This past Sunday evening our district of the United Methodist Church in the Florida Conference held a revival service. It was a wonderful time, consisting of enthusiastic singing, a great sermon by Rev. Mike Hudson, a focused time of intercessory prayer, capped off with holy communion. I believe I truly experienced God’s Spirit moving in my heart and mind as well as in and through the rest who gathered that evening.
Mike is sharing his sermon on his blog (in several parts) and I thought I would steer some folks his way as the message he shared is far too important to hide under a bowl (Matthew 5:13-16). Here’s a brief excerpt from his first post…
The United Methodist Church is dying. The good news is the leadership of the church has begun to talk about it. But do we turn to Jesus for help?
We turn everywhere except Jesus. How many more books and seminars do we need to try before we turn to Jesus? I have not been to a meeting or conference where we actually sought the Lord in prayer. Prayer is the formal opening and closing activity, that’s it. Prayer must be THE activity. Didn’t the Apostles devote themselves to the Word and to prayer? Do we not believe that Jesus is real? That He is concerned about us, our church, the world and has solutions to offer us? Are we seeking Him?
Please click here to read the rest of his post (and stay tuned for the following parts). Beyond that, if you live in the Jacksonville area, plan on attending some of our other upcoming services. We can’t make God send revival… but we can sure pray for it, pursue holiness, and share the Gospel of the Kingdom. Who knows… maybe God will hear and answer our prayers.
Grace and Truth,
Dale
Great post! Scripture (John 15) tells us that if we abide in Christ (via obedience and holiness) and He abides in us (i.e., the Holy Spirit) we will bear much fruit. [Not that we need to struggle to be fruitful! We will be fruitful to the Father's glory!] Instead we chase “50 ways to improve attendance,” “7 attributes of effective churches,” “change the world day,” and God knows what other of the newest most relevant gimmicks. Don’t we see the pride in all this? If the church grows, we want the glory because of our relevant preaching, cutting edge programming, or clever application of the latest gimmick. If the church is God’s, it’s His to grow and strengthen. It is enough for us to be obedient to the Holy Spirit, faithful to our Lord, and delighted to praise Him for the fruits He brings! [This is simple, but much harder than chasing gimmicks.] Keep preaching the true word and praying for revival! Praising God for you!!
Thanks John… You’re exactly right. In fact, I just posted something similar to what you shared. It’s called, “Making Jesus Cool.” It’s about much of what you shared. Thanks for taking the time to pass on those good words. I’ll pass them on to Mike. Blessings, Dale
All Right! See my response to the Bishop’s Trinity Sunday blog for more of what I think along these same lines.