Church Comfort

Isn't it sad - that newcomers can find Church a comfortable place - for the reason that they find people inside the Church to be very similar to themselves?

Yes.

To elaborate:

The people inside the Church try to make newcomers feel comfortable by doing all the stuff a non-Christian would do e.g. play sports, video games, bars, clubs, relax, hang out - and we would say: "Look we are not too different from you. So what is so bad about becoming a Christian?"

Have we really nothing to show non-Christians the real difference between us and them? Except for powerless concepts and non-Christian-debatable ideas? Sure, we can conform to the world as a way to attract many non-Christians to Church. But what change would that make in them? Or us?

"Lord, What Do You Require Of Me?"

The Youth Pastor of Bethel Church, Redding California said this at a close-knit leaders meeting:

"Sometimes people struggle to tithe even 10% of what they earn, to God. But people fail to see that the 10% is not the point. Some folks just don't get it. God doesn't want your 10%. God doesn't want your tithes... He wants everything you('ve) got."

And rightly so. It makes a lot of sense. It is even logical.

Story time.
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A certain Church attendee from a certain city in the county of Los Angeles, was attending Church one night. This attendee, a man, loved God very much, and was a faithful servant of God. During the worship service, God spoke to the man and told him to give into the offering bag everything that he had in his pocket.

(Background: The area of the certain county of Los Angeles was not a well-off area, and neither were the Church attendees of the smallish medium sized Church.)

The man checked his pockets, and found $120, and was hesitant to give all of it into the offering, because the $120 was all the cash that he had, in that current financial moment. He knew that God had spoken; he had heard so clearly, but on the other hand he thought about his family, his wife and children.

As the offering bag came around, he decided to put in $100. He justified himself by thinking that it is his responsibility to at least put food on the table for his family. He justified himself further by thinking that he had given most of what he had to God, and that was better than most others. As the service continued, somebody slipped a note inside the man's pocket. The man noticed the note, but did not open it, for some unknown reason. Perhaps he was listening to the sermon intently.

After the service had ended, while leaving the Church, the man felt the note in his pocket. He plucked it out, opened it up, and found a $100 bill inside with no messages attached. This time God spoke to him loud and clear: "You can have your $100 back. I asked for all you had."
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For the Kingdom of God is at Hand

"Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven."

The "Kingdom of God' does not mean when Jesus comes again in the near future. The Kingdom of God means the kingdom that God wants to invade the current earth with right now.

Hence the above three lines in the model prayer. It is God's will for His Kingdom to come on earth [right now!] as it is in heaven.

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The sure signs of the Kingdom of God coming to earth as it is in heaven are:

(1) A people who are so convicted by the truth of God's Kingdom that they prioritize God to number one in their lives.
(2) A people with a desperate and seeking heart, which does not come in the form of religion.
(3) The power of God among His people, and revival.

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Below is an examples to show that for a long time up until now --> it has been God's heart for revival to hit the Church.

Consider the lyrics to the song: "Touching Heaven Changing Earth" - a song we've been singing regularly since more than 10 years ago.

"We will seek Your face Almighty God
Turn and pray for You to heal our land
Father let revival start in us
Then every heart will know Your kingdom come"

Verse 1 talks about us, seeking God's face until revival hits, so that everyone inside and outside the Church will see that God's kingdom has come.

Never looking back we'll run the race
Giving You our lives we'll gain the prize
We will take the harvest given us
Though we sow in tears, we'll reap in joy

This verse talks about the sacrifice on our part.

Lifting up the name of the Lord
In power and in unity
We will see the nations turn
Touching heaven changing earth
Touching heaven changing earth

The chorus talks of the things that happen when revival comes. The name of the Lord is lifted up because the Church shows power and unity to the community. And it is by our experience of being so powerfully touched by heaven that we will be able to see the people around us turn to Jesus.

Send revival (send revival)
Send revival (send revival)
Send revival to us

The bridge is our constant prayer to God, requesting in accordance to the Word given us.

I know how many times we have sung this song in Church. Countless times.
Then why is it that revival has not hit our Church?
Is it because we don't mean what we sing? Or is it that we mean what we sing, but we just don't desire for God enough?

Do we expect revival to come in our generation?
If not, why not? If God has meant the outpouring of His Spirit for us on us right now even in these few weeks, how can we not pursue these things, right now?

Thus, the
Points of action:

1) No longer will we wait on God to see if He wants a revival.
2) No longer will we think that revival is for the next generation to come.
3) No longer will we make excuses to put off revival or make it a low priority, because we know that the revival of the Church is in the will of God right now.