How do we revitalize America? posted by John Sorensen on Oct 22, 2018

I hear quite a lot of Christians talk about the need for revival in America today. I certainly understand, and agree. But have you ever wondered what it would take for revival to come?

Generally, revival is defined as the restoration of the church itself to a vital and fervent relationship with God, typically after a period of moral decline, or disobedience.

Sounds like what we need, right? But what does it take for revival to come?  Well, this is certainly not an exhaustive list, but here are a few quick thoughts:

1. We have to believe we need it. This requires us to be awake and sober minded.
2. We need to believe that it’s possible. This requires some faith on our part.  Some people don’t believe that anything can change.
3. We have to believe that God can do it. He is the source of revival, plain and simple.  This requires trust on our part and obedience.
4. We have to commit to prayer, as prayer is the conduit by which revival will come, as seen in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
5. We must put ourselves in a position of obedience so that we can receive revival from God. This means that we must repent of our sin.  You see, sin is the barrier to revival.

When we talk about sin, and repentance, we typically think about sins of commission, or the sins we commit.  But did you know that there are three types of sin?

1. There is the sin of commission, as I just mentioned.
2. But there is also the sin of omission, where we fail to do the things that Christ has commanded us to do.
3. And third, there are sins of thought, as Jesus told us.

Perhaps one of our greatest sins in the United States church over the past 30 years has been the sin of omission with regard to the Great Commission.

Some years ago, I read a book by Tom Clegg and Warren Bird titled, Lost in America. Through their study they found that 50% of churches in America led no one to Christ in the prior year.

They conducted church services, Sunday school, choir, youth groups – you name it, but saw no one come to Christ!  And they raised and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps millions, in the process, with no fruit.  Amazing!

I saw a recent study done by New Orleans Seminary that showed one of our main denominations was 50 to 1.  That means that for every 50 people sitting in a pew, 1 person came to Christ last year.  Another major denomination is 300 to 1! How can this be?

Well, do you want the truth?  We have ceased to obey Christ and go into the highways and the byways of life, sharing the Good News with a dying world.

As Clegg and Bird so aptly titled their book, I think we have become “lost in America”!

So then, if revival is going to come to the church in America, we need to repent of our sin of omission.  We need to go to our friends, families, work associates, neighbors, and strangers that we meet, and share the gospel of Jesus Christ unapologetically.

The main reason we don’t go is that we don’t know how.

This is why we, at EE, have begun Equip America.  It’s a one-day training event meant to be a kick-start to our churches, causing us to get into the harvest field and obey Christ!  Before the event, we train and inspire a group of prayer warriors to start to intercede for the city. At the event, we spend time learning the Gospel, and then we go out and share it, in a friendly, fun way.  And we see God work!  Mostly, we prove that the church actually can share the Gospel today in a meaningful way.

And, I can tell you that the churches that have become involved so far testify that they feel revived–excited about joining God in His mission of taking the Gospel to this generation.

We’ve held three of these events so far, with our fourth event this Saturday in Evansville, IN.  At the first of this next year, we’re going to effort to do one of these a month, all across America, doing all we can to join God in bringing revival to our land.

This is our focus this week at Evangelism Explosion through all our channels. Visit sharelife.today to learn about Equip America and how you can be equipped to work in the Harvest. There is a link that you can click on to learn more.  Just go to sharelife.today.

Pray for us this week please.  Pray for this event in Evansville, IN this weekend, and for favor with churches across our land.  Thank you!

May God richly bless you this week as you serve Him.

This is a transcript from Conversations with John Sorensen #12

Sources:

Lost in America: How You and Your Church Can Impact the World Next Door by Tom Clegg and Warren Bird. Group Publishing: Loveland, CO (2001)