Bob’s Blog

The Big Idea: A healthy church has spiritual vitality that reveals the vital sign of a structure for renewing priorities—a blood pressure regulated by a clear purpose.

We enter our final week in a four-week series on Vital Signs of Life. Like the physical body, a healthy church has certain “vital signs” of life which can be observed, measured and monitored. This will enable the assessment of the level at which the church is functioning. Normal ranges of measurements of vital signs change with age and health condition of the church. Vital Signs of Life is designed to be a catalyst for Christ First Baptist church to develop our own strategy for being the church and reaching the Covina Valley and beyond for Christ.

God disclosed to us in our last message the second essential vital sign of revealing a strategy for reaching people. Changing our worlds for Christ is a necessary means toward spiritual vitality. This final message focuses on the third essential vital sign of revealing a structure for renewing priorities. A structure for renewing priorities includes ways to effectively minister in the twenty-first century. This structure is concerned with how the church can establish a purpose that will keep everyone in tune with the overall direction of the church, harnessing its God-given resources.

This essential is likened to the vital sign of blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the artery walls. Each time the heart beats, it pumps blood into the arteries, resulting in the highest blood pressure as the heart contracts. High blood pressure, or hypertension, directly increases the risk of coronary heart disease (heart attack) and stroke (brain attack). With high blood pressure, the arteries may have an increased resistance against the flow of blood, causing the heart to pump harder to circulate the blood. Churches with high blood pressure have not developed a structure for renewing priorities. There is an increased resistance against changing the governance or structure of the church which cause the church to work harder to effectively meet its purpose.

We were created for a purpose. The purpose of our lives is far greater than our own personal fulfillment, our peace of mind, or even our happiness. It’s far greater than our family, our career, our ministry, or even our wildest dreams and ambitions.

Purpose =

“Living in a manner that counts, that stands for something,

that makes some eternal difference that you have lived at all”

Accepting God’s purpose for our lives challenges us to have a desire to go beyond where we are now. It requires making a personal decision to move out of our individual comfort zone, existing status quo, or any kind of mediocre mentality that might hold us back. It is only after the fire of our desire is ignited that we will be ready and able to live with spiritual vitality and minister with a purpose.

Rick Warren writes about purpose in his best selling book entitled The Purpose-Driven Life…the easiest way to discover the purpose of an invention is to ask the creator of it. The same is true for discovering your life’s purpose: ask God.

The Message paraphrases Paul’s affirmation that life all starts with Christ in Colossians 1:16…

For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible… everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.

As we continue to journey with God as Jesus-followers, he will help us to realize that building our lives around ourselves instead of Christ will only lead to emptiness and meaninglessness. We were made by God, and we must desire to discover our purpose in him.

The Message also paraphrases the importance of building our lives around Christ in Ephesians 1:11…

It’s Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ…he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

Paul sets before us the divine pattern and power in order to minister with purpose in Philippians 2:12-18…

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. 14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

We observe in these verses that God works in and we work out his salvation. No Jesus-follower should be satisfied with anything less than the total benefits of the gospel. God’s action cannot be frustrated, nor can his purposes remain half-finished; they must be fully effective.

Ins and Outs of Purposeful Living

The Christian life is not a series of “ups and downs.” It is rather a process of “ins and outs.” God works in, and we work out. We cultivate spiritual vitality, as individuals and in the church, by responding to the divine provisions God makes available to us.

Ministering with a purpose embodies a three-fold sequence:

1. God isn’t finished

12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

There is a purpose to achieve. This purpose to achieve is the working out of salvation. Salvation comes by faith—God working in. However, salvation is exhibited by works—we work out. We work out this salvation with fear and trembling. We don’t have the desire of grieving God. When we really love in our relationships, we are not afraid of what people may do to us; we are afraid of what we may do to them. The Jesus-follower’s greatest fear is of crucifying Christ again.

God is not finished with this process of the ins and outs. Paul already noted in his first chapter to the believers at Philippi that God “who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). God isn’t finished with us yet in his desire to use our lives as instruments to proclaim his salvation. In fact, every Jesus-follower can say, “Please be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet.” First, there can be no salvation without God. It is God who works in us the desire to be saved. Second, what God offers us we must receive as a gift. It is never God who withholds salvation; it is always the hardened heart of those who deprive themselves of it by refusing to accept that gift of salvation.

