Intro - Revitalized: Coming Back to Life in Christ
Acts 2:42-ff January 30, 2022
I. Introduction:
A. On Tuesday, March 20th 2012 at 12:02 I was sitting in the room of a building on
large mountain in Oaxaca Mexico along with Chad Negly, Eric Bihl and Joel
Brassfield when the building began to move back and forth and the lights hanging
from the ceiling were strongly swaying back and forth. I remember it being so
strong I grab on to something to make sure I would not fall out of my seat.
1. We were just a bit over 100 miles away from the epicenter of a 7.4
earthquake that took place on the boarder of Oaxaca and Guerrier.
2. I remember a few hours later talking to Eric about it and I said “Wow, I
have never been in a building that swayed back and forth like that before!
3. Eric’s response woke me up to the size of what just happened. – “Pat, it
was not the building that was swaying back and forth it was the mountain that
was swaying back and forth and everything on the whole mountain!
4. I remember later seeing pictures from near the epicenter and the severe
damage that the earthquake caused.
B. January 20, 2020 a foreshock to a soon coming major cultural earthquake hit the
United States, when the CDC confirmed the first case of Covid-19 in the state of
Washington.
1. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-
19 a pandemic.
2. At some point this cultural earthquake became a full blown 8.0 on the Richter
scale leaving an upheaval and many, many aftershocks that keep readjusting
our culture to new norms that we are all still trying to learn to navigate.
C. As we navigate these new days after this major cultural earthquake there are
some new norms that are not healthy which impact our lives, friendships,
families, communities and even our churches in a negative way!
1. As individuals people are feeling fatigued and foggy! It has impacted them
physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and relationally. Add to that
anger, anxiety, broken dreams, disappointment, and grief!
a) For some you it feels like you were 100 miles away from the epicenter
for others it feels like the epicenter happened in the center of your heart
or family!
2. As for our culture one negative impact we have seen from this major cultural
earthquake is what they are calling the great resignations. An economic trend
in which employees voluntarily resign from their jobs in mass, and it began
in early 2021.
3. As for the church it appears that the great resignation has reached all the way
into the church, not just MVC but churches all around the country are
reporting this!
a) Many have stopped attending services personally or getting involved in
or serving in ministries and even vital relationships that were life
transforming in small groups or other means have taken a hit.
(1) Some have legitimate or wise reasons for this but others have
gotten into the habit of the ease of doing church online and even
ministries by Zoom.
b) Even people who have come back to get involved in these are still
feeling isolated and disjointed from each other and the church at large.
More than one has told me that they are not re-engaging like they did
before Covid, either with ministries or people!
D. New norms and new habits about church have been formed that are hurtful to
individuals’ lives, families, and the communities around us who desperately need
the church to be the church.
1. All of that to say that the church is vital, as it is the body of Christ, God’s
ordained instrument through which the life of Christ comes to the world
around us in general but also to each one of us individually.
2. As a result of this cultural earthquake and its many aftershocks many
people’s lives, marriages, families and even the communities we are living in
are being hurt and in some cases falling apart without the strong healthy
godly influence of the church touching their lives.
E. So this morning we (I say we because this series is a joint effort between m
