ST. CHARLES – Compassion and revival were the focus of the sermons by K. Marshall Williams, senior pastor of Nazarene Baptist Church in Philadelphia, during the CORE Conference and the final session of the annual meeting.
Williams discussed Matthew 9:35-37 during the CORE Conference. “Jesus went through the towns ministering,” Williams said, “and had compassion on the harassed and helpless. We are facing this today and we need to have compassion. Jesus was a lover of souls. We have the aimless walking around us with no joy in their step, we need to tell them that we care for them and we care for their eternal souls.”
Jesus cares for the sinners and we need to share the message according to Williams. “They don’t think Jesus cares,” he said, “look at Calvary. In Isaiah, it says He was wounded for our transgressions.
Williams also emphasized the need to encourage discipleship. “Growing in Christ is laborious but we need that passion for the Lord,” he said. “We need the repentance, the change of direction and we need a neck-up, check-up every day. The gospel is not reformational, it is transformational. We become new creatures in Christ.”
There is not a shortage of sinners Williams pointed out. “But, we need to pray for those to have a burden to push back the darkness,” he said. “Our imperative is the Great Commission. We need to make disciples and we need to look like Him in every situation.”
Williams shared the seven ingredients for revival in the final session of the annual meeting based on II Chronicles 7:14.
“The number one ingredient is to humble yourself,” he said, “James 4:6 says God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Williams said the second ingredient focused on prayer. “Pray the extraordinary prayer, not just when you need something,” he said. “We need to be encouraged in the Lord and become an encourager.”
“The third ingredient is to seek His face,” Williams continued. “We need unhurried, uninterrupted time with Him. You want a sermon,” he said, “a sermon is an overflow of His personal relationship with me. We need to stop worrying about the horizontal and get the vertical right.”
Confession is the next important ingredient. “God won’t hear us until we repent,” Williams said. “We must be broken and that happens when there is no exit. God closes every door and the only way to look is up. His grace is sufficient when we are weak.”
According to Williams, God requires radical obedience. “We are not called to be popular,” he said, “but we need to stand on the Word of God. We need to get a spine and stand up and tell the truth.”
Unconditional love is the final ingredient. Williams said we need to love God unconditionally and love others. “We must love Him with all our hearts with no strings attached,” he said. “We must be right vertically to be right horizontally.”
“We must love the brethren,” Williams continued. “Racial reconciliation is not skin color, but a sin problem. We are called to be kingdom citizens and living epistles. If anyone is together, it ought to be the church.”
“We need revival,” he said. “Revival in the church,” he said, “will usher spiritual awakening in the land.”