A young man once lost his job, and was growing somewhat desperate about his dilemma. So he went to see an old preacher that he knew. As he poured out his heart to the preacher he angrily declared “I’ve begged and begged God to say something to help me, preacher. I’ve lost my purpose for living. Why doesn’t God answer?” The old preacher, who was sitting across the room, spoke a reply so quiet the young man was unable to make it out. The young man stepped across the room. “What did you say?” he asked. The preacher repeated himself, again in a soft tone. So the young man moved closer until he was leaning on the preacher’s chair. “Sorry,” he said. “I still didn’t hear you.” With their heads bent together, the old preacher spoke once more. “God sometimes whispers,” he said, “So we will move closer to hear him.”

God is not finished with us yet. There is a purpose to achieve as God works in us to will and to act in accordance to fulfill his good purpose. We must be willing, individually and corporately as a church, to get so close to God that we can hear him when he speaks. So let’s move closer to hear God. This nearness is often accomplished through prayer.

2. Faith isn’t futile

14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

There is a power to receive. This power to receive is the opportunity of sharing salvation with those in our personal worlds. It is the proclamation of the offer of the gospel in words which are clear and unmistakable. We shine in a crooked generation like stars in the sky. As we hold firmly to the word of life we witness a life which illuminates wholeness in a world which is fragmented by darkness. Jesus-followers offer and demonstrate integrity in a broken world and light in a dark world.

The story is told of a little boy, on his way home from school, and he arrived late at a busy pedestrian crossing and found it unattended. Several cars pulled up for him, but he hesitated to cross such a wide road by himself. The fourth car in line was a police car with a megaphone attached. The policeman saw the little boy hesitating on the curb, so he flicked a switch and said, “The boy at the curb can cross now.” Slightly bewildered, the boy looked around, and then hurried across the road. When he got home, his mother asked him how he’d got on. “All right” he said, reaching for his apple. “When I got to the intersection crossing no one was there, but God told me I could go across.”

When living in a bewildering world, God tells us that we have the power to “go across.” There is a power to receive that enables us to experience the understanding that we may have the joy of knowing that we have not run or worked in vain. So Paul’s uses the object lesson of athletic runners. His prayer is that he may not be like an athlete whose training and effort have gone for nothing. For him the greatest prize in life was to know that through him others had come to know, to love, and to serve Jesus Christ.

3. Failure isn’t fatal

17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

There is a promise to believe. This promise to believe centers upon a living faith that makes a difference with our salvation. Paul here looks upon the faith and services of the Philippians as a sacrifice to God. He was perfectly willing to make his life a sacrifice to God; and, if that happened, to him it would be all joy. He calls on the Philippians not to mourn at the prospect but rather to rejoice. To Paul, every call to sacrifice presented the opportunity to believe the promise of God’s love. To toil was a call to his love for Christ, and therefore, he met it not with regret and complaint but with joy.

Again and again Paul takes pictures from the ordinary affairs of the people to whom he was speaking. He has already taken a picture from the athletic games of not running in vain. Now he takes one from heathen sacrifice. One of the common kinds of heathen sacrifice was a libation, which was a cup of wine poured out as an offering to the gods. Every heathen meal began and ended with such a libation, as a kind of grace before and after meat. Paul knows that that his death may not be very far away. He is quite ready to be poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of faith. Paul wants us as well to offer our lives as living sacrifices to God. Our Christian fidelity and loyalty are already a sacrifice to God.

If death for Christ should come to us, we must be willing and ready that our lives should be poured out like a libation on the altar on which our sacrifices are being made. So even the mistakes we make in life cannot be compared to the offering of our lives as living sacrifices to God. The world sees sacrifice as failure, but God sees sacrifice as obedience to the call of faith. The mistakes we make aren’t failures, and they are worth the risk. We know that Paul himself encountered mistake after mistake in his ministry.

Former champion hockey player Wayne Gretzky expressed so well what it means to risk failure in order to believe in the promises of God. He said, “You miss 100 % of the shots you never take. You will never make a goal if you don’t risk taking some shots at it.”

If what we have been doing to change our worlds for Christ isn’t working, then we need to risk trying something new. We don’t become afraid of a few mistakes along the way.

So it takes faith to believe that God’s promises are true and that they are going to work in our lives just as they worked in Paul’s life. God works in us through his Word, and we work out his purpose in daily living and service. Life is not a series of disappointing “ups and downs.” Rather, is a sequence of delightful “ins and outs.”

Moving to Ministry Teams

It is important that every church operate from a clear purpose and established values that keep everyone in tune with the overall direction of the church. It is equally important to have a clear structure so that the church can harness its God-given resources and talents to accomplish its unique mission.

