Sermon audio for Session 2 of the Engage Series, “A Call to Press” from John 17:6-10.  Click here to listen or download (Recorded live at First Baptist Paducah on July 13, 2014):

2014.07.13.Engage.Session2.CharlesMoore

I’m really looking forward to August and our season of revival. And I believe that – if you and I really want to get the most out of this – we must rid our minds of all thoughts of “revival” that do not come from the Word of God.

We’re not talking about a nightly series of evangelistic services.

We’re not talking about a special guest preacher.

We’re not talking about a visiting choir director or a “pack a pew” night.

No, far better.

Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You (Psalm 85:6)?

Merriam-Webster defines revival as “renewed attention.”

J.I. Packer defined revival like this: “God’s quickening visitation of His people, touching their hearts and deepening His work of grace in their lives.”

“God, would you grab our attention again?”

If I understand church history at all, the greatest revivals ever known had at their center one thing: repentance. This is what you and I most need. It can’t be programmed, but it can be sought.

As far as I know, the Bible doesn’t include any one passage that completely describes every dimension of “revival.” But Isaiah 6:1-8 might serve us well as at least a helpful place to start a discussion about it. Considering that text as a bit of an outline, here are some of the things that I want us to experience at First Baptist Paducah:

1. a fresh VISIT from the one true and living God (vs. 1a)

2. a sound VISION of the Lord in all His glory (vs. 1b – 4)

3. a VICTORY over the sinful chains that bind us (vs. 5)

4. a new VIEW of the gospel claims that free us (vs. 6-7)

5. a VALIDATION of the Spirit’s call to mission (vs. 8a)

6. a VIVACIOUS response to the grace of Christ (vs. 8b)

It just doesn’t get any better than that!

So please bear with me (and with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ) as we amend our schedules and our expectations for four important weeks: August 3, August 10, August 17, and August 24, 2014.

I’ll close with these words from Charles Spurgeon …

“Of the Samaritans our Lord said, ‘Ye worship ye know not what,’ let him not have to say to us, ‘Ye know not what ye ask.’ The word ‘revive’ wears its meaning upon its forehead; it is … to live again, to receive again a life which has almost expired; to rekindle into a flame the vital spark which was nearly extinguished … While a true revival in its essence belongs only to God’s people, it always brings with it a blessing for the other sheep who are not yet of the fold. If you drop a stone into a lake the ring widens continually, till the farthest corner of the lake feels the influence.”

This is Pastor Charles’ preaching series for July.  Click here to listen or download (Recorded live at First Baptist Paducah on July 6, 2014):

2014.07.06.Engaged.Session1.CharlesMoore

You have no idea how difficult it was for me to be out of town and unable to participate in Billy Hart’s memorial service. Billy was a special man, always demonstrating a gentle and quiet reverence. Billy never wasted words. So when he did have something to say, it made you want to listen, as you knew that it was going to be something important.

My first memories of Paducah include Billy and Linda. Wonderful moments indeed. Just not enough of them, as we were not ready to send Billy home. Not yet.

But home Billy went. And our God makes no mistakes.

Susan and Shannon, I thought of you last night as the sun was setting over the ocean at a spot that appeared to be the edge of the universe. To capture this photograph, I waited just a few minutes for the sailboat to “touch” the sun. For me it symbolizes all the darkness and turbulence of this transient life being swallowed up by heaven’s blissful glow. The Light has won, and Christ has triumphed over sin and death (First Corinthians 15:50-55)! I know that your dad was an Air Force guy, but I think he’d allow me the nautical analogy.

If heaven is every believer’s real home (John 14:1-4), and it is, then why aren’t our deepest longings more often there than here?

Maybe we’re stained by the pessimism of our unbelieving environs. The late (and that word is key for our present consideration) philosopher, mathematician, logician, and historian Bertrand Russell expressed the hollowness of a hopeless generation: “There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere; only triviality for a moment, and then nothing.” Russell was brilliant, but dead wrong regarding this most important subject. Death is not the end, but only the launching pad for eternity.

I think that C.S. Lewis put his finger on the pulse of our heavenly mindedness (and at times the seeming lack thereof). Even we Christians can take our eyes off the prize. But not for long. Observed Lewis in Beyond the Shadowlands: “There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven, but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else … Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, for you were made for it stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand.”

