THREAD: What sparks “The Great Awakening?

The short answer is the Holy Spirit.

A complicated answer is cultural shifts, local & global events, & the willingness of individuals to embrace faithful leadership.
So far, there have been five great American revivals.

First Great Awakening
When: 1730-40s

Where: England & most notably Massachusetts

What: Churches became lax.

How: Edwards & the traveling ministry, starting in “Georgia” & working up to Massachusetts, people are convicted of their sin & renewed in their need for Jesus.

Second Great Awakening

When: 1820s-1850s

Where: Throughout America and England

What: The moral fabric of society is tattered, torn by sin and misplaced affections.

Who:Charles Finney. The Awakening theology is clear in Finney: Jesus calls everyone and anyone can heed the call

How: Whereas the First Great Awakening works itself through the church, The Second will appeal to anyone & everyone.
It brings about the temperance movement, the antislavery movement (as well as the Underground Railroad), women’s rights, the Salvation Army,

the Adventist movement, the YMCA, and sees mighty growth in the Baptist and Methodist denominations.

Third Great Awakening

When: 1875-85
Where: Chicago
What: The Civil War ends in 1865, &, with the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 the vulnerability of humanity is clear.

This backdrop provides the opportunity for many to see their need for Christ.

Who: D.L. Moody begins a Bible study for street children in the 1850s. It grows to a substantial number whereby even President-elect Abraham Lincoln attends to see it for himself.

Moody goes on to establish Moody Church & Bible Institute and continues to preach all around the country to more than 100,000 million people. Ira Sankey, a notable hymn writer, works closely with Moody.

How: Moody, uneducated, breaks out of the normal conventions of the church.

The appeal is simple: Jesus wants you the way you are, and, come to him now because he’s coming back soon.

Azusa Street Revival

When: 1906-1915
Where: Los Angeles, in the church at 312 Azusa Street

What: What happens on Azusa Street sparks what we know today as the Pentecostal movement. It is built on the Holiness movement which focuses on sanctification (being noticeably separated from the habits of the world) and is a repercussion of the Second Great Awakening.

On April 9, 1906, the Spirit of God falls down & several people begin speaking in tongues. They call it the “second blessing,” or sometimes the “third work of grace”, the first being salvation, and the second, sanctification.

Who: William J. Seymour is front & center, from the discipleship of Charles Fox Parim of Topeka, Kansas, & the influence of the Evening Light Saints or Church of God in Anderson, Indiana.

Seymour sometimes prays for seven hours a day for months on end with an expectation that God would act in his timing.
How: The revival helps integrate the church into a more harmonious, unified community, bringing together rich & poor, black & white, male & female.

Humanism begins to take root with “superman” thoughts of the future glories of society. The Azusa revival & subsequent Pentecostal movement brought back into focus the gifts of the Holy Spirit & the unique place of the church as God’s institution in the world to do his bidding.

Twentieth Century Revival

When: 1910-1970s
Where: American cities, most notably New York and Los Angeles
What: The Industrial Age is in full force and Darwinism is reshaping our sense of the value of history and future accomplishment.

Much like the revivals before it, this period is noted for its large gatherings and the accusation of sin and proximity of people to the gates of Hell as a result of their wayward lives.

Who: Billy Sunday, a professional baseball player turned preacher, is direct and powerful with the Gospel message beginning in 1907. He carries the message to 1.5 million people around the country in month-long meetings. His preaches up until his death in 1935.

Billy Graham enters the scene with vigor in 1949 with his Los Angeles crusades that catch the attention of the press. He goes on to hold more than 400 crusades in 185 countries, attracting arena-size crowds and broadcasting many crusades on television.

How: Sunday and Graham are two of many who see the fraying of culture, both before the Wars and certainly after World War II. They represent the preaching arm of revival.

Francis Buchman who begins the Oxford Group & Alcoholics Anonymous & Robert Pierce who founds World Vision & Samaritan’s Purse represent the social arm of revival.

Graham’s work is careful to work with local churches, the outgrowth of the movement is not isolated but designed to be a stimulus for strong church participation and discipleship.

God’s work is not isolated but sometimes we see it concentrated around specific places & people.

Could God be working toward a revival now?
May our hearts & minds be open.
May our posture be prayer.
May our hope be in the living God who will seek & save those who are lost.
May we be his instruments.

My fellow Americans,
I believe that answer is yes and that time is now.
We, the people, are the Who, What, When and How.
This is that next
Great Awakening we’ve waited for.
It is here.