suspended mentation

In the light of this it will be seen how empty and meaningless is the average church service today. All the means are in evidence; the one ominous weakness is the absence of the Spirit's power. The form of godliness is there, and often the form is perfected till it is an aesthetic triumph. Music and poetry, art and oratory, symbolic vesture and solemn tones combine to charm the mind of the worshiper, but too often the supernatural afflatus is not there. The power from on high is neither known nor desired by pastor or people. This is nothing less than tragic, and all the more so because it falls within the field of religion where the eternal destinies of men are involved.

To the absence of the Spirit may be traced that vague sense of unreality that almost everywhere invests religion in our times. In the average church service the most real thing is the shadowy unreality of everything. The worshiper sits in a state of suspended mentation; a kind of dreamy numbness creeps upon him; he hears words but they do not register, he cannot relate them to anything on his own life-level. He is conscious of having entered a kind of half-world; his mind surrenders itself to a more or less pleasant mood that passes with the benediction leaving no trace behind. It does not affect anything in his everyday life. He is aware of no power, no Presence, no spiritual reality. There is simply nothing in his experience corresponding to the things that he heard from the pulpit or sang in the hymns.

-A.W.Tozer
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This is what I remember of church throughout my childhood....for the most part.  Oh, I listened...but still....this is what I remember.  It was very hard to find a church filled with the presence of  the Holy Spirit, where the preacher's not just repeating what he learned in seminary [with a few added personal funnies], where the congregation isn't singing the same repetitive hymn....Repetitive familiarity, even in a church setting, becomes indigestible.  It breeds resentment and contempt from those looking for something beyond monotonous traditional church-ing....yet have limited understanding of [or articulation abilities to express] their hunger. For some, the only rare excitement is when a congregation member commits a sin the church is not understanding/seeing the opportunity in which  to act out God's grace, mercy and Love. 

Very rarely is a church found to be a place of the obvious presence of the Holy Spirit moving amongst hearts so tender to His definitive ubiquity...seeking and learning to experience His supernatural in a world seemingly limited to only natural consequences and measurable satisfaction/understanding.  In a world of declining morality and acknowledgement of God, this is becoming even more of a hungering of immeasurable global proportion.

Rise up, oh church of God. Be complacent no more.  For you have been given a level of spiritual stewardship of the world we live in to greater His kingdom.  Let your heart bleed out His grace, mercy and love.  Do not be afraid of facing sorrow, pain or trials.  For He has already endured more than He is willing to allow you to endure.  While these are only some of the steps to experiencing His supernatural, you must take them to do so [James 1:12,  Romans 5:3, Romans 8:18, I Peter 1:7].   He has given you the opportunity to become prosperous, but also grieves in our spiritual mediocrity.