Notes of Faith September 17, 2026
Personal Revival
Then [Jonah] cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
Jonah 3:4-5
“Gipsy” Smith was a British evangelist who preached in Great Britain and America for more than seventy years. He is famously known for this formula for bringing about revival: “Go home. Lock yourself in your room. Kneel down in the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk draw a circle around yourself. There, on your knees, pray fervently and brokenly that God would start a revival within that chalk circle.” That is, there can be no corporate revival (renewal) that does not begin with prayerful, personal revival.
God sent Jonah to Nineveh to preach a message of impending judgment if the city did not repent. Thankfully, the city listened to Jonah’s message and repented before God. But that corporate repentance only happened because Jonah repented first of his personal sins and submitted to God’s direction for his life. The awakening in Nineveh was the result of renewal in Jonah.
Be in prayer for revival in your family, church, city, and nation. But pray most fervently for revival in your own heart.
Waiting for general revival is an opportunity for enjoying personal revival.
Stephen Olford
Preaching a message from the Word of God always starts with God preaching to His messenger. My heart has been broken many times as God spoke to me. I cried and confessed my sin, asking God to help me help the flock to understand their need for a Savior and forgiveness, and for them to boldly share the same truth with others in need. But it all started with a personal intimate relationship with God.
Do you cry out to God for the sake of the world? Do you want to see even the worst of sinners (the Apostle Paul) come to Christ in faith and have a new life that glorifies God, sharing the “good news” with everyone who will listen that they might through God’s grace also receive saving faith to believe in and follow Jesus?
It must start with you! Your relationship will influence others for good or evil. How do you see yourself? How do others see you? Lives are transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit! Pursue the heart of God and be renewed daily by His Word (your Bible). You will continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as you seek Him while He may be found!
The relationship that you have with God can help lead others to eternal life in Christ!
Rom 10:14-15
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!"
GO! Be the church!
Pastor Dale