I loved my pastor's sermon yesterday. A friend of mine and I were talking about how our parents woke us up growing up. Like Pastor Tim’s mom, my mom also came into my room opening the blinds or turning the light on singing, “Rise and Shine and give God that glory, glory! Rise and shine and give God that glory, glory. Rise and shine and give God that glory, glory, children of the Lord!” Sometimes it was so hard to get up and go to school. I just wanted to lay there. There are still times in my life that I just want to be lazy. But thankfully, I know it won’t be this week because I am so excited about our revival.
What is a revival? The definition of revival is an improvement in the condition or strength of something. That is what I am expecting - improvement in my relationship with God and strengthening my faith in Jesus Christ! I am expecting great things! Revival is where God and His people meet. It can be anywhere.
Why should we attend revival? Ezra 9: 8, “And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.“ We all are in bondage to something and it is time to drop those chains holding us. t’s time we turn back to God, repent, and ask for revival. Psalm 51: 10, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” We have God’s promise in Psalms 138: 7, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me.”
Pastor Tim said we should go to receive God’s mercy and grace. Ezra 9: 9, “For we were slaves. Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.” We all need mercy and grace somewhere in our life. We do not deserve anything but God continues to give us what we need! We should all go to revival to restore the Church. Not just my church or your church but the whole Church! All of God’s churches! A revival starts when God sparks that revival in us, then we can pass it on to, our church, our community and our land! Revival is meant to spread!
When Pastor Tim used the term, “spark a revival” it reminded me of another song from my youth, “Pass It On”. The lyrics that we sang are: “It only takes a spark to get a fire going And soon all those around can warm up to its glowing. That’s how it is with God’s love Once you’ve experienced it. You spread your love to everyone, You want to pass it on……..I wish for you my friend, this happiness that I’ve found. You can depend on Him, it matters not where you’re bound. I’ll shout it from the mountain tops, PRAISE GOD! I want the world to know The Lord of Love has come to me, I want to pass it on!" If you were in youth group in the 70's or 80's I am sure you sang it around a campfire!
Kurt Kaiser wrote this song in 1972. He said the words came easy as he was watching a fire. "On a Sunday night I was sitting in our den by the fireplace where there were remnants of a fire, and it occurred to me that it only takes a spark to get a fire going . . . and the rest came very quickly. My wife suggested that I should say something about shouting it from mountain tops, and that ended up in the third verse. It only took about 20 minutes to write the lyrics.”
This revival is my wake up call. God will be there each night! We know that because we were told in Matthew 18: 20, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” The Holy Spirit will be pouring down on us! I know there are places in my life that need restoration. I want to be in the presence of the Holy Spirit! It is time to wake up! Ephesians 5: 14, “Therefore He says: ‘Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.’” It is time to wake up! How are you going to respond to your wake up call?
So why am I inviting you? The song says it all, “I wish for you my friend, this happiness that I’ve found. You can depend on Him, it matters not where you’re bound. I’ll shout it from the mountain tops, PRAISE GOD! I want the world to know The Lord of Love has come to me, I want to pass it on! “ Come and be revived! Let the sparks fly!
Revival January 26-29, 2020, Supper at 5:30, Services at 6: 30. www.pvumc.net
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