Assemblies of God Empowered Magazine DESIGNED TO GROW | Page 4

SUPERINTENDENT

Pastor Iliafi Esera
General Superintendent A/G NZ
Senior Pastor, Faith City Church,
Wanganui, NZ

Designed
to Grow
Perhaps the greatest phenomena of the
Pentecostal church over the last 100 years
has been its astounding growth. In nearly
every country on earth there are 100’s of
millions who have been filled with the Spirit,
an experience we call ‘The Baptism of the
Holy Spirit’. According to one sociologist, this
‘Baptism’ is the primary cause of our growth.
Perhaps the greatest phenomena of
the Pentecostal church over the last 100
years has been its astounding growth. In
nearly every country on earth there are
100’s of millions who have been filled
with the Spirit, an experience we call
‘The Baptism of the Holy Spirit’. According to one sociologist, this ‘Baptism’ is the
primary cause of our growth. Its power
comes from the resurrection of Jesus
from the dead and a fiery gift from Heaven, the Holy Spirit, through whose power
the church is designed to grow. Dramatically, the Holy Spirit used the works of Jesus and His dynamic presence to imbue
a fledgling church with great power on
the day of Pentecost (Acts 2).
Today, Churches that are ‘Holy Spirit
filled’, flow in spiritual gifts and prophetic
guidance. People have deep worshipful
experiences and even healings. In this

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Empowered

- Issue #1 March 2015

Spirit-filled environment people have
supernatural encounters with God. This
all takes place because of God’s mercy
and grace. The wonderful thing that I find
about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is that
it energises and fills people with passion.
They want to share their experience with
others, to bring them to meet their beautiful Jesus and to see them touched by the
Holy Spirit’s power. Because of this, the
church grows.
The numerical growth of the church is
a good indicator of how the spiritual battle to extend the Kingdom of God is going, yet it is only one growth factor. The
New Testament gives other pe