Get Connected
Click here to fill out the Get Connected Card
Message Notes
Renew – to make or become new, fresh, or strong again.
- Spiritual renewal happens when God pours out His Spirit on His people and is free to work powerfully in and through His people to show the world how real, mighty, and good Jesus is.
- Spiritual renewal occurs when the church is how God intends it to be.
James 4:8
“Come close to God, and God will come close to you.”
John 15:4
“Abide in me, and I in you.”
Philippians 3:10
“[My determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death.” (AMP)
A Call To Intimacy With God is a Call To:
1) Reorder Your Private World – The Discipline of Simplicity
Ecclesiastes 7:29
“God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” (TEV)
“God never guides us to an intolerable scramble of panting feverishness”. —Thomas Kelly
2 Corinthians 11:3
“I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from simplicity and pure devotion to Christ.”
2) Be Still – The Discipline of Silence.
Psalm 46:10
“Be still and know that I am God.”
“Cease striving and know that I am God. Stand silent! Know that I am God!” (TLB)
“Let be and be still and know – recognize and understand – that I am God.” (AMP)
“Silence is indispensable if we hope to add depth to our spiritual life. It guards the fire within our souls. Noise and words and frenzied, hectic schedules dull our senses and close our ears to His still, small voice and make us numb to His touch.” —Chuck Swindoll
3) Cultivate Serenity – The Discipline of Solitude
“In solitude, I get rid of my scaffolding: no friends to talk with, no telephone calls to make, no meetings to attend, no music to entertain, no books to distract, just me – naked, vulnerable, weak, sinful, deprived, broken – nothing. It is this nothingness that I have to face in my solitude, a nothingness so dreadful that everything in me wants to run to my friends, my work, and my distractions so that I can forget my nothingness and make myself believe that I am worth something. But that is not all. As soon as I decide to stay in my solitude, confusing ideas, disturbing images, wild fantasies, and weird associations jump about in my mind like monkeys in a banana tree. Anger and greed begin to share their ugly faces… The task is to persevere in my solitude, to stay in my cell until all my seductive visitors get tired of pounding on my door and leave me alone.” —Henry Nouwen
Psalm 139:1-4, 23-24
“Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I get up; You understand my thoughts from far away. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, Lord, You know it all.”
“Search me, God, and know my heart; Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”
Mark 6:30-32
“The apostles gathered together with Jesus, and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) And they went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.”
4) Trust the Lord Completely – The Discipline of Surrender.
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”
“Surrender is the key that unlocks the vault of God’s best and deepest treasures.” —Chuck Swindoll
I) Reorder Your Private World – The Discipline of Simplicity
II) Be Still – The Discipline of Silence.
III) Cultivate Serenity – The Discipline of Solitude
IV) Trust the Lord Completely – The Discipline of Surrender.