Revival - Part 1

This week, my plans are to post three entries - today, Wednesday, and Friday - all related to this past weekends revival.

When we first started talking about a revival I didn't realize how long it had been since our church had held one. Given the way some talked it had been several years, but I found out later that the last one was 1998. Of course, revivals are not a necessary practice for any church. Yet, some churches could seriously use a revival!

But what is a revival? A lot of church's have revivals to "share the gospel", "win the lost", etc. And that is fine, we NEED to be sharing the gospel with as many as possible. But the idea of revival means some form of restoration. This could be in the form of rest as in the regaining of strength or energy after a period of work. Most churches I know don't hold revivals because they have been working so hard for the gospel - although that would be a good reason for revival. Another outlook on revival is to restore to life. Now, honestly, this one hurts because that means the revival is needed because something is dead, and we don't want to admit that the church is dead.

Well, I won't suggest Fairfax Baptist Church is dead. No, maybe sluggish would be accurate. It isn't because many of the people who make up the church don't love God. They do. But sometimes a change of pace, a change of expectancy, a change of style, a change of times, etc can provide the necessary components to revive a sluggish, or even a dead, church. But, many (most?) churches are against change - and I just used it 4 times in one sentence! Uh oh!

So this revival was not for the lost. No, it was to revive the church. It was to allow God to speak to our hearts in order that we might be revived, and challenged, and strengthen, and renewed to share God's love with others even as we have learned to share in fellowship with one another. I can't speak for most, but I heard several - SEVERAL - comments from people who said the message was well received. I know God spoke directly to my heart this weekend - both convicting and challenging me in the way I serve Him. I am grateful for those that came to lead in music and in message, and for the snacks and meal that provided opportunities for extended fellowship.

But, now that the services are over, it is time to see if revival happened. My prayer is that it continues. And my prayer is that God will Let It Start With Me (see Part 2 on Wed, 3/19).