A structure for renewing priorities is concerned with how the church can better work together so everyone has a part and everyone is working towards the accomplishment of the mission of the church. Five crucial areas are part of this structure:

Developing ministry teams rather than departments

Establishing clear lines of communication between the teams

Maintaining accountability through leadership participation

Allowing decisions through purpose driven policies

Focusing upon spiritual growth rather than organizational maintenance

When such a structure is put into action, it will bring focus and clarity to everything the church desires to do. The structure adopted for renewing priorities cannot be a substitute for God’s blessings or power. Any purpose in ministry is dependent upon God’s working not our strength or enablement.

This truth of allowing God’s blessings or power to be central to ministering with a purpose is illustrated in the Scriptures from the book of John. Jesus is speaking with Nicodemus in John 3 about being “born again.” He cannot understand the “born again” experience. This command strikes the scholar with the response: what’s my part? “God works and we trust”; not “God trusts we will work.” Such a thought troubles Nicodemus. So Jesus comforts the visiting professor from the Torah—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—Nicodemus’s favorite portion of Scripture.

Jesus uses an Old Testament story to reveal a New Testament reality in John 3:14-15…

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

The backdrop to this illustration is found in Number 21. The wandering Israelites were grumbling at Moses. “Why would God bring us out of Egypt to die in this wilderness?” Because of their bitterness and unbelief, God sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. So Moses was instructed by God to make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and those who were bitten, when they looked at it, lived. This passage was a prophecy to Jesus’ words to Nicodemus.

Now the medical profession uses the symbol of a stick with a snake curled around a staff to represent healing. This staff is called the rod of Aesculapius (As_Cul_A_Pious), the ancient Greek god of medicine. In reality, Aesculapius may have been a real person who was renowned for his gentle, humane remedies and his humane treatment of the mentally ill. His followers established temples of healing.

The simplicity of John 3:16… “that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” troubles many people. We expect a more complicated cure, a more detailed treatment. But every day we trust power we cannot see to do a work we cannot accomplish. Jesus invites us to do the same with him. Just him. Not Moses or any other leader.

Ministering with a purpose is to know that God isn’t finished, faith isn’t futile, and failure isn’t fatal. In reality, the only difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary life is that little extra effort, that little act of faith. The key is to do what we can do today to come closer to our potential tomorrow.

Today is the day to begin living with spiritual vitality. It is an opportunity to begin to live as a church ministering with a purpose. It is the day to begin living in God’s image as we were created to be, moving from ordinary to extraordinary, from one level of spiritual vitality to another, from glory to glory.

The following Scripture from 2 Corinthians 3:18 reveals…

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

By ministering with a purpose, our lives will surely count for something and make a difference in the lives of those around us. So there is a watershed question concerning the ministry of Christ First Baptist Church.

“Do we believe that our best years at Christ First are behind us,

or do we believe our best years are yet before us?”

Let’s believe that most of our congregation would respond hopefully to this watershed question! Amen.

The Big Idea: A healthy church has spiritual vitality that reveals the vital sign of a strategy for reaching people—a temperature affecting those in our relationship webs.

We enter our third week in a four-week series on Vital Signs of Life. Like the physical body, a healthy church has certain “vital signs” of life which can be observed, measured and monitored. This will enable the assessment of the level at which the church is functioning. Normal ranges of measurements of vital signs change with age and health condition of the church. Vital Signs of Life is designed to be a catalyst for Christ First Baptist church to develop our own strategy for being the church and reaching the Covina Valley and beyond for Christ.

God disclosed to us in our last message the first essential vital sign of exhibiting a spirit of revival. It’s possible for a church to become lukewarm with a weakening pulse rate for renewal. This message focuses on the second essential vital sign of revealing a strategy for reaching people. Changing our worlds for Christ is a necessary means toward spiritual vitality.

This essential is likened to the vital sign of body temperature. Body temperature is a measure of the body’s ability to generate and get rid of heat. The body is very good at keeping its temperature within a narrow, safe range in spite of large variations in temperatures outside the body. Churches with a low body temperature rate have lost their ability to generate a passion for reaching lost people. Lost people matter to God, so they must also matter to us.

Jesus said in Matthew 16:18…

… “I will build my church, and the gates of death [Greek Hades] will not overcome it.”

Jesus promised the power, provided a plan and prepared his followers. And, we have to admit, Jesus sounded pretty excited when he said, “Go change the world!” So, why are most churches today in decline? Is the power gone? Is the plan faulty? Or are the people simply unprepared?

What do people want most in the world? What is the most sought-after goal? From the moment we awaken to the moment we close our eyes at night, what is it we seek every minute of the day? We want to feel good. The primary motivation behind every action we take is the desire to feel happy. Even when we’re focused on moving away from pain, we are, in effect, moving toward feeling good physically, emotionally and spiritually.

