Thriving Together
PROBLEM – the need for God
- What is our situation?
- All we need to do is… science, archeology, Bibles, tech
- Nothing short of a mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God is adequate to deal with our situation
GOD – God wants you to know his love
- Ephesians 3:16-19 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
- The word “revival”means “to bring back to life, a restoration, rejuvenation, or renewal of interest after spiritual neglect. Many beginnings
APPLICATION – God wants you to be filled with his presence + power
- Definition: extraordinary, repentance, presence, obedience, individual and corporate, evangelism
- What did Noah have to do with drawing the animals to the ark? A vision of people being drawn into the Ark and not animals. The Ark is Jesus, our safety. If we are being drawn into the Ark that means sudden and massive judgment is coming on the earth. Please don’t ignore His drawing that you may find safety and refuge in the Ark (presence) of the Lord. Time is standing still for a great harvest!
- Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
- A time is coming when God may not be easily found. No one knows how much time he or she may have left.
VISION – get ready for what God is going to do
- After Acts 2 – miracles and signs were common, the church grew, persecution rose and the Holy Spirit moved in a whole new dimension! We need to get ready for what’s next!
I don’t know if you guys if you guys have access to a social media thread we live in a strange day don’t worry where everybody gets news that they like or somebody thinks or an algorithm thinks you like and so I’ve noticed that all I’ll be excited about something or tell somebody else and now I know never heard about that and here I thought it was the biggest thing I thought it was all over with it if you guys had that experience kind of strange this is very surreal you know it makes me long for the days of ABC CBS and NBC where’d you know you just have those three Talking Heads and pretty much just gave the same story and story life interest story that was pretty much it is how we got our news in this country but now everything’s different
they want me to take is going on but I don’t know what to tell you is going on what is happening spiritually in a little town in Kentucky called Wilmore Kentucky Wilmore Kentucky is well-known for people who are in the Holiness movement in the church a long time it has been a started I don’t know 150 or sixty years ago perhaps that’s just a wild guess off top my head you could Google it and find out and figure I’m totally wrong but it’s been around a long time back my my grandparents both graduated from Asbury College that’s the name of the college is also a cemetery there but they’re in Wilmore Kentucky to Asbury College there has been in the past a series of a spiritual events that have been unprecedented the first one happened in 1950 and it was just
is always the same as just a normal church service and then after the church service some people linger and then they couldn’t leave and then some other people came in and they prayed and I sang and then some more people came in and it’s the term that they give it an English is a Revival or an Awakening and that’s something that people don’t do is something God doesn’t completely on explicable these things arise from time to time sometimes once every hundred years sometimes once every fifty years or so just just bits and pieces of them and it’s early 1950 was one of them well there was a s s Berry College Wilmore Kentucky in 1970 and this is a very strong one also and it when when I say that it was something that only God can do there
are a lot of people my age group that remember that I wasn’t quite old enough to be aware of it was happening but over my lifetime I’ve met people who refer to that I had gone by there in the months after or heard about it or whatever it was our lives were certainly touched but it’s not only there is something that spreads spreads to other colleges that spreads even if the church is it different communities and it’s just a Marvel just a Marvel Christians don’t forget these moments they don’t forget his this life is hard we struggle it just seems like the world just keeps taking advantage or gain Advantage it’s very strange to see what we pray for what we preach about actually taking place so when it does even over two thousand years of history now. You can pretty much go to all the Revival’s now study them they got books and people talk about them
you can go there to see what happens when God breaks in in a way that only God could ever do would not be manipulated any other one is as genuine as it yet and it just absolutely changes their lives when they experienced this the one going on right now and when will Kentucky I believe it’s been about a week perhaps so you might know more than that but also just yesterday I had to Wilmore Kentucky is a little Podunk town you don’t really want to go there for anything there’s nothing going on there except this week 25,000 people were there yesterday they can all Gather in the auditorium if they have there I think. It’s normally C’s 1500 so what they do is gather close by and look at it and every single person that goes just talks about how the presence of God is there
