Strangers And Pilgrims

Revival gets talked about like it’s thunder and fireworks, but we’ve learned to look for a quieter and more demanding sign: hunger for God’s Word. From the opening moments, we wrestle with what “heaven-sent revival” really means for a Pentecostal church that welcomes the Holy Spirit and refuses to make peace with compromise. 

We camp in Nehemiah 8, the “revival book,” where God’s people return from captivity, rebuild what disobedience destroyed, and gather with one request: bring us the Word. We dig into why Scripture is the final authority, why shallow preaching produces powerless believers, and why there is no real spiritual renewal without biblical teaching that convicts, corrects, and sets captives free. The Word doesn’t just inform us, it exposes what’s holding us back and moves us toward repentance that is genuine rather than performative. 

Then we follow the thread that surprises many listeners: the booth. Through the Feast of Tabernacles and the sukkah, we talk about the temporary nature of life, the danger of being ensnared by possessions, and what it means to live as strangers and pilgrims with our hearts set on eternity. That perspective turns stewardship into worship and makes revival more than a church service. We close with ways to connect with Valley Gospel Church and a worship response that lifts up God’s greatness. 

If this message sharpens you, share it with someone who needs real truth, subscribe for weekly preaching, and leave a review so more people can find Bible-centered revival. What line hit you hardest?

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:32

Hello. Welcome to Valley Gospel Church. We are a non-denominational Pentecostal church located in Springdale, Pennsylvania. Our sole mission is to present the living truth of a risen Lord Jesus Christ to a remnant church and a lost world. So let's go into the service recorded live at Valley Gospel Church.

Nehemiah Sets The Revival Pattern

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Ready for the word this morning? You know, it's been prophesied concerning this assembly that we would experience a heaven-sent revival. That word was spoken by a brother years ago at at in Harmerville, confirmed by a sister the very next day. And it has over the last three years, no, four years since we've been here, right? Four years? It's been spoken over and over again. And I know that many of you have been praying for that very thing, a revival in Harmerville, as well as in Springdale. As have I. And it's why we'll host an open house in July. It's why we'll have a night of worship on Good Friday. But for a while, I was thinking of people coming from all the neighborhoods, uh, communities to see or hear something supernatural. Um or maybe to witness a supernatural move of God. And that may be, that may be. But I had in my mind unsaved people coming to church, maybe for the first time, in a very emotion-filled outpouring to witness God's hand moving. And that may be. Those who were hanging around the river because you liked the music or you wanted to see what crazy thing this one-eyed preacher was going to say next would suddenly fall in. Waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. Glory. Those who knew about Jesus would suddenly come to know him in a personal and intimate way. Those that prayed on Sundays would now pray continually. Those that mocked the gifts of the Spirit were now inundated by the gifts of the Spirit. Prepared and equipped in holiness, in righteousness, to stand strong and not blink in the times in which we live. Everybody say revival. A revival of the Lord's presence, not just in this building, but on your job at home, at school, in your walk with him, to where you're so pleasing to the Lord that we're not saying, oh Lord, send the fire, because the fire is already here. The fire is already here. It's always kindled, and the fuel supply is inexhaustible. Glory, glory, glory. Senti a fuco. The fuel supply is inexhaustible. Glory. You've given control to the Holy Ghost. He's meeting your needs. I sense it more and more each and every Sunday. Hallelujah. You've found favor in his sight, and glory, his glory, is being revealed. That's the revival that the Lord has in store for everyone here. Amen. In the book of Nehemiah, the Lord shows us how to recognize that revival and to realize that it's already come. Amen. Chrissy, let's go to work. If you have your Bibles, Nehemiah 8, Nehemiah 8. Nehemiah is often referred to as the revival book. It's where 42,360 Jews return from Babylonian captivity back to Jerusalem. It's a return to holiness, to faith, and to true worship. It is symbolic and a lesson for the modern day church, today's church, to leave compromise behind, to leave dead churches, to leave living two lives, and come back to Zion. Come back to our home, to a people, to churches, to brothers and sisters, to pastors that walk in truth. Let me be really honest with you. My church playing days are long over, long gone. Hallelujah. If you're looking for a pastor to get in the pit with you and have a church service and a compromise service at the same time to have a Steeler Sunday or to help you feel okay about sin, if you're looking for a pastor to pray and hope, hope something may happen, you got the wrong guy. You got the wrong guy. I'm preaching an uncompromised gospel. Glory. I'm praying and expecting God to move in every situation that we pray about. And I get this occasionally. Well, you see, Pastor is not a loving pastor. He doesn't understand us. He doesn't listen when I tell him how spiritually weak I am 17 times. He's not listening to me or how depressed I am. And it doesn't con it doesn't always connect with him. I am a loving pastor. And because I'm a loving pastor, I'll tell you the truth. Hallelujah. What does the truth do? The truth sets free. Hallelujah. You may not always like it, it might sting a little bit, but it's revival time. It's revival time. Nehemiah 8, beginning with the first verse, whenever you get there, please stand for the reading of God's word. 8 and 1.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate, and they spoke unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, both men and women, and all who could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those who could understand, and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law. And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Matatha and Shema and Anaya and Eurajah and Hilkiah and Messiah, and on his right hand, and on his left hand Padeah and Meshel and Makaiah and Hashem and Hashbadiah and Zachirah and Meshelem. And Ezra opened the book in the right in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