As a kid, I often asked myself, “Why do people engage in life-endangering activities like sky-diving, car racing and mountain climbing?” Even today I wonder, “Why do people choose dangerous jobs like being a firefighter, cop or ambulance driver? I am also confounded by the large amounts of money and time people spend going to the opera, rock concerts and sports events. I’ve asked myself, “What do all these activities have in common? What’s the compelling force driving people to invest most of their precious free time, or whole lives, in these pursuits? What, in heaven’s name, are people looking for?” A Rush Is a Rush Is a Rush! At one point, I saw the light. It’s so obvious really. We want to feel! We want to feel something.

On some level we all know that life is about feeling. If we don’t feel life we miss life. And, of course, the most popular choice is to feel good. Whatever way we choose to get ourselves to feel the end goal is the same: to experience the good side of life as fully and powerfully as possible! We want to feel really alive and happy. Some people call it joy. Some pleasure. Some rush, electricity, juice, fire or passion!

The Zone =

Living in the Zone is when everything goes right! We feel great! We’re on top of the world. Somehow we’re magically in the right place at the right time and everything is working out just like we want. To be in the flow is to be dialed into our natural state of clarity, presence and personal power. It’s being free of tension, worry and draining emotions. It’s living with a sense of ease, vitality and deep inner calm.

Now when we talk about the need of reaching people for Jesus Christ, this task instills fear into the lives of most Jesus-followers—not “living on top of the world” feelings. So Jesus shared with his followers on a hillside an understanding how they can be likened to a city on a hill that cannot be hid. He revealed an object lesson in which his followers could fully identify.

Jesus tells his hearers that citizens in his kingdom are to be like lamps, lights in the world as recorded in Matthew 5:14-16…

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

As we observe these verses, light is a precious commodity for Jesus-followers today. A city is a community and represents the church. The community of Jesus-followers, the worshiping, witnessing community, is like a city on a hill for all to see. The world watches the church to see if it will, in fact, produce light.

Light Up the World

In the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount, we catch a glimpse of high expectation. Jesus anticipated that the kind of followers described in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) would be rich in “good deeds.” It is these good deeds to which Jesus is referring when he speaks of their being the light of the world. This is the greatest compliment that was ever paid to the individual Jesus-follower, for in it Jesus commands the Jesus-follower to be what he himself claimed to be.

Jesus said in John 9:5…

“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

When Jesus commanded his followers to be the lights of the world, what did he mean? He demanded nothing less than that they should be like himself.

1. Light is meant to be seen

14″You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”

In biblical times every home in Palestine had its lamp burning all night. The lamp did not give much light, but it testified to the fact that the house was inhabited. These lamps, small oil-filled bowls, were set high on pottery stands. Jesus’ followers were to be like lamps, lights in the world.

Our faith is something which is meant to be seen. Our Christianity must be perfectly visible to all people. Further, this Christianity should not be visible only within the church. A faith whose effects stop at the church door is not much use to anyone. It should be even more visible in the ordinary activities of the world. Our life in the world, our Christianity must be evident to all.

2. Light is meant to be a guide

15 “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”

Jesus-followers must make the way clear for others. That is to say, a Jesus-follower must of necessity be an example. One of the things which this world needs more than anything else is people who are prepared to be the focus of goodness. There are many people in this culture who have not the moral strength and courage to take a stand by themselves, but if someone gives them a lead, they will follow; if they have someone strong enough to lean on, they will do the right thing. Many people shrink back from following Jesus because they don’t see the life of Jesus lived out in the life of his followers.

It is our duty as Jesus-followers today to take a stand which the weaker person will support; to take the lead which those with less courage will follow. The world needs its guiding lights; there are people waiting and longing for a lead to take the stand and to do the thing which they do not dare by themselves.

3. Light is meant to be a reflector

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Jesus told his followers that kingdom citizens are to be like lights that reflect his light and bring glory to the Father in heaven. The good deeds performed by Jesus’ followers are to testify to the fact that this world, however dark it may be, still is inhabited by the King. When the good deeds of Christ’s followers are seen, people will grasp the source and praise God.

If we shine light on most objects, those with reflectors will return light like a mirror or else they return the light in all possible directions (diffuse or dull reflection). For example, road reflectors send the light back in the direction it came from. This property makes the reflectors appear unnaturally bright to an observer who is in nearly the same direction as the light source. As Jesus-followers, it is our responsibility to send the light back in the same direction it came from. When we reflect the light of Jesus Christ, it makes the reflection bright to an observer who is in nearly the same direction as the light source. So it is crucial that we get people near to Jesus. Our reflection which comes from Jesus will be a source of light to those who are close to him.