Do you remember in Second Kings 6 when Elisha prayed that his servant would be allowed to peer into the heavenly realm that is always just beyond our line of vision? For at least a second the partition between now and forever evaporated, and the Lord’s “horses and chariots of fire” came into the man’s full view! Fear was destroyed by a sure knowledge of God’s presence and power. May you and I be gifted with eyes of faith to see Billy’s homegoing as the beautiful and glorious wonder that it really is.

So we don’t mourn as those who have no hope (First Thessalonians 4:13-18), for our dear friend — just a blink ahead of us — is no longer in the shadowlands. He is fully within those celestial borders where the brightness of Jesus can never be dimmed. Billy has landed on heaven’s shores. Our brother is safely home.

Our guest on June 29th was Shannon Hurley, Uganda missionary and director of S.O.S. ministries.  Click here to listen or download (Recorded live at First Baptist Paducah on June 29, 2014): 2014.06.29.PeopleOfFaith.Hebrews11.ShannonHurley

Friday night was especially sweet for me. Eileen and Joshua were in California re-connecting with friends there, while I was here in Paducah enjoying way too much frozen yogurt with Kent and Tracey Buchanan. (O.K., so the sweet pun was a little intentional.) We laughed and chatted like comrades who’ve done life together for decades.

Anyway, I thought you might enjoy a couple of the photos that Eileen sent home: Josh with his best SoCal bud Noah at the San Diego Zoo; and some of the women from our former Growth Group, part of the church’s discipleship ministry. Wonderful moments not to be taken for granted.

Anyway, when I got back to the house that evening, after spending some time on my sermon, I was surprised to see that the FBC college group meeting at our home was still very much “in session.” You have to remember that 11:00 p.m. is now very late in my book. (Can you say “old and boring?)

What a blessing I walked into! Now I don’t know exactly how you’ve done it, First Baptist Paducah, but I must say that you’ve managed to raise one of the finest crops of young adults I’ve ever been privileged to know! These college-age believers are an absolute joy to hang out with, and to share life with in general for that matter. This sweet treat was the icing on the cake for me.

Later it hit me. Though we were thousands of miles apart, Eileen, Joshua, and I were all experiencing the love and fellowship of the body of Christ. And not one of us was in a church building.

In his book Follow Me, Pastor David Platt makes this compelling observation: “The majority of people in America associate a church with a physical building … Identification of churches with buildings may seem common to us, but it’s foreign to the New Testament, where we never once see the church described as a physical building.”

Buildings can be great blessings as ministry outposts, but our real identity is “in Christ.” We’re God’s family (Ephesians 2:19-22). May our Lord grace us with many more “late nights” of laughter, watermelon, new friends, and heartfelt praise. O, how sweet it is!

Click here to listen or download (Recorded live at First Baptist Paducah on June 22, 2014)

Click here to listen or download (Recorded live at First Baptist Paducah on June 15, 2014):

2014.06.15.WellDone.Exodus35-39.CharlesMoore

Sometimes it’s only right to set aside our highfalutin theology and simply delight in the simplicity of seeing God at work in our kids. Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing inherently negative about great doctrinal pursuits, but I also want to delight in the most foundational truths.

VBS 2014 has been a joy for me and for many! Thank you, God. Here are a few photos that I caught with my phone. I’m sure that better pictures are available, but you can enjoy these candid shots for now.

To see our hallways teeming with children in steadfast pursuit of the clues necessary for their “top-secret investigation” has been lots of fun indeed. Thanks to all of you who served so sacrificially to make it happen, right down to the “sidewalk soaking” event provided by our friends at the Paducah Fire Department. There’s nothing like going out with a splash!

We’ve all learned (or re-learned) that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the reason for the hope that is in us (First Peter 3:15). Christ is who the world really needs, whether they realize it yet or not. And, my favorite part: “You don’t have to be a grown-up to tell people about Jesus!” To various and sundry degrees, our children have absorbed these eternal truths, and for this we give our Lord and Savior much praise.

We’ve screamed, danced, sung, and made a generally joyful noise. We’ve welcomed unchurched kids and church-disconnected kids. We loved on the grandkids and great-grandkids of some of our dearest senior sheep. What a treat! (I even got to dress up as “Duck Dynasty Goes California Dreamin'”!)

May our Lord add His blessings to all that has been said, done, taught, and learned in this place. Let’s praise Him for the simplest understanding of a single gospel seed grasped by the tiniest child among us.

Jesus loves me. This I know.

Click here to listen or download (Recorded live at First Baptist Paducah on June 8, 2014): 2014.06.08.SevenWordsOfHope.Exodus34.CharlesMoore