This Labor Day, watch “A Rush of Hope”

It’s hard to believe that this coming weekend will mark the “end” of summer 2020. 

Well, at least officially on the calendar. 

For those of us who live in Texas, the end of summer is usually sometime around Halloween! 

So, with another unusual holiday approaching, I want to suggest a great addition to your Labor Day weekend.

A rush of hope 

Greg Laurie has been involved in ministry for more than forty years. He has brought a message of hope through his teaching, radio program, writing, films, and stadium events. In many ways, I would say he is the national “revival preacher” for these times. 

Each summer, he has hosted huge stadium events where he was able to encourage Christians to live for Christ—and then 2020 happened. 

Everyone has needed to make adjustments this year, and Harvest of Hope, Laurie’s ministry, did as well. I would like to encourage all of us to include his message and ministry into our Labor Day weekend. 

A Rush of Hope is a streamed tent-revival, stadium-type event for 2020. 

You can be part of a large crowd, praying, worshiping, and enjoying the fellowship of others, safely. 

I plan to be part of this unique and inspired experience, and I wanted you all to know about it. 

We need revival and awakening 

I was taping my Bible study lessons last week when I heard myself say something I hadn’t planned to say. As a teacher, that is always a “moment” for me. 

I said something like, “Could this year be a warning shot across the bow?” 

I have no doubt that God is at work during these days, waking up his people to fulfill his purpose. Evangelism has too often been placed toward the bottom of our list of priorities when it is God’s highest purpose for our lives. 

The last earthly message Jesus spoke to his disciples was: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). 

Then Jesus ascended to heaven and later returned, to everyone who received his Holy Spirit. Christians are the continued ministry of Christ in our world. We are his witnesses. 

Has it been a while since you prayed with someone to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior? 

Do your life and ministry need to be “revived” and “awakened” to your chief purpose as a Christian? 

Has 2020 been a “warning shot” from the Lord to remind us that every life has a beginning and an end? 

As Christians, we have the spiritual power to help people know how to spend eternity with their Creator. Are we using the power of God’s Holy Spirit to serve his highest priority?

The purpose of the plague 

I’ve thought a lot about the “plague” that has literally impacted the world. It has been a first in my lifetime, and I’m not that young! 

I’ve taught the Bible for almost thirty years, and the plagues seemed like an Old Testament concept. And then 2020 happened. 

I knew the Old Testament examples but wondered if there were a New Testament precedent for COVID-19. 

I landed on these verses in Hebrews 13. I think they offer a biblical perspective for these unusual days. The theme of the book of Hebrews is the absolute sovereignty of God, through Jesus, to provide the salvation every person needs. The audience was primarily Jewish Christians who had begun to turn back to their old ways, their Jewish beliefs. 

Have Christians been turning back today? 

Are we more like our “old self” or are we living as “born-again” people with eternal priorities? 

Does this plague exist to remind us that every person we see is either alive in Christ or destined for an eternity apart from him? 

A 2020 revival 

The book of Hebrews tells us what to do when we start slipping back into our old ways of thinking. 

Hebrews 13:7–8 says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” 

A friend told me that Billy Graham once told Greg Laurie his ministry was a continuation of the revivals and crusades of the past. 

I need that. Do you? 

As I read the words in Hebrews 13:7–8, I was reminded of all the examples God has given me in my lifetime, people who have called me, by their example, to live closer to God and to “labor” for his higher purposes. I want to reach heaven’s gate having “imitated” their faith and lived their way of life. 

At the end of summer 2020, don’t you feel the need to have your spirit revived and your life restored to powerful, Spirit-driven priorities? 

Join the revival 

A Rush of Hope will be great music, great preaching, and a great way to end our summer of 2020. 

Things are opening up, and we are slowly returning to the way things were. But, things can be better than they would have been if 2020 had not happened. 

This year has reminded all of us that every life has a beginning and an end. And I believe this year has been a “warning shot” to God’s people. We are his children, tasked with the important call to “make disciples” in this world. If that were the only thing God had asked of us, could you face him with confidence when you arrive in heaven? 

It isn’t the only thing, but evangelism is our highest calling

Join me and a host of others this weekend for A Rush of Hope

Pray that God will use this weekend as a time to revive his people and reach thousands upon thousands who need to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. 

“I Can Only Imagine” 

Mercy Me has created some of my favorite Christian music, and the band is part of A Rush of Hope. The movie I Can Only Imagine was produced by the same group that produced this revival. 

I can’t help but think of the song that shares the same title as the movie. I am picturing Christians from across the country watching A Rush of Hope. There will be a crowd included in this revival crusade that no earthly stadium could ever hold. 

It’s a snapshot of that day when heaven will hold the crowd of people that Jesus has brought home to his Father. 

I can only imagine. 

Use this link—https://harvest.org/a-rush-of-hope—to join the crowd this weekend. 

And pray today that it will be a time of great revival among God’s people.