Come, Follow Me: Prayer, Unity, and Mission

``And what happened next was nothing short of extraordinary, really. One Sunday in August, during a very mundane, very ordinary communion service that they had gathered for as a community, they experienced the Holy Spirit in a rather profound way, and everything changed. Their community became hungry, ravenous even for God. They prayed. They worshiped. They studied scripture together. They abided in Christ. [00:40:28] (34 seconds)  #SpiritFueledCommunity

You know, the Moravian missionaries, they weren't exceptional because of their credentials or their status. They were ordinary believers who responded to an extraordinary call. Many had no formal training, no wealth, no positions of power or influence. They were refugees, but they left everything behind to carry the gospel forward. For some, that meant crossing oceans and selling themselves literally into slavery. For others, it meant staying in Hernhut, praying without ceasing for years, for decades, serving their neighbors, living out the gospel in daily faithfulness. You know, the call looked different for each person that was part of that community, but the heart was the same, total surrender to Jesus. [00:44:12] (51 seconds)  #OrdinaryBelieversAllIn

This, of course, is the story of the Moravian revival that began in the first half of the eighteenth century. Christian persecution in Europe meant refugees who fled their homelands had gathered in Harnhut, the estate of the wealthy German count Nicholas Zenzendorf. Tensions arose for this disparate group of believers, but Moravian leader, Zenzendorf, and you see him there on the screen, he was committed to the way of peace and to the way of hospitality, and he wouldn't give up. And only three months after signing that covenant in July 1727 did they experience what we now know as the Moravian revival. That prayer meeting that began in 1727 didn't stop for over one hundred years. [00:42:44] (56 seconds)  #MoravianRevival1727

And the concerning statistic was this, and it was around the importance of faith. Now in the year 2000, nearly three quarters of Christians, seventy four percent, as you'll see there, strongly agreed that faith was central to their lives. In 2025, that number sits closer to half at 54%. Why does this decline matter? Because perceived importance is closely tied to lived discipleship. When belief ceases to carry the weight in a person's life and in their worldview, Christian practices such as church engagement and evangelism, well, they tend to follow suit. [00:50:08] (51 seconds)  #FaithDeclineMatters

You see, before they actually, quotes, believed in Jesus, they followed Jesus. Because at this point, quite frankly, there's very little to believe in. They haven't heard his teaching. They haven't seen his miracles. He hasn't told them yet what's about to happen. And even when he did, they didn't believe him or they didn't quite get it. They didn't understand. But as yet, they've had none of that. Come follow me. And they followed. They understood the assignment. Instinctually, they received in the fullest expression of that word their calling. [00:52:03] (43 seconds)  #FollowBeforeBelief

They understand it demanded everything of them. They understood it was about the whole of their lives. Indeed, they dropped their nets, their security, their livelihood, their family relationships. They knew the cost. They knew obedience would not come cheap. Following Jesus was not an add on. It wasn't another option amongst many. It was a whole way of life. [00:52:45] (24 seconds)  #WholeLifeDiscipleship

Because the call to follow Jesus is inextricably linked in the text with a call to serve Jesus every single moment of every single day. Come follow me, and I will send you out, says Jesus, to fish for people. [00:55:43] (22 seconds)  #SentToServeEveryday

Because Jesus' words hold deep truth. The call to follow Jesus is a call to serve the kingdom that he brought near. Follow me. We are called and we are sent, every believer, you and I. Do you know I think most of us deeply desire to live a life of purpose and significance? [00:56:42] (23 seconds)  #CalledAndSent