The
church needs a wake up call. That is not just my opinion but the
conclusion drawn from mountains of research and empirical evidence over the
course of years from just about every denomination. The world, it seems, continues to move
farther and farther away from God and His desire for His creation. Our country, the greatest country in the
world, founded upon principles of freedom and individual liberty given by God
continues to move farther and farther away from the moral foundations laid out
in His Word. The church has seen
decline… a steady decline for more than thirty years. Despite greater efforts at youth ministry and
stronger priorities being placed upon teaching our children, young people
continue to leave the church… and every indication is that they are not coming
back. Worse… the church is asleep! Like Eutychus who fell asleep while the
apostle Paul was preaching (Acts 20:9) the church is “asleep in the window” and
on the verge of teetering out.
I
am not one of those “prophets of doom and gloom” always talking about the end
of the church or the demise of the Christian era like some. Rather, I prefer to think God has more up his
sleeve and a plan to restore, refresh and revive His people! Yet, I would be remiss if I did not heed the
warnings of Scripture (i.e. Revelation 3) and the insight of history and take
up the call for a new awakening of God’s people in our time to rise, see what
is happening and to invite God once more to “turn the world upside down!” (Acts
17:6)
That
is what “Waking Eutychus” is about… not just another sermon series… but a call
for our congregation- our small expression of the Lord’s church which meets at
the corner of Washington Street and Franklin- to wake up and invite God to use
us in a mighty way to bring our “village” of Fayetteville to a greater
knowledge of the Lord. Who knows but
that we might have the same impact as that Samaritan woman Jesus met at a well in
John chapter four… who went home to her village and told people about Jesus and
the result was “many” came to faith?
Could God do that again? Could he
bring 3,000 to Him in a day like he did in Acts 2? Join us Sunday as we seek for ways that we
can put ourselves in the position to be used by God in those ways… as we seek
to wake up and to be about the business of the Lord. Eternity really does depend upon it.
-Jim