I used for a subject this morning, strangers and pilgrims. Strangers and pilgrims. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord. Thank you for this Old Testament trip, this glimpse of reality and how it relates to us today, Lord. That we be open to whatever you have to say, Lord, and that we walk closely beside you. Hallelujah. Let this word this morning be a lamp unto our feet, a light to our path. It is in the name of your glorious beloved Son we pray. Amen and amen. Please be seated. Thank you. You did a great job, Chrissy. And we're there were some tough words, tough names there.

unknown 11:01

I just try to sell them out the best that I can.

Clearing Spiritual Rubbish And Compromise

Revival Means Hunger For Scripture

The Word Brings Repentance And Joy

The Missing Piece: The Booth

Stewards Not Owners In This Life

SPEAKER_01 11:04

You did a great job. This remnant that came from Babylonian captivity. Now understand, it was a result. They were in Babylon in captivity because of disobedience. But they came back with a new attitude, rolled up their sleeves, and they worked in true unity. True unity to remove the rubbish, the pollution that had accumulated not only in Jerusalem, but in the church. That's exactly the work that God has called us to do here. To remove the spiritual rubbish. Amen. That is accumulated in our minds, in our spirits, in our spiritual walk. Now I know a whole lot of us come from Roman Catholic backgrounds, right? And this don't misunderstand, this isn't an attack on Roman Catholicism. And we've left that behind for a for a gospel that gives us reality. Amen. However, so many of us still carry around that tradition, that that religion on our back like a sack of rocks. Still carry it around. The junk of false doctrine, the clutter of religion, the compromise of his word. We just fill in what we like if we don't like the word. In pulpits and in pews, and as I said, not singling out one particular denomination. This is across the board. This is the church world of today. But this remnant has rolled up their sleeves to rebuild the walls that have crumbled and have been ravaged by satanic power. Satanic power. You have come out of Babylon, and we are ready and in need of revival. Revival. Verse 5, I'll reread it. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, physically above all the people. They built a platform for him. And when he opened it, all the people stood up. The people's cry was bring us the word. Bring us the true word. Bring us reality. Amen. And Ezra stood on a wooden pallet built for this purpose and extolled the word of God for six hours. I'm not going to keep you near that long this morning. Six hours preaching the word. And the people stood at attention, learning and understanding. All those people that Chrissy read, they were all teachers who were explaining the word as Ezra brought it. Amen. That the cause of their frustration, their difficulty in their lives, their day-to-day confusion was a result of their own stubbornness and their own rebellion. Look, the greatest evidence of revival in a church, and this is where the Holy Spirit corrected me, it isn't manifestations, it isn't healings, it isn't supernatural displays. Everybody say revival. It's a hunger for God's word. You see, backslidden Christians don't want to hear the word. They don't want to go to church and hear the word of God. They want manifestations, they want excitements, they want a proclaiming prophet to give them a word. You got the word. Yeah, but here. Glory. Those that don't really want to surrender fully to God don't want to hear the word because it convicts us. It convicts us. It tells us we're not quite living right. We're not quite preaching right. We're not hearing right. And carnal preachers don't want to preach it because, number one, it lessens the offering. Instead, they preach sermonettes and movie reviews and book reports with a religious spin. Because the word shakes the church. The word shakes the church. The word breaks the shackles of confinement. The word denies and disallows compromise. The word becomes flesh and dwells among us, and it sets the captive free. You know, if we're struggling with something, if we're in some type of bondage that we just can't, we just can't get by, it's the word that sets free. I heard a preacher at a supposed revival tell the congregation there to leave their Bible, this was part of their advertisement, to leave their Bibles at home because they wouldn't need them there. Because this was about fresh revelation, this was about new wine, this was an outpouring of the present, not the past. That was what