Preparation:

This program could be done in a single one-hour session, expanded to a half day workshop, or divided easily into two or three one-half hour sessions.  Allow plenty of time for response by group members to the questions within the program at the end of each section.

Copy handouts in advance.

Sections 1-5 can be assigned to individual group members to present and lead the question time at the end of each section, or, the leader can be responsible for leading the group during the question time.

Opening Worship: 

Pass out Scriptural Prayer & Praise sheet and have individuals take turns reading passages.  Sing a praise chorus or the chorus of a favorite hymn that centers on revival, prayer or the importance of God’s Word.

Introduction:  (Shared by leader, or designated reader.)

There are certain essentials for the renewing of Christ’s Church.  These are not new — but why are we not surprised?  God is unchanging, and He has defined how we shall approach Him, find Him, love and serve Him.  The truths of Christian faith are relevant to every age, and do not have to be reinterpreted.  They do have to be embraced and lived out if we are to remain in a place of spiritual vitality.

Let’s consider five of the basic components for renewal.

1. Only God Can 

Our work for renewal will not make a measurable difference unless God brings renewal.  D. M. Patton was quoted as saying:

It is most significant that since the Reformation, revivals have recurred with increasing frequency.  Again and again God has rescued that which has gone beyond all human aid: what could have saved the church but these gracious interventions of almighty power?  The need can but grow more urgent as the age draws to its close.  When revivals cease to flow from the mercy of God, judgement must come. (Possessing the Gates of the Enemy, pg. 63)

The Scriptures bear out the fact that it is God who makes Himself known to His people.  Again and again God initiates renewal.  In Christ, He has made the ultimate approach to humankind.  Through the Holy Spirit, He continues to convict and draw us. 

Arthur Wallis reminds us in his book, In the Day of Thy Power:

Revivals are supernatural demonstrations of God’s power.  When will we learn to let God work in His own way?  When will we spend more time in seeking to know what His way is than we do in devising human plans and methods which only bring us a sense of failure and loss?  We need revival.  The church needs a revival.  The world — hungry, restless, sin-cursed, dying—needs a revival.  God wants us to have it.  Let us make every effort to meet the divine conditions and let us expect Him to answer by fire.

2. Prayer — The Starter 
(This section can be expanded by using the handout "When God's People Pray," taking up the remaining quotes and questions that follow the first two quotes included in this program.) 

Let's begin this section with a couple of quotes that address the historical importance of prayer:

When God intends great mercy for His people, the first thing He does is to set them a praying.  — Matthew Henry

From the day of Pentecost, there has been not one great spiritual awakening in any land which has not begun in a union of prayer, though among two or three; no such outward, upward movement has continued after such prayer meetings have declined.  — A.T. Pierson

There are so many elements involved in the process of prayer.  We could do a full day’s workshop on this topic alone and still only scratch the surface.

Many of God’s people do not understand the powerful dynamic of prayer, and do not realize how it could impact their personal lives, families, communities, churches, and indeed, the world.
 

3. God’s Word – The Foundation
(To supplement this section, the group can be encouraged to study A Christian Women’s Declaration, available through RENEW.)

At the 1998 Ecumenical Coalition on Women and Society Washington Summit, A Christian Women’s Declaration was released.  The Declaration was firmly grounded in Scripture.  The authority of Scripture provided its foundation and was its defining source for all other statements.  Regarding the Scripture is stated:

We affirm the authority of the Scriptures and the doctrines represented in the ecumenical creeds of the Church.  We believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the divinely-inspired written Word of God for all people throughout the ages.  From them we learn the history of God’s saving acts toward Israel and all humankind, and so we have a reliable basis for understanding the divine plan and our place in it.  From the Scriptures we receive God’s commandments and counsel, so that we have authoritative guidance for individual behavior and social life.  We are called to approach the Bible with faith in the Holy Spirit who inspired it and with a readiness to obey the Word that we hear.

A renewed individual or a renewed Church will find itself in compliance with God’s Word — or at least moving toward compliance!  A renewed Church will embody the full counsel of God’s Word in faith and practice.  It is the plumbline against which our obedience or disobedience is measured.  It reveals the character and nature of the true God whom we are called to love and serve, and from whom we receive grace upon grace and love beyond measure.
 

