If You Want to See REVIVAL Church Service Format. Where did it come from? As I am sure is the case with most new Christians, I devoured my Bible when I first started seeking in earnest. However, I never had a driving desire to ' go to church '. Perhaps this was due to my childhood experience of dress shoes that didn't feel right and scratchy flannel dress pants. Perhaps my lack of enthusiasm was the Lord's leading, making certain that I did not take to heart too much "man made" theology and doctrine, which has come from the abundance of the brain, rather than revelation by the Holy Ghost. Whatever the case, over the past few years I did not attend a church regularly until the past two years. While I am not recommending this for all Christians it has been my personal experience and that is all I have to go by. When I moved back to Nanaimo from Ontario I went to a new charismatic church just down the street from me. On the second visit it became clear to me that the congregation was more excited about their new building than what the Lord was doing in their midst. I have come to notice that, a lot, with different congregations, where the building has become something of an idol and takes on far more importance than it is due. I do think it is wonderful to have nice, comfortable places to assemble, but I don't get all that excited about a pile of wood and stone. Which brings me to a point, when did the structure made by mans hand become the church? My understanding is that the Holy Spirit dwells in temples not made by the hand of man, and that temple is called the church, which is the body of Christ. Indeed, as scripture says, "where is the house you will build for me". Until two years ago I have probably attended a dozen services and to me there was always something missing. It seemed that if the singing was free, then you could feel yourself draw closer to God, only to be told "you may take your seats now". It seemed  the Lord wanted to do something else and we were interrupting Him because we had this 'service' to attend to. It seemed that the program was so important that if we did not adhere strictly to it something terrible would happen. Before I ever attended a service, I told the Pastor that I suspected we would sing songs, hear announcements, take an offering and listen to a sermon, all in time to get to McDonalds in time for lunch. I was not off one little bit! That is exactly how things are done in this and most churches I know. Where did this format come from anyway?  It doesn't seem to matter what type of church you attend, the singing may be different, the preaching may be different, but the format is more or less exactly the same. I have felt that if we feel all of these ingredients are necessary for our services to be complete that we should turn them upside down. I would suggest we have the sermon, take the offering, hear announcements and then begin our singing. That way, if the Holy Spirit rides on our praises, He would be free to come and do as He wishes without having to 'shut down' so that we could get on with our program.  Better still, rather than adhering to a program at all, why not just invite the Holy Spirit to take over the meeting, and see where He would lead us. This should have several benefits for all involved. Firstly, our Pastors may not have to prepare a new sermon each week (last weeks may still be useable). Secondly, and most important is the fact we would be doing what the HOLY GHOST wants to do and we would be hearing what He has to say, which would be infinitely more fruitful for all of us. The early church seemed to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and was not bound by any program if you consider:   1Cor. 14:26 ... How is it brethren? when you come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.    It does not say, when you come together, you must hope that the Pastor has had some divine revelation this week, or you are sunk. No, it says every one of you is to contribute to the edifying of each other, not just one or two anointed souls. Don't misunderstand, I am not suggesting that we abolish leadership and kick out the Pastor, they still have their place. However, I am suggesting that more participation on everyone's part is more in line with Biblical instruction than the format we seem to persistently hang onto. Of course it does depend on all of us being led by the Holy Spirit and operating in at least some of the gifts. Perhaps that is where the real problem lies! The people wanted Moses to go see what God wanted and then come and tell them. It probably is not much different today in our services! It is much easier to come out for one or two hours weekly and get our Godly fix, rather than spending enough time daily getting to know the Holy Spirit and His still small voice. I offer my own speculation as to why services follow the format they presently do: people are really too busy with their own lives to spend enough time with God to get to know Him. Consider how well you would know members of your own family if you spent as much time with them as you do with God. Pastors probably enjoy the position as 'spiritual leaders' bestowed upon them by their congregations. After all, having a whole group of people looking to you for spiritual guidance and counsel simply has got to be good for the ego. It must be difficult for some Pastors, they are trying to be something God never intended them to be. The congregation and they themselves, impose an unrealistic expectation as to what it is they can do. It seems to me, that if the Pastors lead the sheep to green pastures they would be fed all by themselves and not be depending on the shepherd to regurgitate what they have been chewing on all week long, in the form of a sermon.  I have often wondered if the flock gets the shepherd they deserve or if the shepherd gets the flock he/she deserves. Either way, I think you have to agree the whole thing has lots of room for improvement. The system of church government is another area where room for improvement seems to exist. I can only speak from my personal experience but I doubt very much if my experience is unique. For two years I attended a United Church of Canada assembly which was made up of a board of directors consisting primarily of the 'old guard' who like most people are none too fond of change. It was also made up of some new members who wanted some change but nothing too radical. As is the case when more than one person is involved you seem to have a continuous struggle for control. Each faction thinking that their view of things will be best for the church in the long run. Since neither faction has the power to actually impose their will on the other, nothing is ever really accomplished. The net result is an underlying tension between the different groups. I doubt if similar difficulties don't also exist in newer more charismatic churches, perhaps not over the same issues, but there will be power struggles also. I think that is inevitable when you have flesh and blood trying to run things. So where does the Pastor fit in this whole mix? Well, in the United Church if the flock does not like the message they can simply vote him or her out, it is that simple. Pastors should be accountable, but the whole thing falls apart when we are not ALL being led by the Holy Spirit. It is obvious that if  ALL are led by the Spirit there would be no disunity, only peace and harmony. By the process of elimination it stands to reason that if there is disunity, we are not being led by the Spirit. This may not sound like a resounding revelation but if you examine your own church government you might just find it applies to your congregation. When we operate out of the flesh rather than the Spirit, nothing good is likely to happen. The Holy Spirit is the HEAD That is how God has set things up and until we realize it and give Him the place He should occupy in our assemblies, we are going to continue to struggle as we are. You may think the Holy Spirit is free to operate in your church but I ask you to consider how much your services are the same, week in and week out. Oh yes, you may have more freedom than the old mainline church down the road but if you are honest and open you will probably see that you too are putting the Holy Spirit into a box made up of timetable and format. That is NOT where He wants to be nor is that a place where He will stay! You CAN NOT contain the Holy Sprit in any way or fashion and the fact that He is neither tame nor predictable does cause problems for us mere mortals. Whether we realize it or not we are striving with Him far more than we think. Take a good look at your service and ask yourself " where can the Holy Spirit freely come into our meeting and minister as He wills?" You may be surprised to find that your services are so well planned and so tightly structured that there simply is no opening for the Holy Spirit to come in. One of the things, which marked the Welsh Revival, was the extreme sensitivity that Evan Roberts had to the Spirit. It is said he would sit for hours during some meetings and then only speak for a few moments and sometimes he simply said nothing at all. It was in that environment that the Holy Spirit was able to lead one of the world’s greatest revivals. If you want revival to break out in your church, perhaps you might seriously consider giving place to the Holy Spirit and quit doing things the same as you always have done. If you keep doing more of the same you will simply keep getting more of the same. Is that what you want?