A few days ago Julie and I saw the new faith-based movie Jesus Revolution. I don't want to give away too much of the movie, but it is a powerful and inspiring true story of a revival, a movement of God's Holy Spirit at a tumultuous time in the history of our nation. Through the course of our nation's history we have seen several great revivals or awakenings. In 1734, Northampton MA was the launch point of the First Great Awakening. The Second Great Awakening began in 1800 in Kentucky and quickly spread throughout the nation, lasting nearly 40 years. In 1857 a businessman's Prayer Revival began in New York City and spread quickly throughout the northeast.
In 1905 the Welsh Revival broke out beginning in Pennsylvania. About the same time on the west coast began the Azusa Revival which led to the start of the Pentecostal movement in the United States. In the 1950s the work of Billy Graham and other evangelists led to a great revival based on traveling crusades. More recently, in the late 1960s and early '70s the Jesus movement erupted among college students and young adults coming out of the drug culture of the 1960s.
Most recently, we have seen revival breakout on the campus of Asbury University which has now spread to other parts of the country. The consistent theme across all of these revivals is that they were completely Spirit-led. No one knows when, or where, the Holy Spirit will erupt. We can't force revival. We can't generate it. It is a sovereign move of God. But what we can do is provide an environment where the Spirit of God can move freely and powerfully.
I believe the first step in creating an environment for revival is expectancy. We have to believe that the Holy Spirit still moves in our time and actually expect that he will. When we live with expectancy, we are always ready to embrace the move of the Holy Spirit wherever, and whenever, it breaks through in our lives.
I think a second key to developing an environment where the Holy Spirit can move is to remove distractions. Most of us spend very little time in quietness, listening for the voice of God. And with all of the distractions that are present in our lives today, it is very easy to miss how God is moving. If we really want to experience revival, we must eliminate much of the noise and distraction in our lives.
Thirdly. if we really want to experience the movement of God's Holy Spirit we need to hunger for it. God spirit is never going to force its way into our lives. We have to want it. The prophet Jeremiah wrote “you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” We create an environment for revival when we hunger for God with our whole heart.
I think many of us long to see revival break out in our time. The movie Jesus Revolution reminds us that God is still moving and His Holy Spirit can break out in the most unlikely places. Even though I've seen the movie, I would like to see it again. If any of you are interested in going as a group, we can coordinate getting a block of seats for us, or perhaps even a whole theater. If you think you would be interested in going as a group, email me (steve@rock-church.org) and let me know.
Have an awesome week. I look forward to us being together this Sunday as we continue our new series “The Gospel.”
Love you all,
Pastor Steve