 Greetings and welcome to today's session on Christian history and missions which is PC201. Even before we could begin with our session, request one of us to please lead us in prayer. Anita, would you like to pray? Yes ma'am, I'll pray. Thank you for this day Lord. As we gathered here to learn from your word Lord, help us to understand Lord and Holy Spirit. You guide us and teach us Lord and help each one to join this class Lord. In Jesus name you pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you Anita. So today we're going to start on a new chapter which is reformers and reformation. Yeah, so we must recognize the interplay of reformation, revival, restoration and the missions. So what does reformation, anyone from the class, what does reformation mean? What does reformation mean to you? Well, in general, reformation is an act or a process of improving something or someone by removing or correcting faults of a problem. But what does reformation mean? It means to reform. As we said, something or to change it in order to make it better. So during the Renaissance, as people became more aware of this world and they place in it the possibility of a human potential. And the Catholic Church, they began to criticize the Catholic Church. And these people thought that the Catholic Church should be reformed, changed. So what happened? They started protesting against them. And then you see the people who protested against the Catholic Church were known as Protestants. And this reformation took place in the 16th century during the European moment for the religious reform which led to the foundation of the churches that rejected the authority of the people. So in that, we saw many reformers who were raised and through them, the revivals took place through them. So we see the reformation paves the way for revivals which leads to restoration and eventually which birthed many moments within the church. And there were many missionaries who were raised to reach out the world. And some of the very notable reformers we have made mention in the early chapters as we studied was John Wycliffe, John Huss, Martin Luther, John Calvin. John Ox and George Fox we studied about them. And these were some of the reformers who had a strong characteristics within them which led to revival, which led to a bridge change in the practice of the church. So what are those characteristics which are very strong, which we can learn and see to it that we can implement that in our lives to see the change even in our own. So what are those? First one we see here is they had a revelation and depth in their own relationships with God. So what is the first thing that we need to look into in our life? We need to look into that we have a deeper relationship with God. That we need to build this relationship with God that grows stronger, that gives us a new revelation with the relationship that we have with the Father. The second we see is they had the strength to stand alone when needed. They were people with courage, the people who were very strong, bold enough, they were not fearful because they knew what they were doing was right. They had this convection of the word, the truth will set them free. They had a bigger image in their mind so that made them to go beyond their ability. They had an inner strength which God gave them. So how did they get this inner strength? They get the inner strength only with the relationship with God. So you and I for us to have the inner strength for us to do what God has called us to do. Each of us have a call and as a purpose. Now for us to fulfill that call and purpose, there is an inner strength that we need. Now how do we get that inner strength? The inner strength can be drawn only through the relationship that we develop with God. So again we have to go back to the first point that is develop a deeper relationship with God. Now how do we develop the deeper relationship with God? Now we all know the answer. Anyone from the class, how do we develop the deeper relationship with God? Yes please, Anita. My reading is word and praying all the time and having a conversation with God, listening from God what he wants to convey. Thank you, thank you. Having a deeper relationship with God like how? Like has Anita shared? Reading the word, listening to God, allowing him to speak. One of the way that we do it is by prayer. Now how do we pray? The next question is how do we pray? For us to be a revivalist or a reformer, we cannot pray in a comfort zone. That is for the normal believers. They pray, they set a time and they pray. Wow, that's wonderful. But here God called each one of them to pray in a specific way. You see the leaders even in the Bible like Moses, David, Jesus himself and along with the other apostles and disciples. They sought the Lord early in the morning. There's a sacrifice that we need to give in early in the morning. Seek the Lord so that the Lord can speak to us in the set time. The prayer is more powerful and answered especially when it is a revivalist or the reformers you see them. They seek the Lord early in the morning. So we need to seek the Lord early in the morning so that we can draw that inner strength. The third point we see here is they have the courage to speak the truth even when religious, social, political, political systems seem large and daunting. See we need, there's a courage that comes because knowing the truth and the truth will set them free. Even if there's a way that there's no way among the social, religious and the political, you have a conviction of courage to stand and speak the truth. The truth is the word. The fourth point we see here is they were willing to lay down their lives for the truth they believed in. Because they had this greater picture in the mind of the life eternity. They had, even they carried the attitude like Apostle Paul carried for me to live as Christ to die again. So they had this courage, sacrificing nature like okay if I'm going to live, I'm going to live for Christ. I'm going to share the truth that God has asked me to do it and if I die I'm going to be with him. They were ready to lay down their life. They were ready to pay the price that would cost their life, even their life. The fifth point is whenever possible they use tools and platforms to proclaim their message. Yes. According to the skill that God gave them, they used it for the glory of God. So these are some of the ways where the reformers or the revivalists used to share the word and share the gospel and that's how the revival way birthed. So we see that the church needs reformers today. Reformers are very important despite the time season that each of us are in. So the reformers are very important because they are unafraid to address the things that are hindering the church from moving forward and experiencing revival. Reformers rise up to proclaim the truth and challenge the status. They help us recognize the blindness to have open our eyes. They help us break past the limitations we have put upon ourselves. Reformers help us deal with things that we have accepted as the norm but which have become the very thing that are holding us back from the next level that God wants us to assure. So reformers are very important even in today's church. Sorry. Some of the stories that we already shared, we're going to look at it so that we know what was the main reason that sparked the revival and what are the practical lessons that we could consider through them. Some of them was the second great awakening moment. In the second great awakening, there was a spiritual and a moral condition in the North America which broke revival. The attendance of the church was in fact declining in the Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran and the other denomination churches. Well, the Christians on college campuses were very rare to be found but then Harvard had not one known believer on the student and Princeton had only two believers in the entire student body. So the similar way in the other churches but what we can reflect on this revival that took place in the second great awakening was prayer. Prayer was one of the most important resource which birthed the revival in the United States. So what is important even in prayer? There was a consistency in prayer. We need to be consistent in praying what we want to, what we expect to happen. So there's a consistency, the Lord answers, the Lord shows up and the consistency in prayer and there was a widespread of engagement in the prayer for revival. So what it led to? It led to an unusual manifestation which created much controversies and, you know, it took many Presbyterians, Baptist, Methodist ministers into these contemporary version. The good thing is that these ministers recognized the fruit that was being born during this time of revival which was repentance from the sin which demanded to have a change in their life. And hence as they realized and they repented for the sin and they were, they changed their life to see the revival was birthed upon them. So what was the result? What was the fruit of this revival? We see the fruit of this revival was there was a transformation among the communities that lived in the city and across the city where the Logan country which had the time was infested with many criminals. There were many criminals around the city and their lives were changed. There were many people who accepted Jesus as the Lord and Savior and their lives were changed. The city was disciplined. Hence the revival became very significant. It made an impact on the community, on the society of the people who lived there. There's another revival that took place in 1857 which was layman's prayer revival in New York. So what happened in this revival? It was the biggest and the widespread revival in American history. They were very difficult here for the business people because the businesses were collapsing. And in October 14th, 1857 the banking system in the United States collapsed affecting hundreds and thousands of people. So about 30,000 people were unemployed. And on the other hand through the preaching of Charles Finney, Walter and Phoebe Palmer, a deep hunger for the revival was sparked among the people there. So Park Street Church in Boston started to pray for revival in 1840. Well South Church, well it was known as Old South Church in Boston also began to engage people praying for revival at the very same time. And there were many prayer groups and individuals across the New York and Boston in prayer preceding 1857 and the soil had been prepared now. And we see Jeremiah Lanfier was a newly appointed city missionary to New York City. He had an idea to organize noonday prayer meeting as this was when most people took time to eat and rest. So he distributed some pamphlets and called for a midday prayer meeting in New York. The first meeting on Wednesday, September 23rd, 1857 from 12 noon to 1pm was held at the Dutch Reformed Church on Fulton Street. So we see six people attended and in the second week we see 20 people, third week 40 and fourth week we see 100 people attend the meeting. Soon the whole church building was packed with over 3000 people coming to prayer at the known time. Soon daily prayer meeting was started in other location in New York with a daily attendance of about 10,000 people in prayer. So out of a population of 8 lakh people, in January 1858 the newspaper started reporting on what was happening within the city. There was a progress of revival becoming a regular newspaper headlines. The midday prayer meeting began to spread across the America. Very soon we see that the church were filled with many people coming in for prayer in the evening and over 10,000 people were converted each week in New York City alone. So throughout the England prayer meetings we see that at 8am, 12 noon and 6pm they started gathering for prayer. Amazing testimonies were transformed lives and God's glorious presence have been recorded in this. So in March 1858 we see a religious journal reported the large city and town from Maine to California and sharing in this great and glorious work. There is hardly a village or town to be found where a special divine power does not appear at this late. So the New York observed published a report from Waco, Texas of a mighty more of God. It says day and night the church has been crowded during the meeting. Never before in Texas have we seen a whole community so effectively under a religious influence truly regenerated. So we see that the revival that started in New York in 1857 affected several other parts of the world including Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Britain, Germany, Switzerland, the West Indies, South Africa, India and Indonesia. So during this period of 1857 to 1856 we saw several revivals breaking out globally almost everywhere. So what we learn from this revival we see that there was an earnest prayer for revival that went for several years before it could spark the huge revival that carried out, carried, you know, a birthing throughout the globe. So this spark of revival was necessary because the very reason for the spark was the prayer. The simple idea of a known day prayer birthed in Jeremiah Lampia was a spark that had led the blaze of revival spread across the globe. You see God used to lay people and they were no famous preachers, no great orators used in this revival. Just the people like you and me, if they could do it even we could. Can we have the time of prayer with the Lord when he calls us. And when we sit for prayer can we pray earnestly saying Lord we are excited to come and hear our presence and hear we are. Then we also see the Welsh revival and which took place through even Roberts. During this revival we see the four things that happened to the people there they were convicted with their sin. They were because they were convicted of their sin. We see that they repented. They repented and they confess their sin from God. They stopped from their wrongdoing. There was a change of life. Second we see that they never doubted God for anything. They obeyed the spirit prompting within themselves and you know they let the life that was pleasing God and they were publicly confessing about Jesus. They carried the gospel with them that brought a change within them. So again what was the reason for the break of this revival? Again it's the prayer. The revival prayer that began seven years prior to 1904. There was an intense prayer led by a group of believers in the church that led to this revival. There was a complete surrender complete willingness and the pursuit of even under the leadership of even Roberts a man who was willing to surrender to God with all pressure that he had. So God used even Roberts an unknown young man at the time with no great claim to his name and there was a revival that sparked through him. The result was seen in the Welsh revival and souls saved and impacted the society like never before. It was a pure work of God. There was a strong teaching of the word. There was a prayer and they emphasized on the repentance and confession and interceding for each other. And we see 75% still in the church even after five years there was a revival. So we need to pace ourselves and work as a team and you know we need to earnestly pray for revival despite how many members are praying together. It is a law to bring the revival. So all we have to do is just pray from the place where we are for that fire to be sparked in through us. And we also see about Mukti Mission revival which took place through Fundith Ramabai. She was born into a Brahmin family in 1858 and later she became a Christian. So in 1889 she opened a home called Sharada Sardar means home of learning in Mumbai for Brahmin widows. Many were still children and were ignored by their families upon the death of their much older husband. So by 1901 Ramabai had 2000 girls in the school she called Mukti in Kegau near Pune. So during 1890s simultaneously and independently people were praying for revival in different places in India. So in 1897 the student volunteer movement called for a day of prayer cross India. Under the leadership of John Hyde who had come to India in 1892 also mobilized and inspired many to pray. Just give me a minute please. So what happened? Fundith Ramabai through a prayer letter called Mukti Prayer Bell had been calling on people to pray for an outpouring of the spirit for about 5 years. What we see here is there was a consistency of prayer. So you and I when we pray we should not give up when things don't show up as we expect. It is the Lord's doing and He has His own ways and time to do it but what we need to do is we need to be faithful and consistent in our prayer life. So she herself began to spend more time in prayer and fasting. So in 1901 she called for a special time of prayer for the outpouring of spirit. About 1200 girls were baptized in the next two months and after hearing reports of the Welch revival Ramabai encouraged even more prayer. So she formed a prayer group with 10 girls in each group and gave them each a list of 10 unsaved girls to pray for. So in 1905 at Cassie Hills at the Welch Presbyterian Mission Revival broke out and news of this spread and inspired many others to pray for revival. About 30 young women at the Mukti Mission went daily to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit and then went out to evangelize. Then on June 29, 1905 the Holy Spirit moved powerfully on a large gathering of girls and women. Many were left weeping, confessing their sins and praying for the fullness of the Spirit. Again Pandit Ramabai ministered, the Spirit of God moved with great power. People were moved to tears, continued in prayer, saw visions and some faces literally shown with heavenly light. There would be waves of prayer rolling over the people. Little girls were lost for hours in the presence of Jesus, loving, worshipping, praying. Some of the meeting continued nonstop for 17 hours. This move of spirits or powerful manifestation including repentance, much singing, speaking in tongues, dreams, visions, young people prophesying, miraculously supply of food and powerful sensation of being consumed by fire. So in Mukti Mission long hours we spent in prayer and Bible study to equip everyone to take the gospel out and evangelize. So there was a every day a team of 60 went out to preach the gospel and those who stayed prayed for the teams that were out ministering. Although initially Pandit Ramabai did not want news about the revival to be publicized a large stage. So she took teams and sent teams of Bible women out to preach and spread the fire of revival. So why do you think Ramabai did that? She never published it that there's a revival happening here. Why do you think knowing the place like India? What was the did she did the wise thing? Anyone from the class? Yes. So that you know the fire spreads the revival fire spreads across India and it does not get stopped due to any of them. So many Abraham's herself travel widely in India promoting this revival and she wrote series of articles that was published in 1906. That the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire which appeared in two major Christian newspapers in India. There is the Bombay Guardian and the Indian witness from the Methodist. So sometimes later we see that Abrams received a newspaper article and published them in books from which the title the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. A year later a copy of this book she sent it to former Chicago Training School classmate May and her husband will ease. So what happened this helped to spark a revival in Chile that led to the founding of the Methodist Pentecostal Church and larger Pentecostal movement in Chile, South America. So the fire that was birthed here through prayer through Mukti Mission spread across the place even in the other places through the leaders. So the when we reflect on this whole moment, what we see is again prayer being the vital both. Once again, there was a deep hunger among the lay people and there was a prayer that was raised consistently for the revival that broken Mukti. Revival and we also see how Pandit Ramabai steve ordered the revival. She kept it as a secret until she felt it was a time for it to be made known. So there was an ongoing equipping of the girls and the women of whom she was mentoring. She was mentoring them to study the Word of God and spend more time in fasting and prayer to see actual revival fire being birthed in them through them. So this consolidated the work what God was doing through this moment. And they were equipped both part of the equipped and we're expecting for a powerful move of the Holy Spirit and also they were equipped in the Word of God at the same time. So this was one of the reason why the revival fire could spark evangelize and spread across India and to the other places. We all just saw there was another revival that took place in Azusa Street under the leadership of William Joseph Seymour. So one of the reasons why the revival spread very widely there was God used William Seymour was a man who after a certain time he was not known. But then God used this man because he seek the Lord with all his heart. He humbled himself under the hand of God and as the Word says God will lift him up in the due time and same way God lifted William Seymour in the right time because he lifted up prayer for a revival desperately from his heart and God answered his prayer. So it all began in a home though he faced many rejections in his life in the Bible college and also in the place where he joined as a pastor. The very first sermon when he preached about the Holy Spirit the second sermon when he came to preach