This concludes a series of sermon notes on revival.  Please visit our website to read the first four parts.

3. REDEMPTION:


To buy back what was sold. To take back what was stolen.
There are many things that people have lost due to a culture of sin. Redemption goes beyond taking something back for an individual.  Redemption is the salvation of that which has been polluted by sin.

The individual can be saved and be set free from poverty. But if the entire area has a massive awakening to God, poverty can be eradicated from the culture.

Are you ready for a culture changing move of God?

Music is a cultural expression. Music and all the arts have been polluted. Music expresses the character and conduct of a society.

The power of God will redeem music back to its original assignment, To offer praise to God, not to sin and human desire. The enemy has polluted everything he can that once glorified the father. A revival that changes a culture will redeem all things to become servants of God and glorify Him.


I believe that Bartow and the surrounding area is in store for a mighty encounter with Jesus Christ. There is an awakening to God approaching us that has never been seen before. This city has had mighty moves of the Holy Spirit in the past, but what God has planned and is revealing to us now, is this next wave of the Spirit will be like no other move of God this area has ever seen.

 We are praying. We are expecting. We are declaring a Revival that will change a Culture.


Be Blessed!
Pastor Dave

This is part four in a series of sermon notes on revival.  Visit our website to find the rest of the series.

Previously we looked at the first spiritual phenomenon God uses to change a culture.  Today we'll explore the second, restoration.

2.  RESTORATION:


The act of putting back to or bringing back to the original form.
The power of the gospel of Jesus Christ will restore all that has been lost due to sin. There is no power on Earth like the power of God. Satan is a thief. John 10:10 says that the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy, but Jesus has come to give you life and life in abundance (paraphrased).




Joel 2:23-26


23 Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the Lord your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you — The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month. 24 The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
25 "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. 26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.
NKJV


Joel 2:28-29

28 "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
NKJV


Revival will bring about a restoration of all that was lost due to rebellion against God. All the penalty of sin will be reversed. This is what God promises, this is what we will see.

When restoration occurs part of this work is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. No one is fully restored without the restoration of the fullness of God’s spirit in their lives.

Tomorrow we will look at the third spiritual phenomenon’s God uses to change  a culture, redemption.

Be Blessed,
Pastor Dave

There are three spiritual phenomenon’s God uses to change  a culture.
1. Transformation.
2. Restoration
3. Redemption

Today we'll look at transformation.

1. TRANFORMATION:
Romans 12:2, "be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,"


TRANSFORMATION:


The obligation being to undergo a complete change which, under the power of God, will find expression in character and conduct.

In culture, character and conduct are the fruit of our culture. If the culture is corrupt then character and conduct will be corrupt.
No one can change their character and conduct to the point where God is pleased without His power being allowed to make the change. It is through the power of the word and the Holy Spirit that man can change.

The more people change the more culture changes. If there is a drug culture or alcohol or any sin culture, only the gospel of Jesus can change it.

Poverty is a cultural matter. At this writing, Polk county is ranked number 5 in poverty in Florida. When people serve the lord and transform their mind with the word of God and become givers, their poverty level will change.

Tomorrow we'll explore restoration.

Be Blessed!
Pastor Dave

Mark 1:21-34

21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!"

25 "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!"  26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching — and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
NIV

Acts 8:1-8

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
NIV

Tomorrow we'll look at three spiritual phenomenon’s God uses to change  a culture.

Be Blessed!
Pastor Dave

WHAT IS CULTURE?
Dictionary Definition: The behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture; The sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another.

Generational curse is the term many use to describe this plague of sin that is upon each generation.  With each passing generation the problem gets worse.  What was labeled rebellion in school in the 50s and 60s was spit balls and chewing gum in class.
Today it is open sexual immorality, aggressive rebellion, and at its worse, assault weapons and mass murder.

Romans 5:20-21 NIV

The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

*At Evans Mills, he was troubled that the congregations continuously said they were "pleased" with his sermons. He set about to make his message less pleasing and more productive. At the end of his sermon, which stressed the need for conversion, he took a bold step: "You who have made up your minds to become Christians, and will give your pledge to make your peace with God immediately, should rise up."
The entire congregation, having never heard such a challenge, remained in their seats.

"You have taken your stand," he said. "You have rejected Christ and his gospel."

The congregation was dismissed, and many left angry.  The next evening, Finney preached on wickedness, his voice like "a fire … a hammer … [and] a sword." But he offered no chance to respond. The next night, the entire town turned out, including a man so angry with Finney that he brought a gun and intending to kill the evangelist. But that night, Finney again offered congregants a chance to publicly declare their faith. The church erupted—dozens stood up to give their pledge, while others fell down, groaned, and bellowed. The evangelist continued to speak for several nights, visiting the new converts at their homes and on the streets.

He rode from town to town over what was known as the "burned-over district," a reference to the fact that the area had experienced so much religious enthusiasm that it was thought to have burned out. Newspapers, revivalists, and clergy took notice of the increasingly rowdy meetings—meetings unlike those of reserved Calvinists.
The revivalistic Congregationalists, led by Lyman Beecher, feared that Finney was opening the door to fanaticism by allowing too much expression of human emotion. Unitarians opposed Finney for using scare tactics to gain converts. Across the board, many thought that his habitual use of the words you and hell "let down the dignity of the pulpit."

The zenith of Finney's evangelistic career was reached at Rochester, New York, where he preached 98 sermons between September 10, 1830, and March 6, 1831. Shopkeepers closed their businesses, posting notices urging people to attend Finney's meetings. Reportedly, the population of the town increased by two-thirds during the revival, but crime dropped by two-thirds over the same period.*

In the New Testament entire regions were shaken by the gospel. The word that was preached and the signs that followed moved people to repentance. The power of the gospel is the same today. Are you hungry for that kind of move of God?


More on this tomorrow...

*Source unknown.  Please notify us if published information on Finney is known.