they said that there was a line to go into the auditorium way for people to leave so you can go in a mile-long a mile-long of Miles along with it waiting to go into this place and there’s just beautiful things happening around there were Gods just touching people’s lives and Powerful ways that’s going on right now that really excites me because I feel that we live in a horrible time or situation as Christians as Believers in God is just under so much I want to say threat that it sounds like no we’re going to suffer like people do around the world and we certainly don’t do that but it’s certainly the nicest wagons FIB certainly undermined
you don’t have to say that the worst thing that can happen in a marriage is for one of the spouses to develop contempt for the other that as soon as you develop a contempt for the other just destroy the relationship there’s really no coming back from that and I’m sure that’s how I feel that Christianity the Bible is felt in America this morning by such a large portion of population a pure contempt
Martin and I know I’ve lived a lot longer than a few but my gosh it was always an underlying honor an underlying respect for God’s word and you might disagree you might go live your own life but you still knew that there was something sacred about God’s word and you knew that it was bigger than what your life is but we’re hearing constantly stays how the Bible is evil how the Bible destroys communities how the Bible hurts people what planet did I land on it’s just a strange stuff but that’s the best I would use the word I would say they’ve developed a terrible for God’s word I think the pandemic accelerated it in many ways and people now that’s our reservations a couple days ago
a big survey about how people are developing what we call new theology theology is the study of God and so it’s man’s attempt to understand who God is so all of us have a Theology of Our Lives how we understand God to be and now there’s a new theology several men to worship alone it’s okay for me to spend the time with my family that I would have spent with God and that that is right with God and people are actually changed their mindsets to embrace this ideology or this false theology we live and he’s our numbers and I think the number they gave a 63% of Americans feel this way there’s so many other ones are with this is the way things are developing around
this is what is happening in the midst of all this and I’m so grateful that this revival is happening is Awakening I hope it lasts I hope it goes more I would spread so I’m watching maybe you’ll be watching but honestly I need it I need it our nation needs that our neighborhood needs that our families need our children needed our parents needed because it is parked it is hard it is struggle out there we just need I just a complete coming of the holy spirit is now for more and do our best right we do our best we feel that God is leading and helping us but we do things we get excited about when when we hear about a scientist that the scientists actually believes in a a designer original mover if you will we get
says that there is a God right we have so excited about that who else gets excited about that only church people nobody else nobody really cares all Gators another wacko scientist too bad you fell off the edge right they don’t care about that just you know that his stories always said oh no that’s been never be true and then this archaeological fact versus and artifactory merges and then all the sudden it proves it again the Bible is true about what you and history says there is no proof and in fact it was just under the sand a little bit there was poop after all along and we can trust God’s word we can trust one we get so excited
it’s just us right nobody else it’s just us
I’m continually amazed at how many bibles we have all the Bibles basically say the exact same thing that I don’t believe that one translation translation translation to the original Bree is is the most original with a row with their hands but certainly you know what dates back to as early as we can get to those that up it’s a it’s a decent body but you a entrepreneur
we just think with that many bibles in that that’s friendly of an approach and that way to speak to so many people haven’t really made a difference in our country I like it but I’m a Christian I don’t know that it’s really all of a sudden set the world on fire because we’ve now made that God’s word so intelligible in English so so so Street speaking it is in our cities and in our lives that our attempts to do
what we want to see happen what we see God saying he’s going to do and it doesn’t and the truth is it’s never going to we’re never going to have that kind of ability that kind of space underneath it on some level it’s still our effort what we do need what will make the change is what we often refer to as an outpouring of the Holy Spirit into our hearts and overwhelming presence of God in our lives we read about these moments in the Bible we read about these moments in our history and inside of us we desire for these moments to happen many many times it happened on an individual scale or maybe even a church scale
but not in a massive way like we want to see like we really need to see I want to read to you from Ephesians chapter 3 verses 16 through 19 this is a small section where or Paul basically describes a vision of what this would look like it’s his prayer for the people there he says I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being so that Christ May dwell in your hearts through faith and I pray that you be rooted and established in love may have power together with all the Lord’s people to grasp how wide and long and how is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you made me feel to the measure of all the fullness of God
