May 14-21, 2023

Hosted by First Baptist Church

201 Anderson Street

Fayetteville, NC 28301

 

First Baptist Church (201 Anderson Street) in downtown Fayetteville will be hosting a first of its kind event for our community and community churches. We are calling this event a ‘Revive All.’ This is not a Revival, like the Revivals of old—but something new and needed for the new challenges that each of us face.

 

Throughout these last difficult pandemic years there are so many things in our lives, and in our lives of faith, that have become strained, broken or have all but died—and are in need of reviving. Our church has identified eight of these aspects of our lives and will be hosting a series of events each night focusing on asking God to revive each one. These events include worship services, community service projects, a family fun night, a joint service with other local churches and denominations, and a memorial service to give our neighbors the opportunity to grieve all that was lost during these pandemic years (from family members to experiences like not being able to graduate high school with their class in person).

 

This event is open to all people and all churches and will take place from May 14-21, 2023, at First Baptist Church (201 Anderson Street). Many of the services will be outdoors under a tent.

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Featured speakers include: (Children’s Minister at Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh), writer and speaker, (Chaplain for Cape Fear Valley and Highsmith-Rainey Hospitals), (Pastor, First Baptist Church, Fayetteville), (Pastor, Hay Street United Methodist Church, Fayetteville), and (One Church Covenant Fellowship, Fayetteville).

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Rev. Robert M. James, Jr., the pastor of First Baptist Church, is available to answer questions or be interviewed about this event. He can be reached by phone at (910) 483-0477.

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A more detailed description of this event as well as each night of the Revive All is included in the following pages.

DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT EACH DAY OF THE ‘REVIVE ALL’

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REVIVE ALL

A Week of Hope, Community and Faith

May 14-21, 2022

 

The Need for Revival

After the last two difficult years, many people, if not all, are in need of REVIVAL. Broken spirits need reviving. Broken hearts need mending. Broken relationships need reconciliation and renewal. It seems there are too many things in our spirits that have been broken, bent, torn asunder or have died. Our souls need revival. Our hope needs resurrection. Our faith needs renewal. Only God has the power to Revive All of these things. What is required is a bold willingness to ask for God’s help—for God’s power to Revive All—and to move as the Holy Spirit is leading.

 

The Revive All

After months of prayer seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit about what this effort for Revival might look like, the REVIVE ALL was born. This is not a Revival, like the tent meetings of old. The challenges we face require something different. Something unseen. Something new. From May 14-21, First Baptist Church will be hosting what we are calling a Revive All. A week of worship, renewed commitment, fellowship, missions, and hope not just for our congregation, but for all in need of Revival.

 

Each night our experience together will focus on a single area that we are calling out to God to Revive: Worship; Community & Church; Faith & Family; Grief & Hope; Christian Unity; Repentance & Commitment; Missions; and Living Revived Lives. Each service of worship or experience of missions and fellowship will be creative expressions of hope. Many will take place under a tent in the church’s grass parking lot. Our hope is that those that attend on any one of these days will experience revival from God.

 

The following pages contain a description of each day of the Revive All.​

 

WORSHIP – Sunday, May 14, 2023

FAITH & FAMILY – Monday, May 15, 2023

COMMUNITY & CHURCH –Tuesday, May 16, 2023

GRIEF & HOPE – Wednesday, May 17, 2023

CHRISTIAN UNITY – Thursday, May 18, 2023

REPENTANCE & COMMITMENT – Friday, May 19, 2023

MISSONS – Saturday, May 20, 2023

LIVING REVIVED LIVES – Sunday, May 21, 2023

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WORSHIP

 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.”

 

Will take place from 6:00-7:30pm under a large tent in the grass parking lot next to the church (inside the Sanctuary if there is rain)

(Music to start at 5:30pm)

 

Why Worship needs Reviving:  Worship should be an expression of our faith in God and our joy in God’s gift of grace to us through Christ.  For many, worship is neither of these things.  At this service we are asking God to Revive our worship and revive our joy of being able to worship.

