Sermon Notes

Week 2
How the First Great Awakening Changed the Game

Every true revival follows the same pattern:
Hearts are changed. Faith goes public. Culture is affected.

I. A BIBLICAL REVIVAL: PHILIP IN SAMARIA (ACTS 8)
Acts 8:1–12
Persecution scattered believers. Prejudice divided Jews and Samaritans.
But revival broke barriers.
“Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there… So there was great joy in that city.” (Acts 8:5, 8)
1. Hearts Changed
Philip preached Christ — not politics, not preferences.
Acts 8:12
“When they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ…”
Revival starts in the invisible place — the human heart.

2. Faith Went Public
“…they were baptized, both men and women.” (Acts 8:12)
Belief moved to baptism.
Private conviction became public declaration.
Pattern:
Belief → Baptism →Joy in the city

3. Culture Was Affected
“There was great joy in that city.” (Acts 8:8)
The whole atmosphere shifted.
When Jesus truly changes hearts, cities feel it.

II. REVIVAL ALWAYS GOES PUBLIC
Notice something:
Philip didn’t stay inside a synagogue.
He went into the city.
Revival never hides in religious comfort.
Faith that stays private eventually fades.
Faith that goes public transforms communities.

III. BAPTISM: REVIVAL MADE VISIBLE
What revival does inside, baptism declares outside.
Baptism says:

• Old life buried
• New life raised
• New family joined
• Faith made public

Romans 6:4
“We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death… in order that we too may live a new life.”
Matthew 10:32
“Whoever acknowledges Me before others, I will also acknowledge before My Father in heaven.”

• Inherited instead of encountered
• Organized instead of alive
• Polite instead of powerful

• It humbled the powerful
• It dignified the overlooked
• It put everyone on equal ground before God

Preachers like Jonathan Edwards declared that all stand bankrupt before God.
His sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” leveled every social distinction.
Not rich or poor.
Not slave or free.
Not educated or uneducated.
Just sinners in need of mercy.
One Savior.
One cross.
One baptism.
One table.
One heaven.

V. WHY REVIVAL CROSSED SOCIAL LINES
Preachers like George Whitefield took the gospel outdoors.
“All the world is my parish.”
The field had no front row.
No reserved seating for the wealthy.
No paid status.
Luke 14:23
“Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in.”
The gospel moved:

• From sanctuaries → fields
• From pews → people
• From insiders → everyone

And something radical happened.
Galatians 3:26–28
“You are all children of God through faith… for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Vertical renewal produced horizontal love.
1 John 4:20
“Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar.”
You cannot be reborn into God’s family and remain divided from God’s people.

VI. UNEXPECTED IMPACT: REVIVAL & THE IDEA OF FREEDOM
The Great Awakening was not political.
But it reshaped how people thought.
It taught:

• Authority ultimately belongs to God
• Every soul is accountable to Him
• Every person bears His image
• Truth must be tested by Scripture

People began asking:

• Why should some lives carry less value?
• Why should power be absolute?
• Why should faith be inherited instead of chosen?

Many historians argue the Awakening created the moral soil that later made unity — and even revolution — possible.
Revival doesn’t just save souls.
It reshapes societies.
Changed hearts eventually change history.

VII. THE SAME CALL TODAY
We land where Acts always lands.
Acts 2:38
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ…”
Final Principle:
Revival begins with me — but it never ends with me.
When Jesus changes my heart,
He changes how I see my neighbor.
He changes how I serve my city.
He changes how I love my generation.