that’s what we want that’s what we want to see right there look how many times it repeats the word power power is it was that is that like a superpower no it’s not it’s a power to separate yourself from the things of this world because the thing just won’t have a way of grabbing you by the ankles and just really holding you down it’s a power that they can transfer everything the atmosphere around you they can just make it so clear that God is here that God is present right here is that feeling was the feeling of that it is a feeling that you are loved and the feeling is that you never want to leave God’s presents you can actually it is such a good for such a reassuring to the very core of who you are as a as a human being to very core core core of your soul that this is where you belong to this is the environment that you were made for his with God who has a nun and
deep love for you is is it possible to scribes it here in measurable way is right I didn’t matter that God has for that that’s where you want to go that’s what we want to see I want we talk about Revival talk about an Awakening what is it that were exactly talking about here at the very core of the meaning of it is is to be made alive again brought back to life think of a somebody who drowns in a swimming pool and then you got the Lifeguard he goes to polls you out does mouth-to-mouth pumps your stomach tighten your stomach right that’s that’s for pills he got oxygen running through your veins again see you were revived you were dead basically dead and somebody had intervened you’d still be dead but God comes
in that same way that us who are dead that’s where I lost God comes in a way nobody else can and he revives us again makes us knew another way to think of it is the word restoration what is a restoration restoration if something’s been restored like an old house what does that mean at one time it was just about to fall over in on captain of in uncared for and then somebody goes in and brings it back to life makes it livable again makes it even better than it was when it was first built that’s what we mean by restoration that’s what God does because for many of us that is a pretty decent description of Our Lives that we have fallen apart because of perhaps our own neglect to to nurture the life experience that God gives us and we played games and contained it in the end result is that our lives show very clearly to us and perhaps to others sometimes not but
don’t lie to us that our lives have not been affected by God their lives and have been changed by God that our lives are not touched by God our lives are very ordinary and we find ourselves living at the same pay student in the same Rhythm that everybody else does when God all along is sitting there saying I can pour new life until I can revive you I can restore you another thing is he’s read the news 3:00 news the same idea isn’t it you got an old jalopy the things rusted things all broken apart and all the hoses are worn out and crafts what is somebody who comes in and I didn’t make it like new again that’s how God does it with you cuz a lot of us are worn out that the world is taking its toll on toll on us that we have tried so hard and stale just repeatedly so many times that is just not going to work anymore it’s just not going to work anymore
this isn’t a thing that just happens once when God revives us it’s a repeated Revival is a repeated in filling of us of his spirit is something that happens over and over because we need it because we are frail because we are sent for our heart is not right with God and it doesn’t take very long before we fall down again
we might even be running with God running so fast and then we trip over that old sin and we just can’t get rid of and we fall first face-first into the mud and there we are and many times will get back up start running again it’s not very long for they won’t send trips us again face-first in the mud we get back up start running again before you start saying I’m tired of tripping I don’t like falling face-first into this mud
I’m going to rest here a little bit until that’s in goes away I’m going to just make my home here I’m going to try to be more comfortable in this environment right here and so many of us live
how we where we fell and we tell God God help me in this moment we live right here and got sent home no oh no I’m not about you living in a mud now I want you to get off again I want you to get up let me help you up and then we kind of push. Away no no I’m going to live right here and then we take our eyes off of God and we put it on everybody else just to find out there’s a lot of people in this mud and they’re there with us and we like okay see if she is in the mud he’s in the mud I’m in the mood to be after all that’s where you still are living in that mud hopeless helpless to ever get out of it because your only hope is God is the only one in, and we talked about this
who sang about the power that can break off every shade the power that can empty out the grave the resurrection power isn’t that the level of power that we need to break the chains of sin around us off of us isn’t it that don’t you acknowledge that the sin is holding you down and such a powerful way that there is no way you could shake this off it just stays there it’s ridiculous to think are we get rid of this but what is God’s power to God’s power says hey I’m here to do that if you would step into the Battle of your life if you would make this the purpose of your life is your relationship with me I will give you power to overcome these things that right now are killing you right now they’re stuffing your face deep into the mud or you just about to suffocate I will free you from that and if you would reveal that to us and we would agree with God that yes you are able to do that you can’t do that at
