When you hear the word revival, what comes to mind? Depending on your experience, the word revival can stir up all kinds of images - some good, some not so good. Yes, revival is an external event, as in “we go to Revival,” but revival is also an internal event. It’s not just something you come to, it’s something that happens within you. What we should see is lives turned back to Jesus. Earnest, heartfelt repentance. A reenergized people. And a church where, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). That is what true revival is.

Every believer, at some point in their walk, has become stagnant in their faith. We go through the daily grind of life, and if we aren’t careful, our commitment to Christ can take a back seat. Truth is, sometimes we don’t even realize how far down our faith has gotten on our priority list. This is why having a Revival is important – it helps to shake us up! Revival draws our eyes to what’s really important in this life. Revival renews our commitment to Jesus and His church.Revival fans the embers into flame. And the hope is that we would rekindle the same joy and fervor that we had when we came to accept Jesus as Lord. 

But aside from the very personal aspects of revival, there is a bigger picture that we don’t often think of. Writer Paul Daugherty said this in his devotional, Stepping Into Revival, “America produces more pornography than any other nation, and we have more criminals than any other nation. Our prisons are packed, and we have more teen pregnancies than any other nation. One-third of children in America grow up fatherless. Suicide is the leading cause of death amongst teenagers under the age of sixteen. Abuse is rampant in our homes, and our society has been imbued with disdain for the church, for morality, and for Christ. Only four percent of people born after the year 1980 believe that the Bible is true. That means that 96% of people under 40 years of age don’t even think the Bible is real. We have work to do. We need revival, and it starts with you!”

Expect great food, fellowship, praise, preaching, and most importantly –expect God to move in your life!

Right now! Over the course of the next two weeks, we will be preparing our hearts for Revival. This guide, (and the guide that will be handed out next week) will help us in making sure our minds, and hearts are ready to be refreshed, renewed, and revived!

Our guest speaker will be Dean Jackson from the McElroy Road Church of Christ in Mansfield, Ohio. Dean and his wife Lisa came to McElroy Road in June of 2014. He and Lisa were married in 1990, and they have two grown sons, two daughters-in-law, three grandsons and a granddaughter. Dean received his Bachelor’s Degree from Central Christian College of the Bible in 2006; he finished his Master’s Degree from Johnson (Bible College) University in 2013. Before entering full-time ministry, Dean served in the U. S. Air Force and worked in construction.

To learn more about Dean and McElroy Road, visit their website, mcelroyroad.org

There are several examples of revival in the Bible. Jonah’s preaching in Nineveh, Elijah on Mount Carmel, Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, to name a few. Different men, different audiences, different periods of time, but there is a common thread throughout the revivals we see in the Bible – repentance.

Strongs Dictionary of Bible Words defines repentance as, “a change of mind that involves a turning from sin and a turning to God.” On the surface, repentance sounds easy. Let me parallel that with an illustration from my own life. I have high cholesterol. If I don’t address it, I could end up having a heart attack, a stroke, or a number of other things. So, I need to turn from doing the unhealthy things that I’ve been doing and turn to a healthier lifestyle. On the surface, that sounds entirely reasonable. It’s not something that’s unreachable. I can do this! But, do I want to?

I came across a great quote about repentance, “Repentance is a change in how I think that leads to a change in how I live. When you really change your mind about something, it will change how you think about it, talk about it, feel about it, and act about it. I’m suggesting that true repentance is more than just a mental game. Repentance is a decisive change in direction. It’s a change of mind that leads to a change of thinking that leads to a change of attitude that leads to a change of feeling that leads to a change of values that leads to a change in how you live.” (What is Repentance? How Do We Repent? christianity.com)

I think the hardest part about repentance is what comes after the change of mind. In my experience conviction can come easily. But it’s what you do with that conviction that matters. “I know I need to, but…”

So, how do we move from a change in mind to a change in how we live?

Two weeks ago, I watched a sermon on repentance by Ashley Wooldridge, the preacher at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Peoria, Arizona. He does a great job to explain what repentance looks like in the life of a believer, and how we can develop an attitude of repentance.

I want to encourage you to watch this sermon before our Revival begins on Saturday. “A Call to Repent Ashley Wooldridge."

The thought of repentance can be uncomfortable – especially living in a society that encourages us to throw caution to the wind. But as we enter this Revival at Southwest, I want to encourage us to be open to God’s prompting. Are we willing to allow God to change our mind, and change our direction? Will we allow God to use repentance to revive us?