On this Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration weekend, he spoke often about Jesus-followers illuminating the light of Jesus in the church and in the world.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that…Every man must decide whether he will walk in the creative light of altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment. Life’s persistent and most urgent question is ‘What are you doing for others?

We must not let anyone deny the role of doing good deeds in the life of the Jesus-follower. A Jesus-follower who does not perform good deeds is as useless to God and others as a lamp hidden under a bowl.

It is not a question of producing this light. Jesus does not admonish his followers to be the light of the world. He does not call them to do good deeds. Rather, as we become the kind of men and women described in the Beatitudes, the good deeds will naturally follow. Out of the spirit of poverty, repentance, meekness, and love, in the midst of mercy, purity, peacemaking, and suffering, great deeds will be reflected from Christ. We ourselves will recognize these works as not of our own doing. In moments of humility and meekness and faith we become instruments of God’s creative action.

So what design has God given us to breakdown the displeasure and build up the delight of living in the zone? God has given each of us in our web of relationships, on the average, anywhere from three to sixteen people [316]—people God has supernaturally and strategically placed in our relational worlds. Reaching lost people includes those with whom we share kinship (blood or marital ties), interests (work, recreation, community) and proximity (neighbors, coworkers, classmates). Every Jesus-follower shares some space with people who have not heard the Gospel or seen it lived out in an authentic way.

Oikos =

A Greek word meaning “extended house or household” (Acts 10:2, 24, 27; 11:14; 16:31), “one’s circle of influence composed of family, neighbors, coworkers, and friends.”

Throughout biblical history, God has framed his plan for evangelism around extended households. And everything that Jesus has even asked his followers to do have them at the core of his intent.

Now around ninety percent of the people in our churches come to Christ the same way. And it probably has little to do with a pastor’s sermon, a church’s program or an evangelistic crusade. More than likely, most people in our church came to Christ because of, that’s right, our oikos. Oikos is not a program. It’s not an event. It’s not an emphasis. For Jesus-followers, oikos is a relationship. It’s everything. It’s that important.

We must equip the body of Christ with a strategy of reaching lost people. What is the purpose of our church? Why are we still alive? Where does oikos show up in the Bible? Who makes up our oikos? What does God expect us to do about those people? God is using strategies to reach our oikos—extended households. Here’s the main premise of any strategy of reaching people:

“If we think our job is to witness to everyone, then we won’t witness to anyone!”

We can take a few minutes this week to analyze our oikos. If most of our relationships are with coworkers, we start there. The fundamental idea is to start with our most significant relationships.

We can use the box below to write down the people who make up our oikos. Let’s ask

God to help us talk about Jesus to those most appropriate for us to initiate in conversation.

As we pray for people in our oikos, and initiate conversations with them, we will see God use us in new ways. Some of the people listed above should be the first ones we invite to be a part of a class, small group, or even invite to worship or church activity. We focus on meeting the needs of people in our oikos.

Living in the Zone as Jesus-followers is founded upon four important assertions:

For two thousand years, the church has existed for only one reason…to change the world.

Worldchange begins when we establish a personal relationship with God.

Before our world will take relationship with God seriously, we need to officially and publicly declare our allegiance to Christ.

As fully devoted followers of Jesus, we need to follow in his footsteps and make worldchange our life.

Thus, witnessing is every person’s job, but our job is not to witness to every person. We must come to grips with the words of Jesus that will enable us to reflect Jesus as the light of the world. Lost people matter to God; they must matter to us.

The danger today in the church is not that there will be no good deeds, but that we will fail to let the deeds be seen. In order for the deeds to illuminate our worlds, they must become visible in our lives as Jesus-followers. This may fail to happen if we separate ourselves from our oikos. Rather, we are challenged to be “living in the zone”—openly in the midst of our worlds, in close human contact with other people, so that the light of God’s accomplishments in us may reflect the light of Jesus, and shine forth to the glory of God! Amen.

The Big Idea: A healthy church has spiritual vitality that exhibits the vital sign of a spirit of revival power—a pulse rate empowered by the Holy Spirit.

We enter our second week in a four-week series on Vital Signs of Life. Like the physical body, a healthy church has certain “vital signs” of life which can be observed, measured and monitored. This will enable the assessment of the level at which the church is functioning. Normal ranges of measurements of vital signs change with age and health condition of the church. Vital Signs of Life is designed to be a catalyst for Christ First Baptist church to develop our own strategy for being the church and reaching the Covina Valley and beyond for Christ.