I receive it and I accept it and Lord I’m going to live by your power in me not in the wrong be running with you to where you are so I can be in your presence and enjoy that they just isn’t comfortable anywhere in this world that I can only have with you and it’s a love not only for this moment but for all of eternity
that’s what God wants to do in your heart in mind he wants to revive us he wants to restore us he wants to renew us he wants to make us again clean in His image with you that’s where guy goes these least this moment that God looks when God does something but God does something it’s absolutely extraordinary absolutely extraordinary you would be without words to describe to somebody what has happened in your life there are no words because your words describe what you do we lack the vocabulary to describe God does and what has happened to you is only what God does and we just say
like I did something just for normal with me he just changed your eye I can’t even describe it I just can’t describe it
it’s God’s presents in a way that you never known before it’s not that you have to think about God God’s their guys there in your thought that’s there in your mind already packed every thought you have is about God and you begin to love God’s present because that’s where you get your life that’s what we’re talking about a presence of God unlike any other thing is just his natural presence with us you know what else you find yourself doing repenting repenting repenting
a lot of repenting because once you begin to see the dirt the sin that is in your life you get rid of a little bit and you see there’s a whole lot more where that came from
you were trying to clean your fridge out and you said okay I got to clean this this and this and this and then you get rid of this this this and this and you look in the fridge it again and there’s there’s that that that that and you get rid of that and then there’s some more over here so clean right go buy a new fridge I guess but that’s how it is that’s the repenting it’s a life is a life of sweetness with Jesus it’s not a negative thing it’s not a shameful thing it’s not a regretful thing it said they joyful thing because God has shown you the sin in your life is made it to you and you can identify it now and repent unlike before you just live with it and never knew how bad it was now you do and God gives you away and he times things he doesn’t tell you to clean out the whole thing all at once but over time as you mature God helps you get deeper and deeper and deeper repentance a wonderful thing and why do we repent so that we can live in obedience to
to live in obedience to God I would say most people tell you I can live in obedience to God
almost all the time
yeah I live in obedience to God just a lot I do a lot nobody needs to God what are you saying we have to go. And I know it and I hate it and I wish it wasn’t there cuz that’s the one thing that’s stopping everything else it’s it’s the cork its history and its what stops all the flow of God cuz when God comes slowly through your life he stops there and he said what’s up with this can’t do anything about that I was born with that and it’s just there but if you just move to the left a little bit you can go ride around and God and there’s so much more to bless me with over here so let’s not look at this only works in my own head it never works with God you’ve got to come to complete obedience with God you got to surrender all those things
not again not in your own power what was that that power that God has to break the chains of the other that sing power but also with your own determination to say is going to be the fight of my life it’s only 25 if I ever do anything on this Earth it’s going to be for God to help me get over this thing I’d get over the spout of Disobedience got you can count on me there that is music that there’s a winning streak that you’re going to see right there when you come to this be serious with it instead of discounting it
it not only happens in an individual which it does which is actually one of them but this also happens in a church in a group of people Gathering that God can come into a group of people and just pour out his spirit is such a powerful way that people walking by would say all what is going on over there they don’t even know why but there’s something that pulls them into what God is doing here it can happen in a church can happen here it can happen what God is doing what God is is is ringing these things about
I heard an interesting metaphor and it was a story about a guy who was thinking about Noah’s Ark strangely enough and the question was how did Noah get all of the animals into the ark right books about all the ways he could have gotten animals into the ark
but the Bible says that no I did not get all the animals into the dark bark God brought the animals into the ark Noah built the ark and anyways and God went out and gather the animals around the world and brought them in to by to write male and female into the ark to save them
and if we just moved out a little bit over to a deeper understanding that perhaps the ark is Jesus
