Embracing Revival: A Journey of Faith and Service
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
"I grew up in a Christian home, was saved when I was four years old, and lived for God, you know, all the way through school and high school and went to college and made some of the really dumb decisions that people do as a college student and walked away from the Lord for a number of years. But by his grace and mercy, and a really long story, came back to the Lord and knew from that day forward, I was called to the ministry, called to serve him however he wanted me to do that." [00:01:42]
"For the last previous 20 years before that, I had been praying for revival in our area. We had been praying with our youth groups, with our church. Our church has seen levels of revival. And I began to study it and pray that there would be an outpouring of God in our area. And what is your area for our audience? Yeah, so our area is from Solon Springs, Wisconsin to Prescott, Wisconsin. There's a river, it's called the St. Croix River. And it's 150 miles long." [00:03:41]
"Actively for revival in that region in that area and in 2004 we were praying for revival we were in a prayer meeting we were praying for revival and a woman that I did not know came up to me with a big smile on her face and and she said she goes it is so exciting that you're praying out the the the the valley prophecy for this area and I said ma 'am I don't know what you're talking about I don't know anything about a prophecy Wow and so she goes well I'll bring it to you and and basically the prophecy was given in 1948 and it was two different missionaries that did not know each other but an individual heard both prophecies wrote them down and what it said was just before Jesus returned that there would be an outpouring of God at the headwaters of the St. Croix River travel all the way down it and then a hundred miles in both directions Wow and that that revival would be full of miracles signs and wonders the power of God restoration of lives restoration of marriages and and it would continue until Jesus returned Wow and that's one of the things that just you know excites me so much is that you know you when you study revivals revival start and end and for a revival to not end is actually quite special." [00:04:19]
"When you came? And I didn't want to be there. We had planted two churches and then there had been a long break and I thought that part of my ministry was done. I came begrudgingly, I was not in a good mood, sat in the back. But the speaker said something that caught me. He said, a healthy church, any healthy church that's preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, a healthy church should be able to plant a church every two years. Wow. Every two years? Every two years. And I just, it just, something went off in me and I raised my hand and I said, who? Who is doing it? And he kind of smiled and he goes, well, I don't know anybody in America, but he says, I know they do it all around the world in Africa and Asia and South America." [00:06:10]
"Of Europe and I had literally that year before watched six churches start in one year wow a church was in a certain area an individual walked to the next town because they didn't have a car they didn't have uh you know mass transportation witness to someone they got saved a church started there the oldest member oldest christian member of the church who the one who had been born again the longest became the pastor yeah somebody and and that church began to grow and then somebody from that church walked to the next town and and started and got somebody saved and it grew we watched six churches start in one year wow from that moment on god god just messed with me the rest of that training and at the very end um i was sitting ready to give my presentation of what i had learned in the class and the holy spirit spoke to me and he said he said i want you to plant 24 churches in 10 years and i was like what how in the world can anyone plant 24 churches in 10 years and sorry i get no no it still gets me every time i know the presence of." [00:07:10]
"And when whole cities get saved, and revivals, that has happened many times in the world and here in the U .S. during the Great Awakenings where whole cities would get saved. When that happens, there's not enough churches. There's not enough churches in a community, in an area. And a lot of where we are is rural. And so there's a lot of towns where there used to be a church. There used to be a community church or a country church. And then it just dissolved. Dissolved away to nothing. And our heart is to reemphasize churches back into those communities. And so we began doing that the first year. That was 2017. Through the whole year of 2017, we prayed. We started with prayer. Prayer, prayer, prayer. Exactly. Nothing happens without prayer. And we can do things in the natural, but if we want God to do something, he wants us to pray it out. He wants us to hear his voice." [00:09:01]
"Yes, amen, amen. And so, at the time, like I say, we had planted two churches previous to that, and so the pastors of those two churches and another gentleman who's an evangelist, we began to pray weekly, and over the next year, and since, and then in 2018, we planted our first church in this movement, in this part of God's plan. And then, also in 2018, to be able to handle that kind of growth, that kind of, you know, personnel, I mean, it was, it was, you know, 24 churches means 24 pastors, because that's the way we do it. Every church has its own pastor, its own worship team, its own youth pastor. Our goal is to train up the saints to do the work of the ministry, and we're training people up to be able to pastor these churches, to minister within them, and so on." [00:10:28]
