study, reading five each week for eight weeks. Or maybe your group wants to steep in this study over a longer stretch of time, studying one entry each week over most of a year. Whatever works! That’s my advice. As long as you are in this to go deeper into the things of God, I’m your biggest cheerleader. However you read it, be all in. That’s what matters. A teaching video with eight sessions accompanies this study, so you’ve got that resource to draw from as well. Exercises are structured to give you every opportunity for a deep personal and spiritual experience. A brief section called 7 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK “Listening to the Word” at the end of each entry gives you the chance to bring the Word home to live in you. Make the most of those moments. Take the time needed to let God speak. Rather than providing all the Scripture references within the text, you’ll be asked to do the work of finding the passages in your own Bible so you can mark up the sections studied and begin to create a habit of looking for where God is at work in Scripture. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you experience the Bible as the living Word. This is the one book that has the ability to speak a fresh word into your life wherever you are, to be relevant over and over again. That’s the power of the living Word. You’ll also want to keep a journal or notebook for this study. Write your responses to the questions in that book. If you will actively participate in this study, you will cultivate devotional practices that will continue long after this guidebook has been shelved. I often journal in two colors, writing my own thoughts in black or blue ink and what I sense may be Spirit-inspired thoughts in red. When I do this in my own time with God, I don’t try to analyze it; I just listen for the voice of the Spirit and write what I hear in red ink. A week or so down the road, I may come back to that entry to see how it sounds with the benefit of a little time and perspective. Often, I am amazed at how helpful those entries can be to my journey with Jesus. I do believe he still speaks into our lives. I have encountered him in the practice of journaling, and I hope you will too. I hope the combination of this guidebook, your own journal, the creative prayer exercises, and a quiet place to listen to the Word will converge to create a spir- itual revival in your life and in your church. Nothing less . only more. Know that as you begin, I am praying for you. My friends, I expect great things! 8 INTRODUCTION Paul wrote: “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrec- tion. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil. 3:10, 12). I want more. I am hungry to see the power of the Holy Spirit in our midst. Hungry. I’m not talking about so much that passes these days for Spirit-filled experi- ences. We have defaulted to bragging; we tell too many “big fish stories.” We talk of huge moves of God that are not quantified by fruit, and we call our good feelings “moves of the Spirit.” My concern is that we sometimes misrepresent the Spirit by assigning to him feats easily accomplished in the natural and by making more of what happens in our corporate gatherings than is actually there. We have overplayed our hand and become accustomed to calling any emotional response a great move of God. Meanwhile, we are completely shortchanging what must surely be a much more awesome and beautiful power than fleeting experiences that result in no lasting transformation.