Jesus is doing he is going out himself and calling people to himself and calling out for you to come to him you’re not the one going out there’s no church on their way out to the rescue you it’s only God calling you to himself is calling you to his art his boat is calling you to his security is calling you into his presence and you don’t even know why you’re going you just know that this is what I got to do I know that God is calling me that is bringing me to him I am here for that
but there’s a more cynical side to the arc to isn’t there because when God was calling the animals when God was calling Noah and his family is because it was to be a sudden judgement
and today if God is calling us to his present if God is calling us to be safe with him it’s because there’s also a sudden judgement and I don’t know what the Judgment can be described by or what it’s going to look like
maybe it’s the day of the Lord when God returns when Jesus returns as is but I’m going to prom so the church has waited for forever for and someday it will arrive every day comes every day to learn that the hard way every day comes I might seem like it’s a long ways away it’s not every day comes when Jesus said I’m coming back that day will come we could also be when your life is over you can just be a brain hemorrhage I could be an accident that you who knows that is your day of judgment that is a sudden judgment and then there’s a steel where I waited too long I waited too long
Isaiah 55:6 7 seek the Lord while he may be found seek the Lord while he may be found call on him while he is near let the wicked forsake that says let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts let them turn to the Lord and He will have mercy on them and to our God for he will freely pardon for he will freely pardon
that’s the image that we have today is that God is calling us why to save us he save Noah and that group of animals he calls us and effort to save us to bring us to himself to be safe and secure to be in his presence it’s possible to resist that it’s possible to turn the other way go with the crowd do with the party go where you’re being invited but God calls us to be with him and it’s few few people will go that would narrow way right Jesus talk about the Broad Street very wise Reagan Highway 212 Lane Highway let’s go down there but God is calling us onto a very thorny uncomfortable path as very few that will turn and walk that way and that’s the opportunity we have this opportunity that God has called us to in our own life first to ask ourselves
am I being the person that God is calling me to be a might be in my taking this as seriously as I need to am I recognized that Jesus is not a belief that Jesus is not an idea and ideology Jesus a real person the Jesus God incarnate who live just like you and me that you would have seen Jesus was like you see anybody and then that person would have been executed a would have come back to life that significant that means something what does that change in your life that’s the reality of how it is
it should change a lot
after Jesus and it back into heaven after his resurrection did he do he sent the Holy Spirit we talked about that on the day of Pentecost and acts right the Holy Spirit comes and he feels everybody’s heart with his presence and his love he fills them with power why because right after during the day of Pentecost the persecution began the persecutions began and the difficulties of living began
but they didn’t go into those times after the feeling on the Holy Spirit the way they went into the filling of a holy spirit they left with power a power tool of God apart to recognize God’s power to listen to God and power to let God change their lives and power to love God and love others that’s what God’s calling you and me too I don’t know if the Revival is happening and you know back East somewhere in the midwest I don’t know that it’s going to reach us like that but I do know this
I want to be ready
I don’t care if it comes or doesn’t I want to be ready so that if it did come I would be here but God chooses not to bring this massive movement and he’s not calling everybody to his presence around me he’s calling me he’s calling you and he still you have to answer
will you go to work out is calling you we’ve come to him has guys calling me father
we just stand here and all of what you are doing. You’ve done over history and lore things are completely out of our control and honestly the only thing we can do is sit and wait
but in our waiting father maybe not wait and send maybe we wait with a a spirit of expectation that we wait with Desiring your presents to be with us to wait with a heart of repentance may we wait with a a commitment to obedience to you may we wait father individually and may we wake corporately for what you want to do the change you want to bring about
my father asked for your noise I pray honor if you are taking prayer request I pray for that you would bring a Revival and Awakening in our neighborhood and our city this part of the country or I pray that you would do it here’s what I would I just humbly admitted even be in this building or if you would and she would bring them out here will that you bring about your power and let it begin here let us be Witnesses what happened in 2023 let it be us but Lord regardless find us committed to you renewed commitment to you and living the life that you live when you have the holy spirit inside of you in the name of Jesus we pray amen