Holy Spirit Weekends
We Christians need to STIR UP THE FIRE! of the gifts from God that are within us. St. Paul wrote to Timothy, “Stir up into full blaze the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands.” (2 Timothy 1:6). There are three actors in verse, God, Paul, and Timothy, each with a critical part to play. 1.) First, God! God poured the gift of the Holy Spirit into Timothy in response to Paul’s prayer and Timothy’s earnestly desiring. 2.) Paul knew that when he had laid hands on Timothy that God would impart a gift of the Holy Spirit into him. But now, Paul is aware that God wants to do far more through Timothy and so Paul told him to stir up the gift of God into full flame. 3.) Timothy had received the gift of the Holy Spirit, but God wants to be fully unleashed through Timothy. So now we see that Timothy is responsible to stir up the fire of God’s gift within him so it will burn fully.
Our STIR UP THE FIRE! Revivals & Crusades, Holy Spirit Weekends, Retreats, Spiritual Gifts Weekends, and Conferences are designed to help people STIR UP THE FIRE! as individuals and to then put their gifts to work within their own lives and families, within their churches, and within their communities and anywhere they go.
A STIR UP THE FIRE! Holy Spirit Weekend is like a “mini-revival.” It can begin with a Friday evening fellowship meal, and then a Friday evening worship service that includes a message about the Trinity and a time of personal ministry at the prayer rail. On Saturday morning the day can begin with a breakfast followed by a time of prayer and teaching and then a worship. In the afternoon or evening (depending on your church’s schedule) there will be another teaching and a time of worship and prayer ministry. The weekend will wrap up on Sunday morning with a time of teaching and then a worship service at the normal time for the church. The teachings will be upon the Trinity, upon how the Holy Spirit talks to us, upon how the Holy Spirit is sent to us, upon how the Holy Spirit gives us the Fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Sprit
Spiritual Gifts Weekends
Paul wrote to the church: “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be uninformed” (I Cor. 12:1).
STIR UP THE FIRE! Spiritual Gifts Weekends are to help churches and their members become informed about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We will look at the who, what, when, where, how, and why that God gives the Spiritual gifts. We will evidence that God is still giving the gifts of the Spirit today, and that they are still needed for the church to accomplish its ministries. We will look at the various gifts and how they each play a key role in the Kingdom of God. For “there are varieties of gifts,” and “services,” and “working,” and “it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good”(I Cor 12:4-7). We will look at how the Gifts of the Spirit are imparted (Rom 1:11), how they must be stewarded and stirred up (2 Tim 1:6) and not quenched (1 Thess 5:19). Some of the gifts are to help us have a closer communion with God and some are to empower us to do ministry with the supernatural assistance and presence of God. For as Jesus said about the work of the church, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”(Acts 1:8). After Jesus ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God he began to “pour out”(Acts 2:17) the Holy Spirit upon the church so that we would each become indwelt with the Holy Spirit who transforms us to love and serve others as Christ did. During the STIR UP THE FIRE! Spiritual Gifts Weekend, we will have workshops, Bible Study, and four worship services. The first service (on Friday evening) will be a service of repentance. The second (Saturday morning) will be a service to be filled or filled more with the Holy Spirit. The third service (Saturday afternoon or evening depending on your schedule)is a service of impartation of spiritual gifts. And the fourth (on Sunday morning during regular worship time) will be a service of activation and being sent forth to use the gifts. The New Testament tells us to “earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy” (1 Cor 14:1), and it tells us to stir up the gift in us into full flame. This STIR UP THE FIRE! Spiritual Gifts Weekend will good at any time of the year, but may be especially meaningful during the season after Pentecost.
Stir Up the Fire! Revivals & Crusades
There is a difference between a REVIVAL and a CRUSADE. The purpose of a revival is to “revive” the commitment of your congregation. Its goal is to STIR UP THE FIRE! of God that is already within them and has died down and needs rekindled and brought to a full blaze again.
A CRUSADE is when a church or a group of churches reaches out into its community and surrounding area to win as many people as possible to Chdrist. To invite them to an event where they will hear the Gospel preached and will hear a clear invitation to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior and will have a method for doing so, and then moving them into a discipleship path and activity in church. A Crusade requires much more preparation than a revival. A Crusade will be much more expensive due to advertising, printing, facility rental, and requires organization, a carefully followed schedule, a team of committed and bold leaders who are “all in” to make the crusade happen, meetings well in advance of the crusade will be needed to raise funds, train leaders, get the community involved in the preparations, establish and train numerous ministry teams (Steering Committee, Finance Committee, Advertising Committee, Choir Committee, Counselors Committee, Ushers Committee, Location & Facilities Committee, Follow-up Committee, Traffic and Parking Committee, clean up, a treasurer, an administrator, a PR person, an advertising coordinator). A CRUSADE will require two years of preparation to get the area pastors on board, to get the churches on board, the speaker on board, musicians on board, to do the fund raising, secure pledges, receive pledges, facility rental, and requires much time, and energy. The goal is for many hundreds of people in a community or area to turn to Jesus, get on the discipleship pathway, and get active or reactivated in church. The advance work and the advertising, and ministry team recruitment should be so effective that the entire town ought to be talking about the revival for six months before it actually takes place. There should be Youth nights that are to make a major push to get hundreds of youth and young people at the Crusade.
If desired, we can come and meet with your church leaders a year or two in advance to help you determine whether a revival or a crusade is right for your church to undertake and help your leaders come up with a timeline for preparation so that the event will be most effective for your church to help it grow. We will also train your steering committee, train your people for inviting people to come to the event, and walk with you step by step as your plans develop.
Retreats & Conferences
A STIR UP THE FIRE! Retreat is for a smaller group of attendees such as your church staff or your Church Council or leaders, or Sunday School Classes or teachers. A retreat is usually held at a retreat center or off-site location such as a camp or a hotel conference center or at another church that is willing to let you meet there. Retreats can be held in a church building, but it helps if there is a sense that we as a church are “going away and getting away” from the routine and from the places we know so well. A STIR UP THE FIRE! Retreat is a place for individuals in the congregation or in a Sunday School Class to encounter God in a transformative way.
A STIR UP THE FIRE! Conference is for a larger group to attend, and Conferences typically have a series of speakers, ministry teams, and worship leaders. We can work with you church to help you decide which of these events is right for your church at this stage in your church life, and can assist your church in securing leadership.