he was out. They locked him outside the church and they said enough with your service but then that did not stop William Seymour from serving God. God took him into one home unknown people's home and they people were eager to listen more of the Holy Spirit from him and that's where his ministry started. And we saw that there were 15 people who gathered in this room for a prayer meeting and Lord showed up one day. You know the Lord put up a spirit one afternoon when they were having their lunch and they saw themselves spray in tongues. They were filled with the spirit and that led them to move from that home to the Azusa street mission place and you see the crowd thronged into this place and they saw signs, wonders and miracles happen in that place. So what happened? They allowed the spirit to do as he pleases in the Azusa street missions. Spontaneously there was a free flow as the spirit led and there was a strong organization support and spread the work. So we see that the Azusa street mission was very well organized to support the local work to spread the information through their newspapers, coordinating the street outreach and sent out evangelists and missionaries were sent on missions. And we saw a good leadership there. The close look as William Seymour would show us that he was an exceptional leader providing appropriate leadership to the work that God was releasing under his leadership in the missions. With that we will move on to the next chapter that is Restoration of the Church. In Lamentations chapter 5 verse 21 we see that turn us back to you O Lord that we will be restored, renew our days as a whole. There was a cry, there was a cry among the Jewish people, among the Israelites asking them, asking the Lord Lord turn us back to you O Lord that we will be restored, renew our days as a whole. This should just not be the cry of the Israelites but then it should also be the cry of each one of us. Asking us just like in the book of Revelation as we read, Lord help me to come back to that first love. Restore me to the first love. Each of us friends when we look back the very first encounter when we had with the Lord check out our heart, check out how earnestly our heart was seeking more of God. That should be our condition even today. We should not get sober as a day passed by, we should not be content with what we know about God but then there should be an earnest urge seeking more of God in our life. Earnestly saying, Lord I thirst for more of you. Just like how in the Beatitude it says that blessed are the poor in spirit. We need to be seeking more of God, more of a spirit in our daily life. So that's what the Reformation pays a path for revival. When often we seek God, we seek more of God which leads to prayer, which leads us to seek the Word of God, read and understand this truth and receive the revelation from God. You see there's a spark that will be birthed in and through us. So we see in the Reformation, we see there's a restoration and an understanding of a spiritual truth. There's also a restoration in the wine skin to contain the new wine. Restoration in God's people pursuing God's purpose. There's also a restoration in the church that impacts the whole world. As we see there's a restoration and understanding the spiritual truth, let's turn to Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13 to 14. Can I request one of y'all to read Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13 to 14? Ephesians chapter 4 verse 10 to 15. Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be influenced, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there, by every river of teaching and by the cunning and crackiness of men in their disciple skin. Thank you. Thank you, Jafina. So we see that this is the first goal of God's work through the gifted offices and equipping of saints. So this is consistent in both the ultimate purpose of God which is said in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 10 and also in Ephesians 3 verse 6 which says that the mystery of God is revealed through Apostle Paul. So when the gifted office work right and the saints are properly equipped, we see the Christians are matured, maturedly increasing. And there is a greater intimacy of God when we experience more of God. There is a deeper relationship we have with God. So we see through the centuries that the church's understanding of the spiritual is progressively restored in them. So what seemed to have been completely lost during the dark ages in 1500 is progressively restored. We see even during that time the Holy Spirit moved among the people individually to raise leaders and how the Holy Spirit continued God's work even during the darkest season. So it progressively rediscovered through the reformers and the revivalists of proclaim and step into a deeper impact of God, a tangible presence of God, what God desires for the church to walk in. And these are the few of the true that we have included here. One is a salvation by grace through faith. What a baptism for the believers. Sanification in the Holy Living. They emphasized on these few characters, understanding and welcoming the work and ministry of spirit. The baptism in the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, growing in the knowledge of His Word, victorious Christian living, the role and function of the fivefold offices equipping the saints in the work of the ministry. These were some