The gospel hymn, “Rescue the Perishing,” is one of my favorites. It stirs up many emotions when I sing it, or hear it sung. My memories are awakened to the great truths that are found in the words of this great hymn. I especially like verse three because it reminds me of the condition of so many in our society today, and also of myself many times. Through the mundane experiences of each day and the difficult situations that we face, our fire and zeal for the Lord gets quenched and we find ourselves in a condition that we call “Backslidden.” We are no longer close to the Lord. Oh, we still love him and are still saved, but we do not have that close relationship that we once had. Our burden for unbelievers has waned. Once we were excited about our service for the Lord, but something else has drawn our attention and claimed our focus. Our hearts have been broken by the tempter, our emotions have become calloused, and the song in our hearts has been replaced by silence.
Only a revival of God’s grace and mercy can restore what has been lost.
Our Church holds two revival meetings annually for the purpose of bringing back the joy of our salvation, bringing us up from the pit of despond that we may be in, and to rebuild the fire.
Verse three of the song “Rescue the Perishing,” written by Fanny J. Crosby goes like this: “Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter, Feelings lie buried that grace can restore; Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness, chords that are broken will vibrate once more.”
The annual “Homecoming Revival” dates this year are Sunday through Wednesday, June 9-12, and the scripture I have set for this meeting is found in 1 Peter 4:8 “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover a multitude of sins.” It is amazing what you can accomplish in a person’s life if you can overlook what they have done and focus on who they are; a soul that Jesus loves and died for.
The goal of our Church is to meet the spiritual needs of everyone who enter the doors of the Church building. We do that by teaching and preaching simple truths that can be easily understood by anyone. The Bible is not a complicated book, but so many want to make it so. We also strive to demonstrate a spirit of love and concern for all who attend.
Every Church and Christian should have the goal of 1 Timothy 2:3-6 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”