 

Service Elements:

Music and musical variety will be a major part of this service.

Rev. James will preach about our need to worship and what worship can and should be.

 

FAITH AND FAMILY

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

 

Will take place from 5:30-7:30pm under a large tent in the grass parking lot

(inside the gym if there is rain)

 

Why Faith & Family need Reviving:  Even before the Pandemic, many people have struggled to share their faith in their own homes and to see faith as something that is a part of their lives at home.  For many, talk and expressions of faith only happen in a church setting.  This was never God’s intention.  As far back as Deuteronomy God urges parents to ‘teach my words to your children when you wake and when you rise,’ ‘talk about them when you are at home,’ and to ‘write them on the doorposts of your home.’  (Deuteronomy 6).  This service of worship is intended to inspire people to bring their faith home with them.  There will be a particular emphasis on children and their guardians. 

 

Service Elements:

This service will be more than just a service, but will be a chance for Christian fellowship and learning for children and their guardians. There will be food (hotdogs and snow cones) and will adopt a rotational model of fun (Bouncy Houses!), crafts and Biblical storytelling for the children, before ending with a worship service geared for families.

 

Rev. Sarah Mears (the children's minister at Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh) will be preaching.

 

COMMUNITY & CHURCH

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst for righteousness; for they will be filled.”

 

Will take place from 6:00-7:30pm under a large tent in the grass parking lot.

(inside the Sanctuary if there is rain)

 

Why Community & Church need Reviving:  One thing that the Pandemic showed us all is how important community and having a church family is.  Christianity was never meant to be an isolated experience of faith—from the very start, community was vital.  So many have yet to return to a community of faith.  This service of worship should lift up our need for community and inspire others to seek out a spiritual family.

 

Service Elements:

This worship service will include music, personal testimonies, and a message from writer and speaker Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, co-founder of the Rutba House, a house of hospitality where the formerly homeless share community with the formerly housed. It will also include a message and testimony from Bishop John Godbolt of One Church Covenant Fellowship.

 

GRIEF & HOPE

“Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.”

 

Will take place from 6:00-7:30pm in our Sanctuary.

 

Why Grief & Hope need Reviving:  The Pandemic caused many to lose the ability to grieve in the ways that they may have wanted to or needed to.  Many could not visit loved ones in their last days.  Others had to have funerals and memorial services that were not what they would have liked due to Covid restrictions.  Others have yet to grieve the loss of many milestones such as graduations or the fact that their wedding was virtual.  There are many other things that people have yet to grieve that are not related to the Pandemic at all.  Though many try to avoid grieving, grief is necessary to be able to move forward toward the hope offered by Christ.

 

Service Elements:

This service will be a Memorial Service for all that has been left ungrieved. It is a chance to grieve, to cry, and to call out to God for help. Participants will be able to ‘name’ what they are grieving in a symbolic way as we share together in our need for hope. Rev. Marvin T. Clowney, Sr. (Chaplain at Cape Fear Valley and Highsmith-Rainy Hospitals) will be bringing the message.

 

CHRISTIAN UNITY

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.”

 

Will take place from 6:00-7:30pm under a large tent in the grass parking lot.

(inside the Sanctuary if there is rain)

 

Why Christian Unity needs Reviving: 

If these Pandemic years have taught Christian churches anything, it is that we need one another. For far too long and far too often, churches have existed as singular entities siloed beside one another. All worship God. All lift up and celebrate our hope in Christ’s grace. Yet, most of the time we do not communicate with one another, share our faith together, or join one another on Mission in Christ’s name. ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is not divided by denomination.’  The picture that scripture paints of the New Heaven and the New Earth is a place where all God’s people are joined together in worship among Christ.

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Service Elements:

This service of worship will be an opportunity for us to worship here on Earth the way we will one day worship in Heaven. Many denominations and congregations will join together in manifold witness. The preachers will be preachers from our local churches, each one focused on a single question: This service will invite us, as Christians, to focus not on what separates us, but what brings us together: Christ. It will be a chance for all of us to reach out to God together.