God disclosed to us in our first message the health condition of the church of Ephesus. This church had lost their passion for their “first love.” So the first essential vital sign is a spirit of revival power. Renewal in the Spirit toward Jesus Christ is a necessary means toward spiritual vitality.

This essential of a spirit of revival power is likened to the vital sign of the pulse rate. The pulse rate is a measurement of the heart rate, or the number of times the heart beats per minute. As the heart pushes blood through the arteries, the arteries expand and contract with the flow of the blood. Taking a pulse not only measures the heart rate, but also can indicate the heart rhythm and strength of the pulse.

In the spiritual body the church, revival is a must for dynamic and effective evangelism. Churches monitoring decline and dissention do not grow. Like the church of Ephesus, the “first love” of every church is lessened. This tends to lower its pulse rate, and then outreach declines. The church loses its ability to sustain a passionate heart rhythm and strength for Jesus Christ.

God’s activity through his Spirit is needed to cleanse the church from three things that lower the pulse rate in the church: self-interests, clinging to its comfort zones, and a lessening of love for Christ.

Eddie Fox, an evangelism leader, writes…

The sin of the modern church is not the sin of commission, nor the sin of omission, but the sin of no mission.”

Worked up enthusiasm and organizational effort alone cannot renew the church and cause it to grow. A revived church is motivated, renewed and energized by the Spirit for the mission of Christ. A spiritual awakening sweeping across our land to bring renewal to churches is essential to reaching lost people for Christ.

A pastor tells of visiting a church in California while on vacation and finding a stirring red and orange banner on the wall. “Come Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!” it declared in words printed under a picture of a fire burning. The pastor was also interested in the sign directly underneath the banner which said: “Fire extinguisher.” So much for that church’s commitment to spiritual renewal.

Revival has everything to do with passion. [Video Clip]

Jesus’ words to the church in Laodicea accuse this church of lacking passion as recorded in Revelation 3:15-16…

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

This church had lost a passionate pulse rate in their ministry for the Lord. They were so lukewarm that they had no impact whatsoever on the culture around them. So what is revival?

It’s the renewal of the Spirit in the life of Jesus-followers.

Revival is an invasion from heaven that brings a conscious awareness of God. Stephen Olford.

Revival is that sovereign work of God in which He visits His own people, restoring and releasing them into the fullness of His blessing. Robert Coleman.

Revival cannot be organized, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again. G. Campbell Morgan.

A true revival means nothing less than a revolution, casting out the spirit of worldliness, making God’s love triumph in the heart. Andrew Murray.

Revival is the church falling in love with Jesus all over again. Vance Havner.

Revival is the visitation of God which brings to life Jesus-followers who have been resting and restores a deep sense of God’s near presence and holiness. Hence, it springs a vivid sense of sin and a profound exercise of heart in repentance, praise, and love, with an evangelistic outflow.

We must restate that a revived church is motivated, renewed and energized by the Spirit for the mission of Christ. What are the key ingredients of a spiritual awakening that is empowered by the Holy Spirit?

Jesus shares key ingredients of revival with his followers as recorded in John 14:12-16…

12 “Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. 15 If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever”—

We can observe in these verses that God is going to support us for ministry through the power of the Holy Spirit. If God is going to answer our prayers and give us peace in our hearts, there are certain conditions that we must meet. In fact, the meeting of these conditions is a blessing in itself, and a means to renewal.

Power to Perform

God is mightily at work today. God wants to give us a revival movement and use us in ministry. God is waiting for us to get ready to meet his conditions. Jesus leaves his disciples with his final, departing words just hours before his betrayal. If they are to continue his work after his death and resurrection, they will need his power to perform it.

There are three prerequisites for renewal. The prerequisites become evidences of revival when it enters the lives of Jesus-followers in the body of Christ.

1. A believing faith with far-reaching results

12 “Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

The Father will continue the work of his Son through his followers. When we sense a need for revival, we must give full attention to the works that Jesus has already done. The concentration of doing “even greater things” than what Jesus performed in ministry is the focus that renews Jesus-followers. The Bible says that “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

If we give our attention to work that primarily focuses on accommodating people to our standards of behavior and seeking for others to be like us, others will fall short of our mark of expectations or perceptions. Jesus is clear concerning our love for one another—giving attention to righting wrongs and reconciling to God and to one another in other passages of Scripture (see Matthew 18:15-17).