4. Contending for the Faith — Not Optional 

An even cursory study of the Scriptures will reveal that God’s people have always had to “contend for the faith.”  Contending for the faith means to hold to the truth that God has revealed — to refuse to compromise clear teachings of Scripture.  It means keeping our faith pure, unblended with other religions of the world.

We expect to do this within the culture in which we live.  Israel always had to guard against pagan influences, and defend the unique beliefs of “God’s chosen people.”  This often put them in antipathy with the nations surrounding them or dominating them.

We too expect that our faith will set us apart.  The call of God upon our lives to live righteous lives will not be appreciated among those who want to live their lives to please themselves. Those who do not know God do not understand the things of God, nor the personal fulfillment and joy which comes from knowing God personally and experiencing His grace and love in its fullness.

What we have found, however, is that we must also (most of the time even more so) contend for the faith within the walls of the Church itself.

This is not new to the Judeo/Christian experience.  The sin that brought judgement upon Israel was the sin which was “within the camp.”  Time and again God called His people to repentance.  Time and again He brought punitive measures against them as a nation to show His displeasure with their sin.

From the days of the early church, sin was “within the camp.”  Remember Ananias and Saphira?  What about Paul’s letter to the Corinthians?  Many of the epistles were written to warn the early Christians to hold to sound doctrine and not to embrace or accept false teachers and their false doctrines.

Yet, today, we often think things should be perfect within the church.  In some places God has brought revival and reform, and for the most part things are as they should be within the body of Christ.  Still, even in those settings, there are occasional problems.  We are by nature a sinful people—and sanctification is an ongoing process.

We could get discouraged — but we must remember — contending for the faith is an integral part of renewal.  Sue Cyre, executive director of Presbyterians for Faith, Family and Ministry wrote an article in Theology Matters about this very topic.  She advised her readers:

In the midst of people’s weariness at the battle, there is often a desire to leave the “apostate” (Church) and form a holier alliance elsewhere….

We evangelicals also need to examine our own hearts, if we want to look for reasons why we have not been as successful as we hoped in the struggle.

We must see spiritual warfare as the norm, not the exception…

We need to love our neighbor enough to struggle for them…

We need to trust God and not just fight “winnable battles”…

We need to give a consistent witness to Jesus Christ…

We must give God thanks for all his blessings…

God has called us to be on the front line of a battle that is raging not only in our denominations but in the world.  He called us to be on the front line not to destroy us but to edify us; not to shame us but to purify us; not to hurt us but to glorify us.  We should not shrink from our calling.  We should see these days as a privilege in which the world might come to see our devotion to the living God.
 

5. Discerning God’s Heart

As Christians we are always concerned about what is happening within society and even more so within the Church.  We want to discern what to do about those concerns.  Numerous scriptures warn of a worsening of evil in the last days, and of a falling away from the truth within the Church itself.  These are perilous times, and they are not likely to get better.

We must remember that God is the God of the beginning and the end.  Nothing takes Him by surprise.  He is always Sovereign, and always in control.

Each person and renewal group has to discern what God is telling them regarding any theological crisis within the Church and their faithful witness within society.

Above all things, we need to discern God’s direction.  What is God doing?  What is the end that He sees in all of this?  We must endeavor to stay in step with the Spirit—and be willing to do the difficult if God so directs. 

Also, we must embrace those things where God is moving and acting for renewal.  We need to support those movements of God and incorporate the elements of them into our own ministries.

In the midst of “working for renewal”—we must let renewal happen within our own hearts and do all we can to facilitate it in the lives of others.

We must continue to hold out the Word of Life and to recognize that we stand on the high ground.  Our doctrines are not dead orthodoxy, or certainly shouldn’t be, but rather represent a living and dynamic faith which impacts all of life with positive life-giving power. 
 

Closing:

In closing, we are back where we started. ONLY GOD CAN maintain and redeem us as individuals and His Church.  We are “laborers together with God,” but the end rests in His hands.  These closing scriptures taken from the last two books of the Bible encourage our faithfulness to keep the faith while they affirm God’s sovereignty in the process: