The Church Awakens

“The light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” (Ephesians 5:14 NLT)

The sun rose and we woke up. Well, maybe not in that order. But we did more than just wake up, we got up. We left our little piece of Heaven to help others find God. I know in this cold weather, it’s so much nicer to cuddle up under the covers, curl up like a puppy, and bear hug your pillows. But hey, we answered the call to awaken and serve!

Now don’t look at your service as a duty, it’s more than that: it’s a privilege. We were chosen to be here and wake up the rest of the Church. They had a long week just like us, dealing with ice and slush and power outages. Like us, they’d rather stay in bed and watch random TikTok videos—I mean, the Church livestream! Like us, they’re running on coffee and energy drinks. And just like us, they need to awaken and rise up from the dead.

We all have a part to play in shining the light of Jesus on our brothers and sisters out there. But I think we shouldn’t see them as just an audience, because an audience only hears. See them as the congregation, the ones gathered to worship God with us. And even if their eyelids are heavy and they’re yawning like dogs, its our job through the music, the preaching, and all our actions to wake them up to the love of Jesus.

I want to encourage yall to awaken and be that light. Chug that coffee if you have to, down those energy drinks. Diet Coke is good too! Just wake up and be lively on and off the stage so the people out there, our brothers and sisters, and even the lost who are visiting, can wake up to the joy that is in Christ Jesus. Because if they see zombies, they’ll think we’re as dead as the world around them. Or if they see one thing onstage but close-up see another, they’ll think our God’s as dead as any other diety.

But our God lives. His Son did die, but he rose again. And in his resurrection, we were also made alive with him (Colossians 2:12). So I encourage you to be awake and alive in front and behind the scenes. That’s what integrity is. And we need integrity in our lives so that, like Peter wrote:

“[…] if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.” (1 Peter‬ ‭3:16‬ ‭NLT‬‬)