 

REPENTANCE & COMMITMENT

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

 

Will take place from 6:00-7:30pm under a large tent in the grass parking lot

(inside the Sanctuary if there is rain)

 

Why Repentance and Commitment need Reviving: 

These last years have created many opportunities for people to ignore, forget, or simply get out of the habit of honoring commitments that they have already made to God. When babies are dedicated or baptized, commitments are made to God to raise that child in the faith. When believers are baptized, individuals make commitments to follow God in both word and deed. When people are married in Christian ceremonies, commitments to God are made as well. When people join churches they make commitments to those families of faith. For many, these commitments are in need of renewal and revival. Many of these commitments have waned, both before and during the Pandemic. Many people have yet to make professions of faith or commitments to God at all. Our need for Repentance also needs reviving. ‘As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3:23, all of us need to repent of our sins.’ While the Pandemic did not create all of our needs for repentance, for many it certainly gave us opportunities for more sins we need to be repentant of such as divisiveness, anger, resentfulness toward our neighbors, expressions of greed and selfishness. These things certainly existed prior to Covid-19, but for many, these things have grown in its wake. If we want God to Revive All that needs reviving in our lives—we must repent of where we have fallen short of God’s desire for our lives.

 

Service Elements:

This service of worship will highlight our need to repent of our sins and renew our commitments to God. There will be music and repentance litanies that will be read by all, lifting up our repentance to God. There will be litanies that will be read by all and prayed by all renewing and recommitting ourselves to previous commitments we have made to God. The service will contain communion, an ordinance of Christ in which we remember Christ’s sacrifice and commit to our faith in Christ.

 

Rev. David Woodhouse of Hay Street United Methodist Church will bring the message.

 

MISSIONS

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”

 

Will take place from 8am-12:00pm throughout the city and will culminate in a lunch at 12:00pm in Williamson Hall (the First Baptist Gymnasium) where participants can share where they saw the Holy Spirit moving as they served our neighbors.

 

Why Missions needs Reviving: 

There has never been a point where our need to love our neighbors has not been a cornerstone of the life of faith. The Pandemic created three new realities:

1. Many previous opportunities to serve our neighbors no longer exist, or exist in a much more limited way.

2. Many people who previously gave of their time to love and care for our neighbors have not returned to doing so.

3. There are far more needs in our community and among our neighbors than there were before the Pandemic.

If we truly want to be revived ourselves, we must use the gifts that God has provided to us to help revive the lives of others in Christ’s name.

 

Service Elements:

This is less of a service of worship and more about worshiping God by being of service. Throughout the entire Revive All, participants will be encouraged to sign-up to serve in various ways throughout our city. Some will sign-up to serve food to the homeless. Others might participate in construction projects. Others might collect litter, mow grass, or help at nursing homes. This day of the Revive All is about more than going to church—it is about blanketing our city with the love of God and showing what it looks like to BE THE CHURCH. At noon, all volunteers will come together in the gym of First Baptist to have lunch with one another and share stories about where they encountered God as they served.

 

LIVING REVIVED LIVES

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”

 

Will take place during the normal Sunday worship hour at each participating church.

 

Why Living Revived Lives needs Reviving: 

This is the most important part of the entire Revive All. All people and all things need God’s help and God’s reviving power. This is why we need the Revive All. Yet if we do not live revived lives afterward, we will emerge no different than who we were and how we were feeling before we began. The point of the Revive All is not to simply create a ‘mountain-top experience’ in our lives and in the lives of our neighbors and brothers and sisters of faith. We need to come down the mountain and live renewed and revived.

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Service Elements:

This worship service will be a celebration. It is a moment where we will take the time to praise what God has done in the days prior and to seek God’s continued help for all that we will continue to do in the days to come. It will be like Easter in many ways, a celebration of God’s great love and God’s resurrection power. Each participating church will preach on the same theme. ‘The hope is that we will feel resurrected ourselves; that our hope will feel resurrected; and that waning faith will be revived and renewed to make space for new dreams and new opportunities for the Holy Spirit to lead us.’