Awaken – “What Awakening Looks Like”

On Monday, April 24^th, 1809, a young man named Barnabas Bates came to Falmouth. He came to preach the unvarnished gospel of Jesus Christ – and his messages would spark a remarkable awakening, with hundreds on the Upper Cape surrendering their lives to Jesus. It happened then, and we should ask today, “God, do it again!” – because history may not repeat itself, but it often rhymes…

1. God Comes in Times of Struggle (Job 36:15; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

• • What was it about the spring of 1809 – and perhaps about our time today – that God used to awaken his people? One obvious thing is clear: God comes in times of struggle. When things around us look bleak and strife is everywhere (as it was in 1809), look for God to be at work.
  • As pointed out in the book of Job, God will often use adversity in our lives to “get our attention.” Certainly, nothing gets us praying like weakness and pain and struggle in our lives – because that’s when we realize how much we need God. That was very much the case in 1809 in Falmouth, where the town (like the rest of the country) was a social mess. Alcoholism, vulgarity, and lawlessness was rampant, and the “Christian” church had weakened to the point that few attended and even fewer proclaimed Jesus as Lord and Savior. Additionally, Falmouth was under economic duress as well.
  • If you find yourself in a valley – in a season of struggle with evil and brokenness all around you – that may be right when God shows up in your life, because you’re finally ready to see him. As Paul wrote, “he works best in our weakness.”

2. God Comes to the Next Generation (Acts 2:16-18; 1 Timothy 4:12)
   
   • When it comes to history “rhyming” and God calling us to awakening, another fact is clearly true: God often comes first to the young, to the next generation. That shouldn’t surprise us, as it’s how God brought his Spirit to awaken his people on the Day of Pentecost when the church was born. Even Peter noted that, quoting the prophet Joel that God would “pour out his Spirit” on the young.
   • God started with the young when he began to awaken the people of Falmouth and the Upper Cape in 1809. Barnabas Bates was only 22 when he arrived in Falmouth, and his earliest converts were almost all young people – including young soldiers who mustered on the village green to hear him preach.
   • On the Cape today – and especially here at Cape Cod Church – God is clearly working in and through the next generation – a generation that’s been taught to believe that pursuing Jesus as Lord is a foolish waste of time. And they’re responding – serving, growing and leading their peers to Jesus.
3. God Comes to the Unsuspecting (John 3:1-4a, 16-18)
   
   • Awakening – the sudden and unexpected response to the Good News of Jesus Christ – is almost always a surprise, especially to the people it happens to. God comes to the unsuspecting, as he did in Falmouth in 1809. Even longtime members of the “Christian” church in town – who knew nothing about the “new birth” in Jesus – couldn’t explain it when they were suddenly drawn to life in him.
   • Simply and clearly, “awakening” is all about seeing Jesus for who he is: encountering him as Lord and Savior, risen and alive and waiting for us to respond to him. That was the calling in Falmouth in 1809, and that’s our calling – and our prayer for Cape Cod – today.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE

These passages may provide additional insights related to the subject of this week’s message. All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted.

Psalm 85:1-7; 2 Chronicles 7:13-15; John 6:44-45; Titus 3:3-7; Hebrews 11:6; James 4:7-10

Video of the Week: Pentecost: Acts 1-7 by the Bible Project

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

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1. As you think about the early years of our country – the time of the “Founding Fathers” right after the American Revolution – what images do you have of the social and religious atmosphere of that time?

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2. Is it surprising to you that the country – even New England, where the Puritans and Pilgrims started it all in a quest for religious freedom – was a hot mess of social ills and (very) weak Christian faith?  Explain your answer.  

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3. Read Job 36:15 again. In your view, do times of “adversity” always lead people to seek God?  Why or why not? What might have been some specific issues or conditions in 1809 – conditions that might also be present today – that made it more likely that people would seek Jesus in the way that they did?  

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4. Many are worried today that our youth and young adults are a “lost generation” due to the influences of social media and a culture that leads them away from God. As you consider the role of the youth and young adults in the Awakening of 1809, what hope does that give you for an awakening among the next generation today?

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5. What evidence have you seen that today’s “next generation” is moving toward (or leading…) an Awakening in Christ on the Cape and perhaps in our country?

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6. If you could script out an Awakening on Cape Cod in the coming years, how do you think it would play out?  What must happen for a lost and “unsuspecting” culture to surrender to Jesus in large numbers?

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