The Importance of Prayer, rightly understood:
“Life is war… Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church… not a domestic intercom to call for more comforts in the den… God has given us prayer because Jesus has given us a mission.” John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad, p. 40,47
“As with the truth that is preached, prayer has no inherent power in itself. On the contrary, true prayer is bound up with a persuasion of our inability and our complete dependence on God. Prayer, considered as a human activity, whether offered by few or many, can guarantee no results. But prayer that throws believers in heartfelt need on God, with true concern for the salvation of sinners, will not go unanswered. Prayer of this kind precedes blessing, not because of any necessary cause and effect, but because such prayer secures an acknowledgement of the true Author of the blessing. And where such a spirit of prayer exists it is a sign that God is already intervening to advance his cause.” Iain Murray, Revival and Revivalism, p. 129
A Definition of Revival:
“Revival is just the life of Jesus poured into the hearts of believers.” Roy Hession, The Calvary Road
“What happens in revivals is not to be seen as something miraculously different from the regular experience of the church. The difference lies in degree, not in kind. In an ‘outpouring of the Spirit’ spiritual influence is more widespread, convictions are deeper, and feelings more intense, but all this is only a heightening of normal Christianity. True revivals are ‘extraordinary,’ yet what is experienced at such times is not different in essence from the spiritual experience that belongs to Christians at other times… [Revivals] brought salvation to a larger number of the lost and gave Christians a greater conception of the glory of their Redeemer. The Spirit magnifies Christ, and the more abundantly his influence is possessed by believers the more they will live for his praise.” Iain Murray, Revival and Revivalism, p. 23
Worship is the goal of missions:
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.” John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad, p. 11
Worship is the fuel of missions
“God is most GLORIFIED in us when we are most SATISFIED in Him. The more passionate God is for his own glory the more passionate he is for my satisfaction in that glory. And therefore God’s God-centeredness and God’s love soar together.” Piper, p. 26
“The Great Commission is first to delight yourself in the Lord and then to declare, ‘Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!’ In this way God will be glorified from beginning to end and worship will empower the missionary enterprise till the coming of the Lord.” Piper, p. 40
Joy in the Lord >> Progress as disciples >> Boldness as missionaries
[This whole message is from an October 2017 meeting with Oakwood leaders.]
My prayer is that the Lord will use the book of Philippians this fall to fan the flame of Oakwood’s joy in the Lord into a blazing fire as we fix our joy in Him alone. Let’s make Sunday morning the very best experience it can be by investing diligently in the planning, preparation and implementation of every aspect of the Sunday experience. To do so we need our musical people to use their musical gifts, we need our technical people to keep the systems running smoothly, we need our relational people actively engaging with those who are new or on the fringe, we need our children-loving people to make our kids classes fun and enriching, we need our service-oriented people handling the refreshments, arranging chairs and thinking of all the other details the big picture visionaries among us will overlook. In short, we need everyone doing their part to exalt the name of Jesus every single Sunday. That is phase one.
Phase two of the plan is to energize our Community Groups. Joy-fueled prayer and open / honest Bible study (plus a healthy dose of just having fun together), like what the men are experiencing in the Courageous groups, should generate fresh excitement for Gospel fellowship. Remember the parable of the Prodigal Son – let’s not enable a “cheap grace,” permission-to-keep-sinning culture of prodigal sons; but let’s also avoid the other extreme of a proud, legalistic, judgmental, critical culture of older brothers. Instead, let’s apply the Gospel (“Jesus has conquered sin”) to the heart and live in the power of the Holy Spirit with an increasing commitment to holiness, unity and ministry.
If Oakwood is going to effectively keep the people who are coming and allow new people to get connected and growing with us, we will need healthy and growing Community Groups and we will need to launch new groups in the near future. There are two standard ways to launch new groups: 1) multiply an existing group by sending half with one leader and half with the apprentice leader or 2) send a leader from an existing group to start a new group and the rest continue on with the apprentice leader. Both models depend on Community Group Leaders identifying and empowering an Apprentice to increasingly share the leadership of group and the care of the people. Let’s pray that the Lord will raise up an Apprentice in each of our Community Groups!
Phase three is to develop a Gospel-centered training program to help believers grow in their faith and obedience. This is why I want to take the whole church through the Momentum material for the first eight weeks of 2018. Colin Smith (our senior pastor in Chicago) presents the beatitudes in Matthew 5 as a pathway for Christian growth. “The beatitudes don’t tell you how to become a Christian, they show you what a true Christian looks like.”
The humility of being “poor in spirit” is the necessary starting point – recognizing that we bring nothing of merit to the Lord. We can grasp this first ring no matter where we are in our walk with Christ. From an attitude of total humility we are in position to swing to the second ring of mourning over sin – taking the step of deliberate, ongoing repentance for particular sins. And on it goes through the rest of the beatitudes, inviting Christians to build momentum in their pursuit of Gospel-motivated growth in Christ.
- “Blessed are the Poor in spirit” Humility – “I bring nothing”
- “Blessed are those who mourn” Repentance – “I take ownership”
- “Blessed are the meek” Submission – “I surrender my strength to Jesus”
- “Blessed are those who hunger…” Pursuit – “I long to be righteous”
- “Blessed are the merciful” Compassion – “I care about others”
- “Blessed are the pure in heart” Worship – “I go after one thing”
- “Blessed are the peacemakers” Reconciliation – “I give up my rights”
- “Blessed are you…” Perseverance – “I endure the cost”
Joy in the Lord will energize and empower us to make progress as followers of Christ. A key result we should prayerfully pursue this year is an increasing boldness to proclaim the Gospel here in Tampa and to support God’s mission in the world.
One way to encourage one another in this direction is to share stories of how God is working in and through us. Let’s encourage and support one another as we labor together in the Lord’s harvest field!