they said. To be really clear, there is no revival without the word. There is no revival without the word of God. When the Holy Ghost is at work, and you know we're a church that welcomes the Holy Ghost. When he's at work in a church, the people want the word. They want the word, they don't want compromise. In fact, they demand the word of God. A few years ago at a Wednesday evening Bible study, we had a power outage, lights went out, no air conditioning. It was in the summer and uh no sound. And I thought maybe that we should cancel the service because we had no power. And I was immediately met with rebuke. No, no, no, no, no. No, no. We came for the word, and Pastor, you're gonna give us the word. You're gonna give us what God gave you. And I said, okay. You know, we get so many comments, letters, emails from those who listen to the CDs or listen to the podcast saying we don't get we don't get the word in our church. We don't hear this in our church. One one young man said, I haven't heard that kind of preaching in years. We're famished for the word of God. Please keep the CDs coming. Please keep the podcast up and running. Don't let it go. And the saddest comments are that all we get, all we seem to get are dead sermons with no anointing and no Holy Spirit, and it's producing a dead congregation. Where God is moving, there are Bibles everywhere. Whether they be paper or electronic, doesn't matter. You see, the Bible's our reference, God. It's our final authority, and there's excitement that surrounds the teaching and the preaching and a true reverence for God's word. That He gave it to us. The word is loved and honored. Look, those of you who were saved in the 70s, 60s, 70s, even early 80s, and you started to go to church, started to praise God, and you went to lunch afterwards or after service, and you went to the Eaton Park, everybody had a Bible with them on the table. And you looked across the aisle and go, what did your pastor talk about today? What did your pastor talk about? And you prayed as a group sometimes, across denominational lines, it didn't matter. But the word was paramount. Everybody had their little satchel with their with the word of God. Well, I don't know what you're saying, what did my it just incredible. How sad is it today that preaching is endured or tolerated, can't wait for it to be over. Even in the Pentecostal church, sad to say. But the truth is I understand. I understand that. When the word isn't truly being preached, when the Holy Spirit isn't welcome, when we're talking about our work or our lunches or raising funds or our denomination, or pruning our hedges, it doesn't inspire anyone. It touches no one. There's a story a man went to a church where the pastor was really long-winded, and in the middle of his pastor's message, he got up, left, and came back at the very end. And after service, the pastor asked him where he went, and he said, I went to get a haircut. He said, You left in the middle of my sermon to go and get a haircut. Why didn't you go before the sermon? He said, I didn't need one then. The cry that goes up at revival is we want it all. We want the good, we want the bad, the promises, the rebuke, the correction, we want heaven and hell, we want God's mercy and his wrath. We want the whole counsel of God. Verse six And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered amen, amen, with lifting up of their hands, and they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. All right, just so it's even, Chrissy. And Jeshua and Bani and Sherubiah, Jamon, Akub, Shabbatai, Hodijah, Manasseh, Kalitah, Azariah, Josabad, Hanan, Peleah, and the Levites caused the people to understand the law, and the people stood in their place. Again, teachers, teachers. So they read in the book and the law distinctly and gave the sense and caused them to understand the readings. And Nehemiah, which is at the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God. Mourn not nor weep, for all the people wept when they heard the word of the law. Then he said unto them, Go and go your well, let's hold off on that one. Their first reaction, their very first reaction to the word was joy, excitement. They were shouting Amen, raising their hands, and it quickly brought them to their faces in true repentance. God's law revealed their sin, and his word showed them how to deal with it. I can't help call it but think of the song we did last week. By God's word, at last my sin I'd learned. Then I trembled at the law I'd spurned, till my guilty soul imploring turned to Calvary. To Calvary. Glory, glory, glory. That it wasn't something that just had to live with, that