Pentecost 2000 prayer gathering opens with prayer and praise
By Robert P. Mills, The Layman Online, July 26, 2000
MONTREAT, N.C. – “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.”
With those words from Acts 2, the Rev. Jim Logan began his message to the service of praise and worship that opened Pentecost 2000: Prayer that Shapes the Future. The five-day prayer gathering, sponsored by Presbyterian-Reformed Ministries International (PRMI), is being held at the Montreat Conference Center in Montreat and has drawn more than 500 attendees from around the world (including Canada, England, Uganda, Brazil, Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong) as well as all across the U.S.
An outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Brad Long, PRMI’s executive director, said the vision for the prayer gathering came about three years ago. At a time when people were fearful about Y2K, Long said, “I felt the Lord say, ‘I am going to pour out my Spirit in even greater measure at the turn of this century than I did at the turn of the last century.'” The turn of the twentieth century was marked by revivals in Wales, Korea and the beginning of the Pentecostal movement in the United States.
At the beginning of every great revival, Long observed, people have been found on their knees. “We need to be on our knees in prayer to open the floodgates of revival around the world. Revival must be prayed in, obeyed in, believed in. Above all, we’re here to do the work of prayer. That is our vision.”
‘We don’t need another Pentecost’
Taking as his texts Acts 2:1-4; I Peter 1:3, Logan may have startled many present when he boldly declared, “We don’t need another Pentecost.”
“I submit that it is not another Pentecost but the power of that Pentecost that we desire. We’re looking for power to live right, power to walk right, power to talk right, to be witnesses, to see our communities and even this church transformed.
“We don’t need another Pentecost. What we need is another outpouring.” To understand this, Logan said, we need to understand that the first Pentecost came as a result of obedience. Jesus had told his disciples, “Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift.” Obediently, they waited weeks for this gift to come.
“We are not going to see the outpouring we seek,” Logan said, “until we as the people of God begin to walk in the will of God. This is so simple that many of us are missing it.”
Unity
The outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost came not only as the result of obedience, but as the result of unity, said Logan, citing Acts 1:14, “They all joined constantly in prayer” and Amos 3:3, “Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?”
The first Christians, Logan said, were not following their own vision. They had heard the word of the Lord, “Wait for the promised gift.” They came together seeking the same thing. The reason we lack unity today, Logan asserted, is because we can’t get behind the vision of leaders who have listened to God’s word. “I know we’re Presbyterian and we have sessions, but anything with more than one head is a freak.”
Fragmented and separated
Continuing to emphasize the need for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Logan said, “We need another outpouring because we have lost our moral compass and are mirroring society at large. We need a fresh outpouring that will pull us back to our first love. We need to stop this love affair we have with the world and fall in love with Jesus again.”
“People can call us divisive all they want to,” he continued, “but we have to get people to understand that more is required of us, that we are called to be different. The Church cannot be like the world. We’ve lost our ability to witness to Jesus with integrity.”
We need another outpouring “because we are fragmented. And the last General Assembly said that’s a good thing. Somebody needs to stand up and say, ‘Excuse me, but have you ever heard of Amos.’ We’re fragmented, we’re separated, and our Assembly says that’s a good thing. That’s not a good thing! It’s something that should cause us to be on our knees continually. I believe our heavenly Father is weeping over the church because we are fragmented.”
“We need another outpouring,” Logan repeated. “But it’s not going to come until we make up our minds that we’ve wandered too far, we’ve compromised too much, we’ve winked at sin, we’ve been tolerant to the point of grieving Christ.”
Anticipating criticism he has received for previous sermons on this topic Logan suggested, “If you think this is a political speech, you haven’t read your Bible, and you haven’t met my Jesus.”
‘Healthy things grow’
“Healthy things grow,” Logan concluded. “Growing things change. Change challenges us. Challenge forces us to trust God. Trust leads to obedience. Obedience makes us healthy. Healthy things grow.”
Trials and tribulations, he said, are not necessarily indications of missing God’s will but may be indications that you are right in the middle of God’s will.
“Pentecost has already come. God’s Holy Spirit has already come. All you have to do is reach up, receive him, and walk in obedience.”
Commitment and confession
Following Logan’s sermon, Long urged those in attendance to publicly reaffirm their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and recommit themselves to obeying his will and following his leading. As an initial act of obedience, Long encouraged everyone to kneel and confess their sins to God.
Five hundred people, of different races and from different parts of the world, who had gathered to do the work of prayer, stood to affirm their faith and knelt to confess their sins.