The Resurrection Is Revitalization

“... if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.  In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19)

Bold words.

Especially to say in church.  

What Paul is saying is: 

If Jesus is dead, all of this is for nothing, and we have no hope...

But...

If Jesus is alive, it’s hard to be hopeless.

Because it means there is nothing so dead that God can’t make it live again. 

When Jesus tells Martha, distraught over her brother's death, that Lazarus will live again, she very pragmatically tells Jesus she has hope it will happen “at the last day”, almost as if to say, “but not here and now.”

Jesus’ response is an abrupt recalibration of her definition of life itself:

“...I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die…” (John 11:25-26) 

Just a few verses later, Jesus, by voice command, raises Lazarus from the dead; right in the mire of that hopeless moment, rather than “the last day”.  

This is our living hope, in every situation (1 Peter 1:3)

That Jesus is alive, and He is life itself.  

And that means, there is no situation too hopeless for Him to revive. 

Paul said it like this:

“...For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.  On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.” (2 Corinthians 1:8-10)

It’s not lost on me how deeply this truth speaks to church revitalization. 

The resurrection is the source of the hope that a church in decline can be revitalized.  We give to support the work of Harvesters ministry because we have hope that no situation is too hopeless for Jesus to bring to life again.  Your giving equips resource-limited pastors, repairs damaged church properties, and funds programs that impact communities that otherwise would remain unreached with the hope of Jesus.

As we prepare for special events, object lessons, church dramas, all in the hope of sharing Jesus with others, I encourage you to consider making an offering through Harvesters ministry to support churches alongside you in the Kingdom of God, who are seeking to share that same message of resurrection hope, and are in need of revitalization.