However, the focus of Jesus’ words in this passage is upon the power that the Holy Spirit will give us to minister with far-reaching results, not merely a performance we can achieve. Jesus’ life mission statement gives us a true understanding of the works we must be doing in Mark 10:45… “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

So how can a mere human being, even though he or she believes in Jesus, do “greater things” than Jesus did here on earth? This is another of those puzzling verses of Scripture. One suggestion is rooted in the observation that Peter, in preaching just one sermon recorded in Acts 2 won more converts than Jesus did in his years of ministry. However, something more significant is implied. The works Jesus did here on earth were in accordance with the will of the Father, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. They were special—but not amazing. Our “greater works” are greater in wonder—in the awesome realization that God can use weak, sinful creations like us to accomplish his purposes in our world. Thus, renewal comes to Jesus-followers when we concentrate on allowing the Holy Spirit to perform greater works of service in us that are in accordance with the will of the Father, not in accordance with the whim of the believer.

2. An intimacy with God through extraordinary prayer

13 “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

Any time renewal is happening, we will observe that extraordinary praying is present. Intimacy with God through prayer is experienced by the people of God as he moves in revival. God is using such movements as Experiencing God, Downpour, Concerts of Prayer, Intercessory Prayer Ministries, and other means to spread the revival.

To pray in Jesus’ name means to call on the authority of Jesus; but it also means taking his desires into account. Extraordinary prayer isn’t passionate for our wants—it is passionate for Jesus, his will, and his glory. Where is our emphasis when we ask God for things? Is it not frequently on the things asked for? On security? Healing? Deliverance from trouble? Rightly so. However, the thrust of these verses is not that God will do anything and everything we ask, but that everything done should bring honor to Christ.

For me, on many occasions, praying has caused me to stop seeking God to heal my cancer and to ask God to increase my faith in Christ that this sickness might be to his glory. The cancer is being treated, but the entire sickness proves to be a rich blessing and a time of empowerment by the Spirit.

Therefore, our main concern should not be in the granting of our requests, but the honoring of God and Christ. In what way would this understanding of extraordinary prayer change our way of praying? It must cause us to ask what Jesus would ask, what would please him, and what would bring his glory by furthering his work.

3. A long walk of obedience in the same direction

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever”—

Our life with Jesus is likened to a walk—a long obedience in the same direction. Jesus said that if we love him, we will obey his commands. Jesus’ command to every one of us is for us to be his witnesses. Renewal will motivate the people of God to the discipline of witnessing consistently. A spirit of humility, brokenness, repentance, and submission in pastor and people is the key. God will give us the ability to share Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit if we become obedient to his commands.

Friedrich Nietzsche in his book entitled Beyond Good and Evil writes…The essential thing “in heaven and earth” is…that there should be long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.

This long run that makes life worth living is being captured by the tourist mindset of our current culture. Religion is understood as a visit to an attractive site to be made when we have adequate leisure. Then we simply return home to our places of comfort. For some it is a weekly jaunt to church; for others, occasional visits to special services. We’ll try anything—until something else comes along. It is this “long obedience in the same direction” which the mood of the world does so much to discourage.

It is not difficult in our world today to get a person interested in the message of the gospel; it is extremely difficult to sustain the interest. There is a great market for religious experience; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of obedience that requires a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Jesus-followers called holiness.

The prophet Jeremiah proclaims in 12:5… “If you have raced with people on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?” If we don’t acquire this patient obedience with Jesus, then we will not be prepared to handle even the small challenges that life throws at us. Renewal will be impeded; the Spirit quenched. This long obedience in the same direction characterized Jesus’ walk with his Father. He therefore asks the same response from us. Love can be sentimental and possessive with little obedience. Obedience can be duty-bound, uninteresting and loveless.

The wonderful truth here is that God does not expect our long obedience in the same direction with Jesus to be performed in our own power. This is the first of five sections in John 14-16 that deal with the promise of the Holy Spirit. This Advocate (Counselor) is a friend forever! Often he is with us and we do not recognize him. Those hunches, those leadings, those thoughts like “Why didn’t I do that when it first occurred to me?” are evidences that the Advocate is already at work in our lives.

We must praise God for sending the Wonderful Counselor to be present with and in us. We must give praise to Jesus for sending the Holy Spirit that is leading, guiding, and comforting us with God’s truth.

Throughout the course of church history there have been several movements. Something new can invariably be described as a “movement”.

Movement =

Any group of people called by God who are dedicated to pursue individual and corporate transformation; resulting in the renewal and expansion of the church in its mission.

