One of my favorite weeks at UMHB, is without a doubt, Spring Revival. Every year, I think, “How is next year going to top this year?” And somehow, in its own unique way, it does. Each year, as Revival gets closer and closer, I get excited! I count down the days when I can go and sit under the big white tent and worship the Lord with friends as we listen to an awesome Christian Rock band and a phenomenal speaker.
UMHB’s Big Tent where Revival was held from April 6-8, 2015
And as always, I can’t wait to see how unique each Revival is. My first year, Runks Runkles used his unstoppable energy and humorous anecdotes to emphasize that we are all unique and loved by God, and that through Christ, our weaknesses make us stronger. My second year, Tiny Dominguez pulled on our heartstrings to encourage us to say, “God, you are mine and you love me.” So, I was absolutely thrilled to hear what Eric Bryant had to share with us, and as always, the speaker for Revival revealed to me things I absolutely needed to hear.
This year’s speaker, Eric Bryant, and me. Eric Bryant is the author of an awesome book, “Not Like Me.”
His basic message for the week was about loving God, loving others, and loving yourself. These three aspects of what it means to be followers of Christ can at times be difficult. In order to love God, we must trust God and not miss the little things God puts in our lives.
When I go home, I pray for an enjoyable and relaxing weekend, one full of family time and rest. My Dad and I love netflixing, so sometimes I pray that the Wi-Fi works well so we can watch Netflix together.
It may seem trivial, but there is nothing wrong with thanking God for answering the small things. Every time I go home, my Dad and I watch Star Trek. I guess you could call us Trekkies. We will have marathons throughout the weekends, watching maybe 6-10 episodes a weekend depending on what else we do when we’re together. Recently we finished the Voyager series and are almost done with the second season of the Next Generation.
I absolutely love this time spent with my Dad, and I thank God for Star Trek. Sure it’s something simple as in a tv show to help us wind down and enjoy each other’s company, yet God places small things like Star Trek shows into our lives so that we can grow closer to others and be reminded that God loves us by giving us these small things. So thank you God for Star Trek.
Eric Bryant told us that sometimes God says yes to these small things, so that we can be prepared for when He says no to the big things. I have said in other posts, I don’t know why things don’t always work out the way we want them to. But God has a plan for our lives. He has a purpose even when we can’t comprehend why He might say no to the big things.
It may be difficult, but when He says no to the big things, let us try to trust that He is sovereign, thanking Him for the small things.
Loving people can also sometimes be a challenge, especially when they are not like us or when they have done us wrong. When Eric preached about this, it’s like he was talking directly to me. God has called us to not only love those who are like us, but also those who are different. Often, it can be easy to judge, but instead of taking one glance and avoiding someone for being different, let us show that person that Christ loves and cares for them. I know this may be a cliché saying, but we may be the only representation of Christ they see, so let’s be a good representation of HIM.
We must also love those who do us wrong. This can be extremely difficult, and I’ll be the first to admit that, but when he mentioned loving those who wronged us, I thought of people who have wronged me in the past. We don’t have to be fake and act like what they did was okay, but we must learn to love as Christ would love. This can be very difficult, but it is something we should try to do.
As we love God and love others, we must remember to love ourselves. God has a purpose for all of us and He sent His only son to die for us simply because He loves us. God has gone tremendous lengths to rescue us.
Colossians 1:13-14 states, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
He has done so much to rescue us, bringing us out of the dominion of darkness, so that we can have a brand new life in Him. He did all of this because of His love for us.
Eric Bryant reminded us that we can experience new life and in doing so, we should help others experience new life. God has healed us so we can heal others.
God loves us them so much that He sent you in their life, so love yourself and love others. Also, value yourself, because you are of infinite worth.
I absolutely loved Eric’s message of loving ourselves and loving others as we love God. Every year, I get absolutely pumped at Revival. The Revival Committee, led by amazing students, always manages to bring together an awesome speaker full of insights and an awesome band to lead us in worship. Worshipping to “How He Loves” and “Oceans” overwhelms me. It was amazing to see so many students sing at the tops of their lungs with arms open wide, praising His name! I was also blessed that my Dad was able to attend one night and praise God with me!
I was blessed that my wonderful Dad could attend Revival with me the second night!
Here’s a picture I took with this year’s worship band, The Digital Age.
But let us not let Revival end here. Let Revival continue. It can be easy to be on a sort of Revival high and then as soon as it’s over, go back to the way things were before. However, that is not how we should look at our relationship with HIM. Let us continue to be on fire for Him, sharing His love, His gospel, His message of hope and restoration to those around us.
Part of loving God is to be constantly on fire for Him, glorifying Him in everything we do. As imperfect as we are, we will fail at times, but when we do, let’s try and get back up, loving and serving others by openly praising His name, because again, we may be the only “Christ” they see.
So don’t let Revival stop in your hearts now that the event is over. Let Revival continue!!!
New International Version. Bible Gateway. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
Oceans by The Digital Age
More Than Conquerors 