Thursday, April 29, 2010
PRAYING FOR REVIVAL
Last Wednesday evening during our the New Members class I mentioned the Saturday morning prayer meeting we have at Rocky, and said that in that gathering we often ask that God would favor our church with revival. A student asked what I mean when I talk about revival--a good question. In response I called attention to Isaiah 57:14-15, a wonderfully encouraging passage.
“And it shall be said, ‘Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s way.’ For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’”
I love these verses because they are jam-packed, telling us a lot about God! We read:
- about who He is! The One “who is high and lifted up…whose name is Holy…”
- about where He lives; He “inhabits eternity” and “dwell(s) in the high and holy place…”
- that He also dwells “with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit…” What love and grace!
- that one of His purposes is “to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
So God designs to revive His people and there is a condition placed on us, contrition and lowliness before Him. In a word, humility. It is very encouraging to me that God purposes to revive, revitalize and renew His people. He means to pour out His power on us, and grant us a keen awareness of His presence and power, and use us to bring others to Jesus Christ, and experience deliverance from love for sin and idols, and grant us great joy and bold faith, and glad desperation in prayer, and passion for His Word, and zeal for His glory in all things.
God is working these ways in His people individually all the time, renewing us in Him. Revival comes when He does it on a large scale—church wide, community wide or nation wide.
Please join me in asking the Lord to revive us at Rocky and in our community and nation. My friend John Piper called upon his church family to pray with him for awakening among them like this:
“Would you pray with me for a great awakening that results in hundreds coming to Christ, marriages being reconciled and renewed, wayward children coming home, long-standing slavery to sin being conquered, spiritual dullness being replaced by vibrant joy, weak faith being replaced by bold witness, disinterest in prayer being replaced by fervent intercession, boring Bible reading being replaced by passion for God’s Word, and lukewarm worship being replaced by zeal for the greatness of God’s glory?”
Will you pray for our church like that? And will you pray that God will grant what He requires of us—contrition and brokenness over sin, and humility before Him?
And you are invited to join us for our Saturday morning prayer gathering at 9:00 A.M. We usually meet in the worship center.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Joy and Suffering?
On Sunday morning, April 25, the sermon came from Acts 5:33-42 and the attention-grabbing words in the text were, "Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name." As I said on Sunday, most people do not associate joy with suffering but there they are, "joy" and "suffering" together in the Word. That's why I believe the Lord is leading me to study and preach further about this subject before going on to Acts 6. Please pray for me as I choose a text for May 2. Romans 5:1-5? Colossians 1:24? Matthew 5:11-12? 1 Peter 4:12-14? Yes, there are depths of truth to explore here and let us expect to find that, yes, in Christ there is joy even in suffering. He is that great!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
After a Funeral and a Memorial Service
Last week I was blessed to speak at David Shafer's funeral and the memorial service for Pauline Brown, both followers of Jesus. And Colossians 3:3 is recurring in my mind this week: "For you have died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." I know that Paul is addressing believers who are still alive in this life and have "with Christ...died to the elemental spirits of this world" (2:20). But I am deeply moved to know that, by God's grace, we who belong to Him are "hidden with Christ in God" in this life and forever. Praise be to God!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Babies as Consumer Products
NewsNote: Aborting the “Wrong” Baby?
What is the real scandal here — that this doctor was ready to kill a baby with Down syndrome, or merely that he aborted “the wrong baby?” The answer to that question will tell us all we need to know about the conscience of the age.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
REMEMBER THIS AND REJOICE!
On His cross "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-- for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'-- so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:13-14).