Those who are students of revival are encouraged because they see a divine pattern repeating itself. We are on the threshold of revival due to the development of increased concerts of prayer with a growing concern for revival among our young people.

Dr. J. Edwin Orr was born in Belfast in 1912 and concluded his work on earth in 1987. Professor Orr was passionately committed to Jesus Christ and dedicated his life to understanding and furthering the work of God—especially in revival and spiritual awakening. He summarizes for us in the twenty-first century one sentence his 60 years of study on prayer and spiritual awakening represents when he wrote… Whenever God is ready to do something new with his people, he always sets them to praying.

In 1746, Jonathan Edwards published a book on “concerts of prayer” — a term used in his day and repeated in subsequent prayer movements over the last 250 years. Well aware from biblical and historical accounts that united prayer was the only way to sustain the spiritual awakening that already had begun in the colonies, Edwards called for Jesus-followers on both sides of the Atlantic to pray for revival.

Revival movements last; moments come and go. Church history has recorded an incredible diversity of renewal movements, each making their unique contribution. Each revival movement has its own distinctive features, but the most effective share five common characteristics.

White-hot faith—God’s people begin to unite in prayer and intercede for revival. These people, broken before God, cry out to God for an encounter that would change their lives.

Consecration—God answers prayer by pouring out a fresh new manifestation of the person of Christ. God’s people as a result set apart themselves to him, and each other, and to the work of Christ in the world.

Commitment to a Cause—Movements make life uncomfortable for all God’s people because they are uncompromising. They heighten tension inside the church and with the surrounding culture. They are born in conflict because they stand for something.

Rapid Mobilization—Out of revival the gospel is further advanced, the church makes a greater impact upon the surrounding culture, and a general spiritual awakening takes place on many levels.

Adaptive Methods—Unencumbered by tradition, movements feel free to experiment with new forms of the church and new effective methods of ministry. Religious organizations are notoriously difficult to change. Over time our methodologies become even more sacred than our message. In contrast, dynamic movements are deep-seated in doctrine but far-reaching in methodology.

Renewal movements adapt themselves to the world around them. They pioneer new and effective strategies without compromising their message. All around us we see the evidence that the church as a human institution is in continual decline and decay. Today, much of the church is still grappling with what mission looks like in the modern world and has no idea of the deep social changes that are being ushered in by the emergence of a postmodern culture—a culture that needs a personal encounter with Jesus.

So let’s get personal as we bring this message to a close. In Parker J. Palmer’s book entitled, A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey toward an undivided self, he seeks to help us “rejoin soul and role” when it comes to a spirit of revival or renewal in our lives. Too many of us as Jesus-followers have “divided lives,” with personal values that don’t match what we are asked to do in the world to experience significance. He shares the following meditation on the Jack Pine Tree from Douglas Wood.

Jack pines…are not lumber trees [and they] won’t win many beauty contests either. But to me this valiant old tree, solitary on its own rocky point, is as beautiful as a living thing can be… In the calligraphy of its shape against the sky is written strength of character and perseverance, survival of wind, drought, cold, heat, disease…In its silence it speaks of…wholeness… an integrity that comes from being what you are.

It is a known fact that every spring and summer I go to Yosemite National Park. My first trip, over thirty-years ago, was a family vacation, pure and simple. But as I returned time and again to that elemental world of water, rock, woods, and sky, my vacation began to feel more like a pilgrimage to me—an annual trek to holy ground driven by spiritual need. Douglas Wood’s meditation on the Jack Pine, one of the many pine trees native to Yosemite, names what I go up north seeking; images of how life looks when it is lived with integrity. I continue to take treks to Yosemite every year for vacation, camps, and time for personal renewal. My knowledge of the divided life comes first from personal experience: I yearn to be whole, but dividedness often seems the easier choice. In Yosemite, I sense the renewal of spirit so crucial in my personal walk with Jesus. It is in the scent of the pines, the sight of magnificent granite rocks, the sound of water lapping through the valley, signs of a bedrock integrity that is eternal and beyond all doubt. And when I return to my world that is transient and riddled with unbelief, I have new eyes for the wholeness hidden in me and my kinds, and a new heart for loving even our imperfections.

Renewal means embracing brokenness personally and corporately as an integral part of life. Knowing this gives us hope that human wholeness need not be a utopian dream, but a daily opportunity to exhibit in our lives as Jesus-followers: a believing faith with far-reaching results; an intimacy with God through extraordinary prayer; and a long walk of obedience in the same direction. Prompting a movement of renewal is only possible as we allow the Holy Spirit to be our advocate and counselor—a friend to help us and to be with us forever! Amen.