Question of the Week #9: What does Centre Church believe about Prophecy?
What does Centre Church believe about prophecy?
This is such an important question—and for some people, it might even be a little bit uncomfortable, depending on your church background. I’m fairly confident this is one of the most abused areas of ministry in the 21st century church, so it’s an area we want to tread carefully, for sure.
However, while prophecy can often cause concern for people, we also don’t want to be afraid of the prophetic, we want to celebrate it. Why? Because of 1 Corinthians 14:1 – it tells us to “follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, ESPECIALLY prophecy.”
That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? The Bible actually urges us to desire the gift of prophecy. But the big question is, well, what does that actually mean?
At Centre Church, we define prophecy as “a Spirit-empowered ability to communicate a message from God that speaks into someone’s life, the life of the church, or even a whole community.” Let’s be super clear: PROPHECY not on the same level as SCRIPTURE—it is ALWAYS subservient to Scripture; in other words, prophecy must always align with the Bible and glorify Jesus—but we still believe that prophecy is still important for today.
We believe that God speaks to us in all sorts of ways:
Of course, we believe that God speaks powerfully to us through Scripture. But we also believe that God speaks through impressions, and visions, and pictures, and dreams, and sometimes even audible voices. The question must ALWAYS be: Does it match the heart of God, communicated through the Word of God?
Now, you might be thinking, “Isn’t That Risky?”
And yes—it can be. It’s why this gift is often so abused in contemporary Christian culture. So we have a few simple but really important values and guardrails when it comes to the prophetic.
1. Prophecy Should Always Be Shared Humbly
We encourage people not to use phrases like “God told me” or “Thus says the Lord.” Instead, we ask people to use language like, “I believe God might be saying…” or “I sense the Lord may be leading us in this direction.”
Why? Because we’re human—and sometimes we get it wrong. 1 Corinthians 13 says we prophesy in part, and 1 Thessalonians 5 says that prophecy should be tested. Even when God speaks clearly, our interpretation and delivery might not be perfect.
So we want to stay humble, and invite others to help us weigh what we believe we’re hearing, no matter how confident we might feel about it.
2. Prophecy Should Never Contradict Scripture
This is non-negotiable. God will never speak something that contradicts His Word. If someone says “God told me to stop praying,” or “God is fine with my sin,” we can confidently say: that is not from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit always leads us into truth, and that truth is rooted in the Bible.
So let me encourage you, DIG INTO GOD’S WORD. Get to know God’s voice through Scripture—so that when He speaks prophetically, it’ll always sound familiar.
3. Prophecy Is Always for Building Up
According to 1 Corinthians 14:3, prophecy should strengthen, encourage, and comfort people. It’s not about correction or control. It’s not a show. And it’s definitely not manipulative. Real prophecy builds people up in the love and truth of Christ.
At Centre Church, we don’t permit prophetic words around things like marriages, babies, or specific timelines for major life decisions in a public setting. We want to handle those sorts of things incredibly carefully, with a LOT of prayerful consideration, because those sorts of things are a recipe for hurt, not health. We want to honour the gift of prophecy and protect our people.
Ok, so prophecy should always be shared humbly, it should never contradict scripture, we believe new testament prophecy is for building up, and fourth, we believe that prophecy happens best in community.
We believe the safest and healthiest way to grow in the prophetic is together. In community. In the local church. That’s where we get feedback, encouragement, and course correction. We practice prophetic words in our gatherings, but we do so under leadership and with submission to one another. People GENUINELY walking in the prophetic will also be people walking in the fruit of the Spirit. We aren’t big fans of the whole travelling celebrity prophetic movement, because it’s difficult to know the sincerity and character of their walk with God. Instead, we’d rather hear from people IN our church, or from people who are known PERSONALLY by people we trust.
So, all of that is to say, YES, we believe God still speaks through prophecy. We believe His Spirit is still active today, and we want to be a people who eagerly desire for God to speak through his people. Prophecy isn’t about being weird or impressive. It’s about listening to God in love and sharing what He puts on our hearts, in a way that lifts up others, leads us to where God is sending us, and most importantly, glorifies Jesus, not us.
That’s our heart at Centre Church.
See you for next week’s question of the week! If you have any questions you’d love for us to cover, contact us as info@wearecentrechurch.ca
