We made it! We’re here. What a journey we are on together. I’m so very excited about this next leg of the race. I believe with all of my heart that the Lord is establishing us in His love and for His glory. Our God knows what He’s doing with us. He sees us. He loves us. He’s orchestrating things on our behalf.

Song of Solomon 2
6His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.

Behind the scenes, God is upholding us and sustaining us. How often these details are hidden from us. We can’t see all that He is doing. May this move be a corporate reminder of the backstory! He arranges our lives perfectly.

I. THE STEADFAST LOVE OF OUR GOD

Isaiah 54
1“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
break forth into singing and cry aloud,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than the children of her who is married,” says the LORD.

2“Enlarge the place of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.
3For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,
and your offspring will possess the nations
and will people the desolate cities.

4“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;
be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
5For your Maker is your husband,
the LORD of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.

6For the LORD has called you
like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
says your God.

7For a brief moment I deserted you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
8In overflowing anger for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
says the LORD, your Redeemer.

A. It’s almost a year ago now that the Lord released these prophetic words over us through John Sims. And here we are. To be honest with you, I can identify with these words. Over the months, as we looked and looked for a landing place, I’ve asked the Lord if He had indeed deserted us. I’ve dealt with fear. Going through these verses again, I see that the Lord would cause us all to look back and wonder at His goodness.

B. In His perfect timing, the Lord opened a door for us, and it’s a good door!

II. THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

A. In all of our doing, let’s makes sure we have first things first. In all of our commitments, let’s make sure we have our hearts set rightly. And for that and in all things, we look to Jesus as the Founder and Perfector of our faith.

Matthew 22
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

B. The most important mandate we have is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind. If this is our focus, we will be pleasing to our God. Knowing Him is life. Loving Him is the blessing. He is pure Goodness. He is pure Faithfulness. He is pure Steadfastness. He is absolute Kindness. When our lives are set upon Him, all is right… even when it’s not.

C. THIS must be our goal.

Psalm 27
A psalm of David.
4The one thing I ask of the LORD—
the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
delighting in the LORD’s perfections
and meditating in his Temple.
5For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
he will hide me in his sanctuary.
He will place me out of reach on a high rock.
6Then I will hold my head high
above my enemies who surround me.
At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy,
singing and praising the LORD with music.
7Hear me as I pray, O LORD.
Be merciful and answer me!
8My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
And my heart responds, “LORD, I am coming.”

D. How can we live abandoned to this one thing? We must choose Him over and over again!

III. SWING: ONE GOAL, ONE HEART

A. We come together with one goal and one heart. The Lord equips us and positions us. And with focus, we too will rise up.

1 Corinthians 12
4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Watch this: SWING- one goal, one heart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEb7rVADZso

Isaiah 40
28Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

IV. SUSTAINED REVIVAL- FOCUSED RAPTURE

A. We are revivalists. You are. I am. We aren’t looking for a moment. We aren’t searching for a little spice on our meetings. We want God. We want His Presence to come and remain. Unashamedly we ask for and wait upon Him… to come with the full weight of His glory. We are those who will wait upon the Lord and renew our strength. We are those who will mount up like eagles.

Hebrews 12
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…

1 Corinthians 9
24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27But I discipline my body and keep it under control,lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

B. Over and over again, we remind ourselves and we remind one another that the Lord is Good! We bring Him into remembrance. We come together, and find our place. We set our hearts and then reset our hearts again and again. We don’t give up. We don’t give in to discouragement. We press on. We march forth.

2 Corinthians 2
14But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

C. We are the happy conquered ones. We are His captives… fully captivated by His beauty and faithfulness. He will continue to lead us in His triumphal procession. He is surely the conquering King. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.