Revival: Children Often Lead the Way
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick A revival known as the “Children’s Prayer Revival” was ignited around December 28, 1707. The location was near the border of Poland and Czechia in an area where evangelical worship had been outlawed. Boys and girls, ages 4-14, assembled in the open fields outside the town to pray. They would sing hymns, read Psalms, and close with a blessing. Church leaders were furious that prayer was taking place outside the church building, yet it was as if nothing could stop these children from assembling to pray. One father, concerned about his children defying the church and...
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Revival: It Leads to Social Reforms
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick True revival awakens a heart for the least and the lost. Historically, revivals have occurred during times of cultural darkness. England, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, had plunged into moral decadence. Drunkenness was rampant and gambling so pervasive that historians described the nation as "one vast casino." Tickets were sold to public executions as entertainment. Many children died in workhouses. Conditions were dismal all around. Amid this degradation, increasing numbers of British grew rich on the African slave trade, causing one Anglican bishop to remark...
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Revival: It is Characterized by Repentance
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick The First Great Awakening in America was ignited around 1730 by a scholarly New England minister named Jonathan Edwards. From there, a series of revivals rapidly spread, bringing about the most significant social upheaval to occur prior to the Revolutionary War. The dramatic, impassioned preaching of England’s George Whitfield fueled these revival fires as he passed through the colonies. The strategic discipleship methods of John Wesley, also from England, extended the revival’s power and impact in early America. The widespread salvation of unbelievers (that extended...
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Revival: It All Begins with Prayer
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick Fervent, persistent prayer always precedes revival. Revival historians consistently point to what is sometimes called extraordinary prayer. This is united, persistent, and frequent prayer…often for extended periods of time. The Moravian Revival of 1727 started as a 24/7 prayer meeting that lasted for over 100 years. A group of humble, simple servants who were hungry to see God move. This same Revival gave birth to the most wide-reaching global missionary movement in history. The Moravians’ fervent prayer deeply affected the personal faith of John Wesley, who said...
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Revival: What is Revival?
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick The dictionary defines “revival” as “coming back to life” or “increasing in strength or intensity.” An Emergency Room doctor might revive a patient whose heart has stopped. While the word “revival” doesn’t appear in Scripture, “revive” does. Psalm 85:6 says, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” Isaiah 57:15b says, “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Clearly there are...
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His Final Words: The Goodness of Friday
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Jesus’s final words came on the heels of two very important days that we in the Christian faith know as Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. What made Friday so good? Because the cross secured our eternal life forever! Thursday and Friday paved the way for Jesus’s last words to be released in power, precision, and purity…paving the way for a future and a hope for all who put their trust in him. Jesus was arrested at midnight in the Garden of Gethsemane. Note that in that moment, he could have called down a legion of angels (600 to be exact!) to help him. But he didn’t. He...
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His Final Words: Victory in Gethsemane
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Over the past couple weeks, we have been looking at some of the significant final words that Jesus spoke on the cross. But for the next two days, I want to go back a few days and look at the last hours in Jesus’s life before he went to the cross and died. In church history we refer to today as Maundy Thursday. This was the day that Jesus celebrated his last supper with his disciples from probably around 6-10pm. They shared a long meal together, a Seder/Passover meal. Jesus’s patience, long-suffering endurance, and compassion is seen as he washed the disciples’ feet...
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His Final Words: “Into Your Hands, I Commit My Spirit”
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick When someone is about to die or is approaching the end of life, he or she usually shares words that are full of perspective, insight and purpose. There is something about nearing the end of the road that provokes people to say what they wished they had always said and to communicate things they may have missed the opportunity to communicate. Jesus’s final words held the most significant meanings in all of history. We are looking at some of his final words. Here is what he said in Luke 23:46, “Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit.” Notice that Jesus acknowledged...
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His Final Words: “It Is Finished”
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Final words. Defined as “the final things said in an argument or a discussion.” I love to think about all of the final words that Jesus spoke as he put an end to the argument of who would end up having the victory between him and Satan. Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection settled the discussion once and for all when he took back the keys that Adam relinquished in the Garden of Eden. And now, because of the victory on the cross, he holds those keys forever (Revelation 1:18)! The finality of Jesus’s victory is shown in these final words in John 19:30, “It is...
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His Final Words: “I Thirst”
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Have you ever spent the day at the beach on an especially hot summer day? Splashing through the waves for hours? After so much time in the salt, sand and sun, it is very common to feel very thirsty. Did you know that some of Jesus’s final words in John 19:28 were, “I thirst”? I love the depth of this phrase. Jesus was most likely physically dehydrated. He probably had not had anything to drink for more than 18 hours. His last liquid was most likely at the Last Supper the night before. But he was probably also spiritually thirsty for all God was about to do! Think about...
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Over the next two weeks, I want to take you on an adventure to the cross. I want to look at the details, big and small, and help you understand the full meaning of Jesus’s journey from the cradle to the cross.
How are we going to do this? Each day, we will look at seven of Jesus’s “last word” phrases that he spoke on the cross. Every word he spoke was rich in meaning, intentional, and purposeful.
Words, in general, are powerful. But when you realize that John 1:14 says that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” and that Jesus IS the Word, the power of his words bear more weight than any human expression ever could.
Often, when someone is about to die, they will speak their most important words to those loved ones standing around them. It’s like the old joke says, “No one who is dying ever says, “I wish I would have spent more time in the office.”
Instead, someone nearing the end of life usually talks about his or her love for Jesus. And their spouse and kids. Their grandkids and sometimes even great grandkids. In Marilynn’s 97 year old dad’s case, if you were to spend even five minutes with him, he would gladly point out how proud he is of his kids, grandkids and GREAT grandkids!
Then, they may talk about what they want you to remember. They may share last pieces of advice, last memories, last insights.
The same thing was true of Jesus. His last words on the cross sought to give his followers great insights into his heart and to share the most important things with all of us before his death.
We will spend the next seven days looking at these seven truths that he left us in his final words on the cross.
Then, after hearing his final words on the cross, we will go back and relive his last words on the night before his death and then in the final hours on Friday leading up to his crucifixion and see what these hours may mean to us.
Join us on this journey for the next two weeks!