One of the most significant religious incidents in American's history centered around a Revival sermon given by Jonathon Edwards (a preacher in the early 1700's) entitled "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Witnesses at the time spoke of actually sensing the horrors of Hell, some catching hold of the backs of pews lest they slip into the pit, and one man leaped to his feet crying out, "Mr. Edwards, have mercy."

I've read that sermon - it's not all that impressive. Even more baffling to many is the fact that, as Jonathon Edward, preached, he held his paper so close to his eyes that no one could see his face and that he was well known for droning on in monotone as he spoke. And yet, lives were changed at that meeting, and a Revival swept through the New England States that put new life and hope into both Churches and Communities.

The strange thing about a Revival is that, while you can schedule it; advertise it; pack the church building in anticipation of it...God must be in it or it will never accomplish its goal. A Revival is successful only when lives are changed. It is not just people becoming Christians that makes a Revival, it is Christians becoming better Christians, becoming more Christlike and committed. Revival is the springboard for a new hope and a new challenge.

There once was an old man who thought he knew everything about everything. One day his refrigerator went on the blink and he called a repairman. Be told the repairman the refrigerator just wouldn't run. It was most likely the compressor or possibly even a fan switch the old man said. It could even be the defrost mechanism had shorted out the thermostat he maintained. When the repairman could finally get a word in edgewise he asked, "Did you check to make sure it was plugged in?" After a short pause the reply came back "never mind, I just fixed it."

We're getting ready for our Spiritual Spotlight and we need to be sure we're "plugged in". Everything is as ready as our Evangelism Committee can get it. Thee rest is up to all of us. Before it can all work though, we need to PLUG IN.

P - Pray - First and foremost in any endeavor is the need for prayer. Pray for revival to come to yourself first so you can pass it on to someone else. Pray for our evangelist and myself that we will proclaim the Word faithfully. Pray that souls may be won for Christ. If you know someone specifically who needs to be clothed with Christ pray for them specifically. Pray that God will be glorified.

L - Look - While Spiritual Spotlight is going on, look around for someone you don't recognize and go up and greet them.

U - Unvite- Unvite yourself from anything that might keep you from being a part of Spiritual Spotlight.

G - Get up and Go - Get up from in front of the TV and go

G - Get ready to be here from the 13th to the I8th.

E - Encourage all your friends, relatives and neighbors to come with you next week.

D - Devote sometime each night this week to prepare yourself through prayer and your neighbors through phone calls so you can devote some time next week to fellowship at Spiritual Spotlight.

I - Invite. Since you already unvited yourself so you could attend why not invite someone to join you.

N - Now is the time to get started preparing. Next week is too late. Next week is when we find out if we are plugged in.

It is no accident that some of the great awakenings in history have begun in prayer. A prayer meeting under a haystack in a rainstorm in 1806 led to the first large-scale American missionary efforts. In 1830 some 30,000 people were converted in Rochester, New York, under the ministry of Charles Finney; later Finney said the reason was the faithful praying of one man who never attended the meetings but gave himself to prayer. In 1872 the American evangelist Dwight L. Moody began a campaign in London, England, which was used of God to touch countless lives. Later Moody discovered that a humble bedridden girl had been praying. The list could go on and on.

Are you praying for revival, both in your own life and in the lives of others? Are you confessing sin to Him and seeking His blessing on your life?

GRAHAM REFLECTIONS ON REVIVALS Time November 15, 1993 p. 78

And yet achievements and the numbers, mighty as they are, mean less and less now (to Billy Graham). Sitting in Montreal, Graham muses about America's spiritual life. "It sees we've gotten caught up in numbers. We have so many polls that give different figures about how many go to church and synagogue, how many are saved and unsaved. When I ask people to come forward and a thousand people respond, I know in my heart they're not all converted." He mentions Bibles. Everyone used to bring them to his revival meetings before. Now only a percentage do. It is as if they could not find copies.