"And to empower. And so we began RVFM, River Valley Fellowship of Ministries, in 2018. And from that time, now, flash forward seven years. So we are seven years into this vision. We have seven, I'm sorry, we have seven churches that we've planted, and we have three churches that we have adopted. And that was a part I never really knew about, understood, but God has definitely opened the door. There's so many churches that are aging out and waning, and it just, our heart breaks for that, because why start completely over when you already have a church that God has put there?" [00:11:23]
"Is to be able to come alongside of them and help them. And maybe we have a pastor that they need or a youth pastor who can do outreach and things like that. So that has become a part of what we're doing as well. So we have 10 churches currently, but also in that seven years, because some of the people in our church, and I know sometimes when I lay awake at night, I think about, well, we're seven years into a 10 -year vision and we're not even halfway there. And the Lord spoke to me one night. He said, what do you mean? He says, you now have the groundwork and you have the infrastructure to move faster. And that's exactly what we're experiencing is a quicker move." [00:12:57]
"Where we could only plant one church every couple of years, we're now as a group of churches, group of ministers who pray together weekly still. We have a prayer meeting. You were up and visited one week and there can be anywhere between 15 and 30 people in those prayer meetings now praying for revival, praying for these churches and ministers. We can start doing it systematically faster because we have the resources, we have the manpower. And then one of the coolest things that's happened, which we would have never been able to script, was through a relationship with a Bible school." [00:13:41]
"Absolutely. Yeah. Hallelujah. Father God, I lift up anyone who's discouraged, anyone who's been hurt, anyone who's been, who's bored and is looking for more in you. Father, I thank you that your word says that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what you have planned for those who love you. And I thank you, Lord, that applies to everyone. Everyone that hears this, everyone that sees this, everyone who sees it in the word. It applies to them. And I thank you, that plan is so big, they can't do it alone. And so Father, I pray that for each person that they find that place that you've called them to plug into, that you've called them to be a part of, and that they become a part of the body of Christ again, and that they use the gifts and talents that you've given them. And I thank you, Lord, that you've allowed them to further the kingdom of God." [00:23:01]
Ask a question about this sermon
"For the last previous 20 years before that, I had been praying for revival in our area. We had been praying with our youth groups, with our church. Our church has seen levels of revival. And I began to study it and pray that there would be an outpouring of God in our area. And what is your area for our audience? Yeah, so our area is from Solon Springs, Wisconsin to Prescott, Wisconsin. There's a river, it's called the St. Croix River. And it's 150 miles long." [00:03:41]
"Actively for revival in that region in that area and in 2004 we were praying for revival we were in a prayer meeting we were praying for revival and a woman that I did not know came up to me with a big smile on her face and and she said she goes it is so exciting that you're praying out the the the the valley prophecy for this area and I said ma 'am I don't know what you're talking about I don't know anything about a prophecy Wow and so she goes well I'll bring it to you and and basically the prophecy was given in 1948 and it was two different missionaries that did not know each other but an individual heard both prophecies wrote them down and what it said was just before Jesus returned that there would be an outpouring of God at the headwaters of the St. Croix River travel all the way down it and then a hundred miles in both directions Wow and that that revival would be full of miracles signs and wonders the power of God restoration of lives restoration of marriages and and it would continue until Jesus returned Wow and that's one of the things that just you know excites me so much is that you know you when you study revivals revival start and end and for a revival to not end is actually quite special." [00:04:19]
"When you came? And I didn't want to be there. We had planted two churches and then there had been a long break and I thought that part of my ministry was done. I came begrudgingly, I was not in a good mood, sat in the back. But the speaker said something that caught me. He said, a healthy church, any healthy church that's preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, a healthy church should be able to plant a church every two years. Wow. Every two years? Every two years. And I just, it just, something went off in me and I raised my hand and I said, who? Who is doing it? And he kind of smiled and he goes, well, I don't know anybody in America, but he says, I know they do it all around the world in Africa and Asia and South America." [00:06:10]
