Revival Day 3!
Revival Service, Bethel Methodist Church-Friday August 8, 2025
Pastor John - Corrotoman Baptist Church
On this last evening of Revival here at Bethel.I want to start off with breaking bread and coming together in obedience in the command of our Lord Jesus Christ to prepare our Hearts, prepare our minds and prepare our Church for the understanding that God is at work in this community, God is at work in The Church, and God is at work in your life.
The Lord's Supper
Most protestant Churches will host a week of revival at least once a year.
But WHY? Do we ever sit back and ask “why”?
We look forward to it. It is a time of fellowship, often a time of good food, good music and memories are made. I remember as a child, I attended a Missionary Baptist Church and if don't know what that is, it is the kind of Church where the Preacher often keeps a hanky on the Pulpit because he is shouting and yelling and slamming and getting borderline charismatic to the point where he breaks a sweat and you find yourself going home as a child wondering what exactly just happened there?
And we couldn't go to the church that just just five minutes up the road, we had to go to the church that was over an hour away and our car had not air conditioning and MOST revivals take place in the summer, SO realizing it was hot as hell, you made sure by the time you left, your heart was right with Jesus because if you didn't like the heat here, you certainly are not going to like where you might be going!
BUT, as the world has changed, so has the Church. As generations come and go, so does the Church. BUT GOD remains the same. His expectations do not change, His doctrine does not change, His call to repentance has not changed and YET even as sin continues to plague this world and even as we still make decisions to deny the very Cross HE took up for US, HE still chooses us anyway!
And you might be thinking, “I don’t deny His Cross everyday” BUT I am guarantee that YOU do not pick up and carry your cross daily as HE calls you to do!
There are decisions we make everyday, that I can assure you there are decisions you make on a daily basis that when you lay your head down at night YOU seek repentance for some or all of those decisions.
WHEN you take ALL of this into consideration, YOU now realize WHY we as the Church have revival.
Revival has nothing to do with this building, it has nothing to do with this pulpit but revival has everything to do with YOUR relationship with Christ.
We embrace revival because WE KNOW we will and we do drift away from God.
This happens sometimes without even realizing it at first.
We get busy, distracted or preoccupied and drift away. We get rebellious, sinful or selfish and move away from God. It is easy to do and can happen with us hardly noticing.
Note that we drift from God, not toward God. Getting closer to the Lord involves intentionality. Drifting away from God can happen without any recognition or premeditation at all.
The reality is, that this does not come as a surprise to Jesus as a matter of fact HE specifically tells us that this is going to happen… He knows it's going to happen so much so that He tells Peter that he too will deny him three times before the cock crows.
If Jesus knew it then, He knows it now, and even knowing Peter’s denial what did Jesus do after the resurrection, what did Jesus do for Peter? He renewed his walk with Him, He renewed his relationship with him.
But His word tells us this: Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
1st Corinthians 10:13 The Apostle Paul while instructing the growing Church in Corinth writes “ No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
In revival, believers come back into the right relationship with the Lord. In revival, there is a recognition of our sloth or sin or self-centeredness. We need revival because we tend to forget about what matters most. We tend to lose sight of God’s perspective. We tend to grow stale in our religious activities.
Revival draws us back to a close, intimate relationship with the Lord. Revival brings us back to the heart of Worship, Revival brings us to repentance.
To embrace your community and the culture within your community, we as believers need to have a repentant heart. We need to be certain that our walk with our Savior is not just one that is seen on Sunday mornings but one that is lived out within our home, our community and our family.
When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them, I work one day a week and one hour a day. Stay with me here… the definition of WORK involves a conscious effort to achieve a certain goal. Every Sunday morning I make a conscious effort and passion to Preach The Word of God and to finish on time. I am only successful at Preaching The Word of God, I fail at finishing on time. Every other day of the week, I serve, I love, I live, I go, I pray, I walk, I look and I examine the needs of the Church and the Community. I do it because I love the people here. And when you do what you love and you love what you do, it’s not work!
But here is the reality, we are going to disagree philosophically on some details and we are probably going to disagree doctrinally on certain details, BUT WE WILL agree that Christ is Lord. If we can start there, then we know we have something to build on.
Why is that important? I'm glad you asked because I'm gonna tell you, Revived Christians can be used by God to bring a spiritual awakening to the culture at large. It can open the eyes of the lost to the realities of sin and the priorities of faith. It can cause the lost world to see their need for the Lord. Often, revival has even resulted in large scale recognition of the need for biblical morality in the culture at large. The harsh reality my friends is that YOU may be the only Bible someone reads… If that's the case, and you examine your heart, Do you need revival? The answer is a resounding YES!
Jesus said in the Gospel of John “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.”
John 8:12-15
Here He was in the temple courts likely during the feast of tabernacles, standing firm and proclaiming the truth even among opposition.
Friends, when you step out in truth, when you go to serve and you go to proclaim The Gospel in a society plagued with sin YOU ARE GOING TO FACE OPPOSITION!
BUT GOD is not finished YET.
When you go and you step out in faith with a revived heart and a renewed mind, you step out with a newness of life, and new found joy and because of that a whole new level of effectiveness.
Getting right with God is not to our detriment. Though there is sorrow in recognizing our sin, repentance doesn’t result in our loss. Revival involves the recognition of judgment, but it leads us to restoration.
Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said “28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Revival is in our best interest. It leads us to the fruit of the Spirit and the joy and peace that come with walking with the Lord. Though revival can start with pain, it leads to healing and purpose.
The Apostle Paul tells us “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” Galatians 5:1
The slavery to sin!
Many Christians have come to see the Christian life as drudgery. They see faith as good, but boring. They think of obedience as right, but tedious.
Paul again in Galatians shows exactly what it's like walking outside of the faith…
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.
Let's be real for a moment, if some of us go back into our rebellious years, that sounds like a good time!
But Friends, I'm not looking for a good time, I'm aiming for a perfect eternity. And Paul warns us again, He writes,
22 I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Revival corrects that wrong thinking. It reminds us of the joy of our salvation. It gives us new meaning and purpose as we see God’s glory and goodness. Revival leads us to new effectiveness and enthusiasm. Revival is what our soul is longing for!
It's not the building that is longing for revival, ITS YOU, Jesus said in the sermon on the Mount,
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
So maybe you are here this evening because you're a member of this Church and you want to be a good member and you came to revival… at least that's what you thought. But the reality is you are here because God wants you to be here.
Revival starts with YOU not with the building. You are the Church, You are the Body of Christ!
But perhaps this evening is a time when you need to seek renewal. Maybe you need to ask for forgiveness, maybe you need to draw closer to God and there is a barrier in the way that is preventing you from doing that..
That barrier is a wall that Satan will keep building so long as you keep avoiding repenting for it.
And the taller that wall gets, the harder it will be to climb.
I believe in what God can do
I believe in the transformation power of the Holy Spirit
I believe that God can take an alcoholic no count individual and turn him into someone who is called and redeemed
I believe God can pull us out of the pit of despair and lead us down the path to righteousness
And I believe God is inviting you to leave it all behind today and let revival take place in your heart so people can see Christ in You.