This past week I have thought a lot about what our Superintendent said about getting back to the basics, and to the spiritual revival of our communities. So what is the base of our faith? What is the very foundation that our Church is built upon? Our most basic part should be the faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This is the main building block and we as followers of Christ, are to build upon this block. We are to always be in construction of our Church, His temple. In fact, we could think of ourselves as the quarrymen who cut out the large blocks at the Masters’ direction so that He can finish the product. You see at one time you too were or maybe you still are that unfinished stone block or keystone that He has to finish to be a part of the Great Temple.
One of the great points that Rev. Colorado stressed, at this charge conference was “Getting back to the basics,” and for us Methodists that means making ourselves personally responsible for evangelism and service in our communities. It means, believing that what is said in the Scriptures is real and that they do have authority. Finally we are to let God use us to bring about a revival like hasn’t been seen in this area for a long time. Moreover, we are to let Our High Priest, Christ Jesus, be the very center of our Revival.
This revival will not be an easy task.You may be asking yourselves what I mean by this. What I mean is, it will take work, and much more than just physical work. Moreover it will take spiritual work. It will require us all to move out of what we consider our beliefs. It will mean letting God lead your lives to places you may not really want to go.
It means basic things like, daily prayers, attending Sunday School, having Bible studies. Also, daily studying of the Word itself. Revival means thinking outside the box about God, while still getting back to the basics of worship.
Two weeks ago I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Nemaha Adult Sunday School. Nemaha has a very nice Adult Sunday School class. There is no special Sunday School literature used, just the bible. During this class, we were looking at the book James.
During the reading of the book, we would stop every so often when someone had a question or a thought on what was being read. One of the stopping points occurred in the second chapter v. 17-26
In the same way faith, if good deeds do not go with it, is quite dead.
But someone may say: So you have faith and I have good deeds? Show me this faith of yours without deeds, then! It is by my deeds that I will show you my faith. You believe in the one God, that is creditable enough, but even the demons have the same belief, and they tremble with fear. Fool! Would you not like to know that faith without deeds is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by his deed, because he offered his son Isaac on the altar? So you can see that his faith was working together with his deeds; his faith became perfect by what he did.
In this way the scripture was fulfilled: Abraham put his faith in God, and this was considered as making him upright; and he received the name "friend of God". You see now that it is by deeds, and not only by believing, that someone is justified. There is another example of the same kind: Rahab the prostitute, was she not justified by her deeds because she welcomed the messengers and showed them a different way to leave? As a body without a spirit is dead, so is faith without deeds.
Several times during this passage, James says faith without deeds is dead. In the discussion, it was brought out that we are all called to bring people to Christ. I mentioned that Bishop Palmer said that we Christians/Methodists, even pastors have sold out to the idea that it is only the pastors that are responsible for church growth. This is backwards from how it is supposed to be. While it is true, the pastor does have several roles within the church, the people of the church also have Christian duties to uphold. This means that no one person can do everything. Everyone has a role to play in the ministry of the church.
If you try to bring about a revival through the efforts of one person, then your efforts are most likely going to fail. It is just that simple. The reason for this is that no one is perfect. There is only one perfect person who has ever lived through whom we can have a revival. Revival can only come through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and it can only be sustained through those within the church who are willing to go out and be disciples of Christ.
For instance, if you are a farmer, you buy your seed from the seed company each year. But how many times do the people you bought it from come plant the seeds for you? What about when you buy feed for your livestock? Do the people you bought the feed from come feed it to your livestock for you? I don’t think so. So, here we have an example of what I am talking about. While it is fine to depend upon someone for certain things, there are things that we ourselves need to do in order to move our church forward. We all have something we can do for the Lord and for our church.
This past Sunday at Early, the Holstein Praise team came and officiated the worship service for us. This was a great service. It was uplifting and moving. It was energetic. True, it was different from what some of us are used to in worship service, but there are some who get excited when they worship in that way. Perhaps there is an opportunity for us there in the way we worship.
I feel there are many ways that we can have spiritual revival within our churches. Some of my ideas, you may not agree with and some you might. However, by us all working together, we can come up with many good ways to move our churches forward and have a spiritual renewal.
There is a parable in the bible that I would like to share with you. It is the parable of the seed, which can be found in Matthew 13:18-23:
`So pay attention to the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the Evil One comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the seed sown on the edge of the path. The seed sown on patches of rock is someone who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But such a person has no root deep down and does not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, at once he falls away. The seed sown in thorns is someone who hears the word, but the worry of the world and the lure of riches choke the word and so it produces nothing. And the seed sown in rich soil is someone who hears the word and understands it; this is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty."
Here again, the good soil is the spiritual food we receive from study in the word and discussion and reflection upon the word, while living our lives through Christ Jesus our High Priest. We will have a Spiritual renewal and revival.
Last week could be seen as a definite vision as to what both our congregations are capable of doing and becoming. Holstein UMC found themselves in need of Spiritual revival a while back. Therefore, members at Holstein took it upon themselves to revive their church. They went to their pastor, explained what they wanted to do, and He said run with it. This is how their Praise Team came about.
My intention with this sermon is not to make anyone feel bad or feel like they are not doing anything for the Lord. I am not pointing fingers at anyone. My intention is simply to help us see where we are and what we can become. Last week, I received the purpose for this congregation. It is the same purpose it was when I came here. That is to allow God to instill in your hearts and minds the means to bring about a spiritual awakening and revival within these walls.
I have a bit of history I would like to share with you:
Almost 500 years go tomorrow, Rev. Father Martin Luther of Wurtemburg Germany posted his infamous 95 thesis on the Church door. While that document in itself may not mean that much to you, it began a Church revival and restoration of the likes the World had never seen before. Many rights as Christians we take for granted today, and often ignore came out of this document and the Great Reformation itself.
The Reformation reintroduced followers of Christ to the Savior they were following. It allowed them to have relationship with Christ Jesus/God. It showed them that he was no longer to be considered a wrathful tyrant, but a God of Mercy and Justice.
This is the message we as the Church need to convey in our communities. Moreover, not only do we need convey it, we need to live it. We need to put pettiness, distrust and innuendos behind us. We need to be as a Body of Christ. By doing this, I believe that God will bless you all more than you can have ever imagined.
Listen again to these words from the 42nd chapter of Job.
I know that you are all-powerful: what you conceive, you can perform.
I was the man who misrepresented your intentions with my ignorant words. You have told me about great works that I cannot understand, about marvels which are beyond me, of which I know nothing. (Listen, please, and let me speak: I am going to ask the questions, and you are to inform me.) Before, I knew you only by hearsay but now, having seen you with my own eyes, I retract what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes.
Aren’t these verses powerful? Job was a man who even God considered righteous. However, Job knew in his heart that he did not truly know God. He too needed a spiritual revival and renewal. He too needed to dig deeper into His relationship with God.
In closing today, I want to say that I know there are those within our congregations who are digging deeper into their relationship with Him. There are things that both churches are doing to win others to Christ. I commend your efforts and I pray that we continue to find ways to reach others through ministry. However, we are to work with each other as it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18
We urge you, brothers, to admonish those who are undisciplined, encourage the apprehensive, support the weak and be patient with everyone.
Make sure that people do not try to repay evil for evil; always aim at what is best for each other and for everyone. Always be joyful; pray constantly; and for all things give thanks; this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