"Of Europe and I had literally that year before watched six churches start in one year wow a church was in a certain area an individual walked to the next town because they didn't have a car they didn't have uh you know mass transportation witness to someone they got saved a church started there the oldest member oldest christian member of the church who the one who had been born again the longest became the pastor yeah somebody and and that church began to grow and then somebody from that church walked to the next town and and started and got somebody saved and it grew we watched six churches start in one year wow from that moment on god god just messed with me the rest of that training and at the very end um i was sitting ready to give my presentation of what i had learned in the class and the holy spirit spoke to me and he said he said i want you to plant 24 churches in 10 years and i was like what how in the world can anyone plant 24 churches in 10 years and sorry i get no no it still gets me every time i know the presence of." [00:07:10]
"And when whole cities get saved, and revivals, that has happened many times in the world and here in the U .S. during the Great Awakenings where whole cities would get saved. When that happens, there's not enough churches. There's not enough churches in a community, in an area. And a lot of where we are is rural. And so there's a lot of towns where there used to be a church. There used to be a community church or a country church. And then it just dissolved. Dissolved away to nothing. And our heart is to reemphasize churches back into those communities. And so we began doing that the first year. That was 2017. Through the whole year of 2017, we prayed. We started with prayer. Prayer, prayer, prayer. Exactly. Nothing happens without prayer. And we can do things in the natural, but if we want God to do something, he wants us to pray it out. He wants us to hear his voice." [00:09:01]
"Yes, amen, amen. And so, at the time, like I say, we had planted two churches previous to that, and so the pastors of those two churches and another gentleman who's an evangelist, we began to pray weekly, and over the next year, and since, and then in 2018, we planted our first church in this movement, in this part of God's plan. And then, also in 2018, to be able to handle that kind of growth, that kind of, you know, personnel, I mean, it was, it was, you know, 24 churches means 24 pastors, because that's the way we do it. Every church has its own pastor, its own worship team, its own youth pastor. Our goal is to train up the saints to do the work of the ministry, and we're training people up to be able to pastor these churches, to minister within them, and so on." [00:10:28]
"And to empower. And so we began RVFM, River Valley Fellowship of Ministries, in 2018. And from that time, now, flash forward seven years. So we are seven years into this vision. We have seven, I'm sorry, we have seven churches that we've planted, and we have three churches that we have adopted. And that was a part I never really knew about, understood, but God has definitely opened the door. There's so many churches that are aging out and waning, and it just, our heart breaks for that, because why start completely over when you already have a church that God has put there?" [00:11:23]
"Is to be able to come alongside of them and help them. And maybe we have a pastor that they need or a youth pastor who can do outreach and things like that. So that has become a part of what we're doing as well. So we have 10 churches currently, but also in that seven years, because some of the people in our church, and I know sometimes when I lay awake at night, I think about, well, we're seven years into a 10 -year vision and we're not even halfway there. And the Lord spoke to me one night. He said, what do you mean? He says, you now have the groundwork and you have the infrastructure to move faster. And that's exactly what we're experiencing is a quicker move." [00:12:57]
"Where we could only plant one church every couple of years, we're now as a group of churches, group of ministers who pray together weekly still. We have a prayer meeting. You were up and visited one week and there can be anywhere between 15 and 30 people in those prayer meetings now praying for revival, praying for these churches and ministers. We can start doing it systematically faster because we have the resources, we have the manpower. And then one of the coolest things that's happened, which we would have never been able to script, was through a relationship with a Bible school." [00:13:41]
"Absolutely. Yeah. Hallelujah. Father God, I lift up anyone who's discouraged, anyone who's been hurt, anyone who's been, who's bored and is looking for more in you. Father, I thank you that your word says that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what you have planned for those who love you. And I thank you, Lord, that applies to everyone. Everyone that hears this, everyone that sees this, everyone who sees it in the word. It applies to them. And I thank you, that plan is so big, they can't do it alone. And so Father, I pray that for each person that they find that place that you've called them to plug into, that you've called them to be a part of, and that they become a part of the body of Christ again, and that they use the gifts and talents that you've given them. And I thank you, Lord, that you've allowed them to further the kingdom of God." [00:23:01]
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from Jan 15, 2025. Do you have any questions about it?