On June 27, Pastor Bai Yu'e shared the route to church revival from the twenty-third psalm online.
Through the WeChat account "Morning Prayer", she quoted John 12:32: "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
An entertaining church attracts people through entertainment. In a life-changing church, Jesus attracts people who want to change to be like him and complete the Great Commission.
According to 1 Corinthians 2:2, 2:4-5, Paul was thoroughly trained under Rabbi Gamaliel, but he said that he preached with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. "Because he knows all things, he makes the impossible possible, and the finite infinite. With man that is impossible, but with the man who believes all things are possible, so we must lead people to Jesus," Pastor Bai shared.
Entertainment-style churches attract believers with some activities, and that only has a temporary effect. But the most important thing in faith is that our lives can change, becoming more and more like Jesus.
The two routes for revival are through man's authority or God's authority. People can use the system to control people and increase the number of believers. The system can help us gain limited success and the effort does not last long. We must learn to rely on God today because he makes the church grow.
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share your master’s happiness!’ (Matthew 25:23) The result of serving God is that he praises us for being good and faithful and share his happiness with us.
How can the sinner be set free? How do you look at your sins? Some negatively focus on the past sins while others focus on God’s grace and redemption and look at the future positively. If you condemn and judge the sinner, he becomes isolated and can’t move forward, and the relationship is destroyed. But God values people more than this matter. We should consider God’s grace which redeems the person, so he can change and won’t be judged anymore.
"The power of love is boundless. Your love and encouragement can help the person forsake sin. More blame and non-acceptance may cause him to distance himself farther from you and from God. So it cannot help him," Pastor Bai said.
Jesus is the master, helping everyone to repent, opening a way for the dead, and raising him from death. When the widow's child died, he said that he was asleep. And when he said to him to get up, he sat up. So Jesus has not come to condemn people, but to forgive their sins.
Finally, Pastor Bai concluded in prayer: "Our church should always be about the Lord's power. When the church exalts God as king, our ministry will seem light and bring joy, and our relationship will be established. If it is about peoples' power, relationships in the church will be about advantages gained by having the relationship, not about love. And the relationship will be destroyed. Let us live under the cover of God, value God and God’s grace on earth, and value his great love and great forgiveness. Don’t live in condemnation and judgment. Only acceptance and love can help the guilty person be free from sin."
-Translated by Abigail Wu
