This Weekend

This post is coming to you today from Shawn.  I hope you are well! Love, Erica 

This weekend is an exciting weekend for me, one I’ve been anticipating for a while. 

Some of you may know our family friend and bank co-worker Reid. He and I did a lot of ministry work together and in early 2014 he came to me and said that we needed to help out a ministry coming to town called Time to Revive. They would be helping the churches of the Twin Cities unite for the sake of the Gospel and equipping their congregations to go out and share the love of Jesus. 

There are lots of good stories along the way that I’m leaving out but in the end, we got involved and helped them with reviveTWINCITIES. 

Early in the process I became hooked. I experienced the thrill of going out and sharing my faith. I experienced the energy when entire groups of people did this together. I experienced the joy of seeing others get to know the same Lord I know, find the same comfort I find, and experience the same peace I feel. 

During all of this I tried several times to get our home church involved but they never jumped in. In many ways it was disappointing to me. The very people that I went to church with each week were missing out on the experience, excitement and energy that I was seeing. Here we are, a group of people who believe that everyone sins, big or small, that this sin separates us from God and leads to our death. But at the same time God loves us so much that he would send his son Jesus to die on our behalf to take away the death and sin. And all we have to do is believe in our heart that He did this for us and confess it to be freed from this death. That we would be freed from the things in life that hold us back - boring routine, always longing for more, never feeling satisfied. How can a church not be so excited about how Jesus has changed their life that they don’t want to go tell everyone they know. I didn’t get why they wouldn’t want to get involved. 

Since then I’ve experienced Time to Revive at work in other communities around the country. I have seen the life brought to bodies of believers when they realize that they can go out and share this great news with others. It was disappointing that I didn’t get to be a part of this in our home church.

This is why I am excited for this weekend. For three years I have longed to be a part of a church that understands how a relationship with Jesus can be life-changing - so much so that they want to learn how to go out and tell everyone. Our home church here in Texas is Ridgeview Church in Rockwall and we are a part of reviveTX. This weekend we are holding an equipping at our church where all the believers in this region will gather to be equipped then go out into the streets to tell everyone about this great savior we know in Jesus. It is going to be a blast. And the best part is that this weekend is just the beginning. 

Our church will be involved for all 50 days of reviveTX. I cannot wait to see the life and energy when our congregation realizes that they have the best news in the world - the Gospel - and they then realize that they are equipped to actually go out and tell others about HIM!

You see, we are all too excited to tell others about our favorite band, sports team, food, movie, tv show or the newest great restaurant yet we lack the same boldness to share about the best part of our lives. But, when we gather as a group and practice together, encourage one another, and do it together we build a confidence and boldness in each other that will eventually build into a movement. The movement will catch the attention of anyone who is watching. They will see that when the church comes together in unity that maybe the Father actually did send the Son. What if it is real? What if He did die for our sin? What if He is actually coming back? What will we do?

Let’s gather and then go - someone needs to hear about Him. I’m excited!

-Shawn