of the important aspects that we, the truth that we need to inculcate in our life as well. So when there's a restoration of the wine skin to contain the new wine, as we read in Matthew chapter 917, it says, Nor do they put new wine into an old wine skin or else the wine skin break, the wine is spilled and the wine skins are ruined, but they put new wine into new wine skin and both are preserved. So what do we understand from this? God wants us to continuously develop new wine skin. What is it talking about? Is it talking about our physical body or our spirit person? It's talking about renewing our mind, renewing our spirit. When we renew our mind and renew our spirit, we can contain the work that God is doing in and through us. So that our spirit man is prepared for the new anointing, new revelation that God is revealing himself to us. So wine skin are just containers that contains and pour out the wine. The wine skin is important to the extent that it can safely contain and pour out the wine. So what is important is the wine, not the wine skin itself. So wine skin can be distracted and new wine skin obtained. Wine skin represents the structure, the form, the method and the way we do things. Well as the preformation and revival continues and the church moves from glory to glory, we need to keep developing our new wine skin to contain the new wine. So new level of faith, strength, glory and revelation that the church has brought it. So what we see here is new wine skin churches, restoration of the five fold office, the five fold office like the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastors and teachers are being restored back to their offices. Third point we see is unity and fellowship in the spirit among the leaders and believers across denomination lines. Only when there is a unity you see the Lord can move among the leaders and it can be a blessing to across the denomination. The fourth point we see is the release of moments that help form new wine skin churches. And we can study in detail in the next class as we go through. Right now where we stop with this, we will say a lot help us to be the new wine skin. Help us to contain the new wine, the new revelation, the new anointing that you're placing it within us. Can we ask God, God, help us to be deeply rooted and grounded in the word and in spirit. Help us to set ourselves aside where we can pray and spend the time with God, what is been expected from you and me. Can we ask God, God help me to be restored with that first love where the thirst of more of God is increasing in us. We will not be contented of knowing, we will not be in the position of place of contentment in knowing God. We will seek more of God in our life. Can I ask one of us to please lead us in prayer where each of us can expand ourselves during the season, during this time where we can seek God in our prayer time. Waking up early, setting up late, it can be noon day anytime as Lord has inspired and put in your heart. He's asking you to set the time for Him to get into a deeper relationship with Him. Anyone would like to pray? Let's pray. Dear Father, we come into Your presence with heart of thanks and praise. We pray that Lord as You moved among the Revivalist Reformers, we pray that You will move. You will continue to move in and through us. Let this be a cry, Lord. As people in the Lamentations seek, Lord, we need more of You. May a cry come before You, Lord. Turn us back, O Lord. Turn, look at us, O Father, that our cry may be heard, Lord. Strengthen us in our weakest moment, O Father, that we may seek You early in the morning, Lord. We may seek You, O Father, in the early hours, even before we could start a day, O Father, that we may come in Your presence, Lord, and we may develop that greater, deeper relationship with You, O Father, where we can abide in You and You abide in us so that we will know, we can get ourselves tuned to Your heart, Your will, Your purpose, O Lord Jesus, that we may know and understand what Your heart desires, O Father, how to impact the people, Lord, how to fulfill the purpose that You have for each of us, O Father. Lord, I pray that in our season, in our time, Lord, You will birth a revival that our eyes could see, O Father, that we will be one of them among the revivals, O Lord, reformers, O Father. Lord, reformers, changes, let there be a revival that will birth in and through us, O Father. Help us to be like the people of the reformers who are courageous, who are strong, who are holding on to Your truth, O Father, even if it costs their life, O Lord, even if it costs their name, O Father, Lord, You will be with them, You will lead them, You will strengthen them, You will make a way where there seem to be no way, O Father. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the courageous strength, O Lord, where Your revival will, where You will pave a path towards revival, O Lord Jesus. Thank You, Father, for Your Word and Your Spirit will be the strength, Lord, for each of us, O Father, in the way that You have called us, Lord. Thank You, Father, Lord. As we hold on to You, we pray that You will carry us from strength to strength, O Lord, from glory to glory, O Father. Thank You, Lord Jesus. We pray this in Jesus' most precious name. Amen. Amen. Thank You. God bless. Thank You so much for joining in today's session. God bless. Let's continue to pray and seek more of God in our life. Okay. Thank You.