Sight for the Season (A Revive Church special…)

In Jeremiah 1:11, The word of the Lord came to the young prophet at the start of his ministry asking “What do you see, Jeremiah?”. “I see the branch of an almond tree,” he replied. ¹² The Lord said to him, “You have seen correctly…”

Right at the start of his prophetic ministry, it seemed important that Jeremiah was seeing right..so God gave him an eye test!

And as we launch into a new Revive Church season in Hull, Goole, Driffield – with a new name, some new venues and new challenges, it’s important that we, too, can see clearly where we are going, and why.

There are two vital perspectives I’d like all to understand in this season.

Firstly, WHAT IS CHURCH?

In ^{ACTS 2:42}  it says “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common…. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

The first perspective it’s important we grasp is that we are church, Monday to Saturday, in our homes and coffee shops, not just in big meetings! Church is not so much a place we go to on Sundays, not a meeting, and certainly not a show! It is “life in circles”..so to understand this season you MUST be in a small Connect Group or team.

You see scientists have shown if ONE PERSON sees an accident THEY ACT; But the more the group grows, the less likely it is that action is taken. Sociological studies have shown that “As the number of witnesses increases, the chances of intervention drastically decreases”.

In other words, we are not very healthy “in a crowd”. The bigger the group, the less caring. Revive Church numbers in the hundreds, but that’s not always great for care and closeness. We are at our best, in a small community. So any large church, must be primarily made up of small groups and teams.

Sunday is a time to celebrate church in a large setting – but it is not church!

Rather than just singing and listening together, we MUST 1) Eat together (This was right at the heart of Jesus and the early church!) “they broke bread in their homes….” . 

We MUST 2) Pray together. “Again I tell you, if two of you on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever [anything and everything] they may ask, it will come to pass and be done for them by My Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:19 AMP) The prayer of “tight teams” is powerful!

We must 3) Mission & adventure together. “And He called to Him the Twelve [apostles] and began to send them out [as His ambassadors] two by two. (Mark 6:7 AMP). 

It may, at first, seem like a hassle to give some time each week to develop close friendships with other great Christians, but you must. “Travel alone, travel fast…but travel together, travel FAR”. If you fail to grasp this perspective in your heart, Revive Church will be on a journey you are not yet taking. That will lead to frustration – so join us! Join a Connect Group.

The Second BIG PERSPECTIVE  to grasp in this season, especially for the Hull campus, is WHY CINEWORLD?

In simply terms, moving to Cineworld on Sunday mornings is for a season, a stepping stone “on the way” to our own building in this area. It’s not the end – we’re on a journey!

And we feel this season is for us to develop a divine “Combine-harvester” of our Sunday morning services, reaching the people of this area with the good news of Jesus Christ.

So I’d encourage you – join a team to create an awesome welcome in our Sunday morning services. No longer is it a time to selfishly think of what we get – no, it’s a time to serve and give, to see people reached for Jesus!

Already our stewards and children’s teams are bigger and more pumped than ever – join them! And together, let’s see people saved each and every Sunday.

Join a Connect group.

Join the Sunday teams serving newcomers.

And Revive Church will make sense.

It’s our new perspective.

Can you see it?