REVIVAL TALK

  John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”             The cross has a testimony. A testimony is a factual story of what God has done. Diane Lake defines a testimony as “a story which defines, shapes, moves, or propels you.” [1]  The message of the cross is a message of love, power, and the faithfulness of God.               What is the testimony of the cross? It is a testimony of the unconditional love of God. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”  What motivated the Father to send His son to die for lost humanity? Love. I John 4:9-10 says, “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.”             What motivated Jesus to go to the cross? Love. Romans 5:6-8 says, “For when we were still without

  Easter is a very important day on the Christian calendar. It is the culmination of Holy Week. It is the day that remembers the greatest event in history, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I like to refer to Easter as Resurrection Sunday. The resurrection took place on the Feast of First Fruits during the week of Passover.           Easter is more than just another day on the calendar. It has a message or a testimony. A testimony is a factual story of what God has done. Diane Lake defines a testimony as “a story which defines, shapes, moves, or propels you.” [ I ]           The cross testifies. The suffering of our Savior testifies; the empty tomb testifies. Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” There is a Resurrection Day testimony in this passage, “by the blood of the Lamb.” What is the word of our testimony? We have been redeemed by the blood of

  Psalms 147:5 – “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.”             We serve an awesome God. When was the last time you said wow? We must be careful not to lose our awe of God. When we experience revival, we will recover our wow (our wonder of God). Why use the word wow? What is the WOW factor? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines wow as “used to express strong feeling (such as the pleasure of surprise).” [1]             We are using WOW as an acrostic to define our mission personally and corporately going forward. We need to follow these three disciplines to be successful in our spiritual walk. The three priorities follow: W – Word We are a people of the Word. Our first call is to discipleship/spiritual formation. Jesus gave the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have comma