MESSAGE: Ancient Truth for American Christian’s Today

TEXT: 2 Chronicles 7:14

MESSAGE PREVIEW

This weekend, Pastor Brian is pausing our series, “Straight to the Heart”, and focusing the message to address the current events and atmosphere in our nation. These are very divided, tense, and challenging times. The events leading up to January 6th, the storming of the Capitol, and everything that has transpired since remind us that as a nation, we are a broken and fractured people. This division is not just being seen in the culture around us, it is also visible in churches all across the nation, including our own. 

As followers of Jesus, we have been placed in this nation, at this time, for a specific purpose. We are to live for the glory of God as salt and light to the world! So how should we respond to these days? How can we best live for God, His Kingdom, and the gospel of Jesus? How can we truly be who God has called us to be? How can we help heal the brokenness and division we are seeing? 

Healing in our nation will only happen if God’s people lead by example. Read the passage below:  

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV “…if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

We, the people of God, need to be the example. We are the ones God will use to bring healing to the land. As Pastor Brian shared this week, one of the most important things we can do to heal the brokenness in our nation is to PRAY. In light of this, we are inviting you as a LifeGroup to focus your time a little differently this week. Instead of using most of the time to discuss the message and scripture, we are asking you to join together in prayer for four specific things: 

  1. Revival in our Hearts 
  2. Revival in our Homes 
  3. Revival in our Church
  4. Revival in our Nation 

Revival is all about a reawakening. It’s awakening once again, in a new and deeper way, to our faith and love for Jesus. It is God engaging our hearts and lives in a fresh way; one that pours from the inside out. For us to see healing and revival, it starts with us and it starts with prayer. 

We have provided the following prayer guide to lead your time in prayer as a group.  There are four sections; one for each of the areas of focus mentioned above. In each section, you will READ a selection of scriptures centered around that topic, reflect personally and THINK about what God wants to teach you from the scriptures, PRAY individually and together in the group, and consider practical ways to LIVE for revival in this part of life. 

REVIVAL IN OUR HEARTS 

Revival begins in me. It begins in the heart of one who is humble. One who confesses sin, repents of their wrongful ways, and commits to seek the Lord. 

READ

Lamentations 3:40 ESV “Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord.”

Psalm 51:10 ESV “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

Acts 3:19-21 ESV “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.”

THINK: How is my heart? What do I need to confess and repent of today? Is Jesus truly my first love?  

PRAY: Confess, repent, and pray for revival to come in your heart. 

LIVE: What can I do this week to help keep my heart and life focused on Jesus first? 

REVIVAL IN OUR HOMES

The frontline of discipleship, spiritual growth, and revival is the home. Revival in our homes will help bring revival outside our home. 

READ

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV ““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Galatians 5:16-26 ESV “16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

THINK: Is my home a place where discipleship happens? How am I leading those in my home to better obey and follow Jesus? Is my home marked by the Fruit of the Spirit?   

PRAY: Pray that God would help us lead our homes well for Him. Pray that we would keep Jesus first in our homes. That He would be first in our lives, our marriages, and our families. Pray that God would help those who are parents to pray for, model, and teach what faithful obedience to Jesus looks like.  

LIVE: How can I keep Jesus first in my home? How can I bring revival to those in my home?  

REVIVAL IN OUR CHURCH

Healing in our nation will only happen if God’s people lead by example. The Church is the extension of Jesus’s love and the vehicle through which He is working to share his love and message of salvation.  For the church to truly be impactful in the land, the church needs to be healthy and focused on living for what is most important above all – seeking first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness. 

READ

Lamentations 5:21 ESV “Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old…” 

Revelation 2:2-5 ESV ““‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” 

Matthew 5:13-16 ESV “13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

THINK: What is the church known for in our land? How are we pointing people to Jesus through our words and deeds? Have we lost our focus and effectiveness?  What do we need in order to live as salt and light in a broken and needy world?   

PRAY: Pray that God would bring revival to Bay Area Church. Pray that God would use us to saturate the 4B area with the gospel by restoring people, families, and churches. Pray that we would never lose sight of what is most important and that above all, we would be known as those who love God and love others.   

LIVE: How will I pray for revival in my church this week?  How will I commit to what God is doing in and through Bay Area Church? How can I help point people to Jesus by loving God and others well in these days? 


REVIVAL IN OUR NATION

God has placed us in this country, at this time, to live for Him and help seek the good of the nation and the people. We are called to pray for our leaders. We are called to seek the welfare of the city. We are called to bring Heaven to Earth in how we live and influence the culture around us. We should seek revival in the nation – that people would come to know Jesus! 

READ

Jeremiah 29:7 ESV “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

Psalm 85:4-7 ESV “Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us! Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.”

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV “…if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

THINK: There is no better blessing than the blessing of God. And there is no greater blessing than salvation in Jesus. What could happen if we, God’s people, began to fervently pray for revival in our nation? Think of how God could be glorified if this were to come!    

PRAY: Pray for revival to come to our nation. Pray that as a nation, we would turn to God. Pray that we would see many come to faith in Jesus. Pray that we would truly be a nation known for how we love God and others. Pray for local, state, and national leaders. Pray for their salvation. Pray for their wisdom and leadership. Pray that God would use them for His glory in these days. 

LIVE: How can I make praying for revival in the nation a regular part of my life? Will I commit to praying for local, state, and national leaders? Will I stand up for the truth of God to be prominent and speak out when I see something less? 


WRAP-UP

Healing in our nation will only happen if God’s people lead by example. Let’s commit to keep praying for revival – in our hearts, in our homes, in our church, and in our nation. Pray that God would keep our eyes focused on Him, our hearts close to His, and our lives following His ways! 

UPCOMING MESSAGES: 

1/24/21 Hands-on-Service John 13:14-16

1/31/21 Relentless Love John 3:16, Romans 5:8
2/7/21 Spirit and Truth Empowerment John 4:23-24