By Dan Rutherford

ON a sunny June weekday afternoon in Victoria, it would be surprising to find 200 people eagerly filing into a church to worship God and listen to sermons about revival.

But  that was indeed the scene June 8 – 10, at Victoria First Church of the Nazarene.  

The Victoria Revival Conference was organized by two ministries: SermonIndex.com and the Canadian Revival Fellowship. The event, which had no admission charge or sales tables, drew 500 people in the evening sessions. It was simulcast globally, allowing many others to join in.  

Preaching was the focus – and all of the speakers came at their own expense, because of their desire to see a revival in Canada. The most well known to Canadians was likely Charles Price – pastor of  The People’s Church in Toronto.

When asked why he would take time from a global schedule and pay his own way to participate in this event, he told BCCN:

“My own spiritual heritage dates from my great-grandfather’s conversion in the great Welsh Revival of 1904. Generations continue to be impacted by that great work of God that moved a nation a century ago.

“Today, the great need of the church is not for better organization or for more cultural assimilation – but for us  to realize that we are much weaker than we ever believed, and God is much stronger than we ever knew.  

“Redemption, regeneration and revival is a work of God alone – accomplished through people willing to be nothing more nor less than a means of his truth and life being made known in the world.  

“I am participating in this conference to not only speak, but to sit at the feet of people who see God at work – so that I can learn more of him through them.”

Price quoted Welsh revivalist Evan Roberts’ outline of the conditions needed for believers to participate in revival:

“Confess all known sin. Deal with and get rid of anything ‘doubtful’ in your life. Be ready to obey the Holy Spirit instantly. Confess Christ publicly.”

Another key speaker was Don McClure, from Calvary Chapel in California. He asked the audience: “What is revival?” Then he defined it as “an outpouring from God, a sovereign work of God, that revives the people of God and touches the region.”

Continue article >>

Revival, he added, “has to be personal, or it will never be corporate.” The hope for revival to come to Canada, he emphasized, is rooted in individuals being renewed by God.

The  Victoria conference was the eighth such event to have happened globally over the past few years. They have all originated in Victoria. The prime mover behind the events was Greg Gordon, who operates a unique website. For the past several years, he has posted sermons on the topic of revival on SermonIndex.com His site now has some 20,000 sermons, and an estimated five million visitors.

As he gathered these sermons, Gordon envisioned a conference for Christians seeking to live holier lives. Through his website he was invited to Canton, Ohio; various speakers committed themselves to the event, and agreed to pay their own travel expenses. The response was striking: the conference drew more than 1,000 participants – more than the organizers were prepared to accommodate.

Since that event, similar conferences have been held in Ireland, Scotland and Atlanta, Georgia.

Commenting on his approach to these events, Gordon told BCCN: “This is not about famous people, but about seeking God . . . Denomination does not matter, but rather people with a passion for God.” The conferences, he  added, “will only be worthwhile if we ourselves are open to being changed.”

With such a variety of speakers involved, and the central theme being the general concept of ‘revival,’ there were various emphases. Personal holiness and  surrender to God were key themes for all to embrace.

Some messages encouraged a return to the mass revival meetings of a bygone era; others stressed the need for a renewed experience of God unique to the present day.

Whatever the emphasis, it was heartening to see so many people gather to learn and experience revival.

To hear the Victoria messages, and many others, go to:

revivalfellowship.com and sermonindex.com.

July 2010