BLUE SPRINGS – A recent revival generated a new spirit in Calvary Baptist Church, Blue Springs. “We have a new anticipation of what can happen,” Lindy Reed, senior pastor, said. “There is a new enthusiasm and spirit.”
The revival was a one-day event with Clyde Chiles, staff evangelist and senior adult minister for Calvary Heritage Baptist Church in Columbia.
“Clyde sent us a packet,” Reed continued. “The packet prepared us for attendance and to have a Spirit-filled revival. We wanted to follow the ideas, and a priority was prayer. We prayed on Wednesday nights in the weeks prior to the revival. The last Wednesday night before the revival, our people were on their knees praying for the services.”
Chiles agreed that prayer was the key. “They bathed the revival in prayer,” he said. “All of the meetings had a greater attendance than expected. We encouraged the congregation to bring guests and they did.”
Chiles reported that the church was expecting 80 for the Sunday morning service, and the count was 190. “I marvel at what God did in answer to prayer,” he said. “We had 15 decisions at that service.”
Reed said the church trained counselors in advance to work with those making decisions. “When Clyde gave the invitation,” he said, “we had several counselors walk the aisle like they do with Billy Graham crusades. It is just more comfortable for those going forward to go with other people.”
The morning service was not the first event of the day. “We invited the men to a prayer breakfast before the service began,” Reed reported. “The ladies spoiled us and made some casseroles. Clyde challenged us with the need for evangelism in our society.”
The afternoon was for the ladies. “We planned a tea party,” Reed said. “The ladies poured into the building for the tea. We had about 40 ladies attend. Clyde talked to them about the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31.”
After the tea, a final service was held Sunday evening. “The tea helped build a crowd for Sunday night. We had 50 percent more attend than we usually have on Sunday night. We had three more decisions that night.”
According to Reed, it was a packed day, but having it all on one day was a strategy. “I know that people work during the week and we were trying to be smart about attendance. This worked very well and God was in it.”
Chiles agreed with Reed. “This congregation really caught on to the message,” he said. “The message is to stop trying and to start trusting. I learned the lesson of Proverbs 3:5-6 sixty years ago and it changed my life. I tried to live and serve Him and I finally learned to ‘lean not on my own understanding.’”