Revival Time

Coming up on March 11-14, our church will be hosting a series of revival meetings. I hope that you are going to make plans to be a part of this event. The revival meetings will be at our normal worship times on Sunday and at 6:30 on the remainder of the evenings.

The questions that are often asked as church plans a revival is, “Why do we do this? What is the purpose of revival?”. Below is a list from the North American Mission Board explaining the purpose of revival meetings.

• Revival meetings strengthen active Christians. Often busy Christians need to stop and refresh themselves. Revival meetings provide a time for them to gain new spiritual insight.
• Revival meetings strengthen churches. Churches retreat from the ordinary. Every church should have periods when its members can isolate themselves from worldly cares and pleasures and concentrate on seeking God’s will for their lives and for the church.
• Revival meetings are a way of touching uninvolved church members. Members who are marginal in attendance can be reminded of their commitment to Christ and their need to be involved in His work. Revival meetings offer a change of pace that leads to serious recommitment to the lordship of Christ. Revival meetings address special needs of the church; they can uplift special needs in areas such as stewardship, family life, or the needs of inactive church members.
• Revival meetings focus the church’s energy toward the lost. The community will become aware of the church’s concern for those who are lost. Every effort is made to bring the lost to salvation during this special emphasis.
• Revival meetings set a spiritual atmosphere that ripens the harvest. The intensified atmosphere of concern and proclamation makes it easier to achieve a harvest of souls.
• Revival meetings are a way of reaching the unchurched and the unsaved. Many unsaved people do not care to attend church. A weeknight revival meeting can be different enough to be non-threatening to an unsaved person.

Ultimately, a church that conducts a revival is a church that is looking for a great movement of the Holy Spirit. That is also our desire. To help prepare us for what God desires, there will be several “cottage prayer meetings” held in various homes in the weeks leading up to the revival. Keep your eyes on the bulletin for dates and locations. You should make plans to attend at least one of these prayer meet-ings. Our prayer preparation will culminate in a church-wide prayer gathering on the evening of March 10th.

If you are interested in helping, we need people to help with childcare during the revival. We will need prayer warriors to staff a prayer room during the revival meetings. If you can’t help in these areas, you can at least come up with a list of ten people to invite to the revival and follow through with inviting them. Make an effort to remove their excuses by offering a ride, sitting with them, etc.

We are hoping for a great week and can’t wait to see God’s hand at work in the life of our church!

In Christ,
Pastor Brian