Remembering Revival Words 3

I am continuing to remind myself of words that have stirred in me about revival over the last 5 years from BuyTheField.

Stirred about Church.

originally penned September 25, 2019

I'm stirred about church. I love this photo that my nephew Jesse took. Church is about the people who live there. And there. And there. Wherever there is for you. I've been thinking about what our pastor Gary said this past Sunday. "Jesus is in love. He's in love with the church." That was a synopsis of the Bible book of Ephesians, chapters 4 and 5. I was stirred by those words on Sunday. They continue to stir me. It has been one of the great honors of my life to get to live in the guts of the church since I was a young boy. My dad was an elder at our church in Charlotte. My mom was our church pianist. I have been deeply impacted by the people of the church since I was a young boy. I just quickly typed 25 names in about 90 seconds of hearts that have forever impacted my life because they "are" the church. They are those becoming "little Christs" that have been WITH me as the church all along the way.

Having grown up and served vocationally in the church for almost the entirety of my life, it seems almost miraculous that I'm stirred about church. The bloody, gutsy beauty and carnage that is life as the church is one of the most stirring things I have ever known. Stirred to worship. Stirred to grieve. All inclusive. The specific storylines of worship and grieving that flood my mind in this moment of writing are so intense and so abundant. If they were reality TV shows, it would be billions. They are reality.

I simply lay before you today, the words of a mentor. A prayer for us, the church. Stirring for me.

"Spirit of God, restore my soul, in You. Revive Your people, as Christ's body. Wake us up to realize that we need to be restored and revived. Deliver us from smug complacency in all its well disguised forms: Doctrinal- we're right. Spiritual- we know God. Relational- we love. Missional- we're doing kingdom work.

Form us into a gathering of humble Jesus followers who are hungry to know the Christ you reveal to us in the sixty six love letters You've written, even when that knowledge upsets our whole approach to life and for long seasons along the way leaves us more empty than fulfilled, more questioning than dogmatic, more certain of less, but very certain of little.

Work in us until more than anything else we long to become little Christs who love the Father as He does and who live in this world as He did, even when loving and living like Jesus require suffering the loss of everything we mistakenly believe is necessary for joy in this life.

Shape us to realize that we exist as persons of value and worth only when we exist in true community with You and with others, even though true community demands that we give up the self protective maneuverings that we deceive ourselves into thinking are loving ways to relate.

Prompt us to follow Your lead in joining Christ in His mission to bring His kingdom to earth. Strengthen us to stick with it even when the glamour and excitement are gone and when following You means suffering injustice against ourselves in order to restore justice, to make things the way they should be for others. Create the desire in us to keep in step with You even if it leads us into dark nights where we feel empty, futile, weary, and disconnected from You.

Spirit of God, lead us into brokenness and through brokenness into trust, into conviction, into the joy of hope. When we gather as Christ's body, guide us in deciding how to meet and what to do when we meet so that we give You the best opportunity to do in us and for us and through us what You most want to do. Transform our mere gatherings into a living body, into the church of Jesus Christ. Amen."

Stirred.

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