they would o that would overtake them. At Calvary, this was true of repentance. True repentance trembled at the law that spurned. They fell on their faces before God. When a true Holy Ghost revival comes, Christians don't look at each other looking for fault, looking for criticism, looking at that we're not doing something right. While you don't operate in the gifts, you operate too much in the gifts. Not enough altar calls, too many altar calls. You're not saved, you're not anointed of the Holy Ghost. Church isn't doing enough. We need to do more, we need to do less. No, our faces are to the ground. Our faces are to the ground because the word has smitten our hearts. The word has smitten our hearts. Our goal is measured up to his standards. You know, I get all the time, well, the assembly of God does it like this, the Pentecostal holiness does it like this. I don't care. Verse 10. When he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send the portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy unto our Lord. Neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites stealed all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy, neither be ye grieved. When love for his word is restored, repentance comes. Repentance just comes. It's not something you have to seek after. When we restore the love for his word, repentance comes. And we personally and corporately move away from sin. We move away. You see, as a when we're not in the word, when we're not when we're not walking in the spirit, we lean toward darkness, right? We lean toward evil. That's just that's the sin nature within us. But when we're in the word, when the Holy Spirit is welcome, no now we lean toward repentance. The result is joy. And the result is celebration. I'm free, free, free. Uh Moses and Joshua, remember they came down from the mountain and people were singing and dancing, and they knew it was false. They knew it wasn't true worship. They knew that it was rebellion and lust and idolatrous because they weren't seeking the Lord. They weren't seeking his word. They were seeking their own gratification. We could be the big we could be the big shots on the block. We could be that church that has heard a testimony from a young lady that last week and she visited a church and she said she wasn't comfortable there. And she saw, but the uh the people were welcoming and uh and upbeat and happy, but there was too much celebration. And I don't know, I didn't get this just from her account, but I suspect she was discerning a false joy. Uh how can you tell? You can tell because there's little or no word, there's no conviction, there's no repentance, no holy ghost welcome, don't use the Bible, no real worship. You see, there can be no godly joy, there can be no Christian shout, there can be no Pentecostal dance without the Word of God. Amen. Can't be. And there can be no song, no joy displayed unless Jesus is there, and how is he there? How is he in our midst? He's here through the presence of the Holy Spirit. That's why we that's why we always open with welcoming the Holy Spirit into our service. Verse 12. And all the people went their way to eat and drink and send portions and to make great mirth, because they uh had understood the word that was declared unto them. Uh-huh. They got it. They got it. They discerned, they obeyed, and they took it to heart. All right, let me get to the message now, okay? That was all that was all just a precursor. Still in Nehemiah 8, 13. And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests and the Levites unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law. And they found written in the law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month, and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, fetch all the branches, pine branches, myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of the thick trees to make booths, as it is written. So the people went forth and brought them and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in the courts, and in the courts in the house of God, and in the streets, and the water gate, and in the streets of Ephraim. And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths. For since the days of Jeshua, the son of Nun, and unto the day had not the children of Israel done so, and there was a very great gladness. All right. The word was restored, uh, repentance was complete, the obedience was genuine. So what was missing? They knew the joy of the Lord was their strength, but something was missing. The booth. The booth. There can be no lasting revival, no fullness of God until we erect the booth. All right. Stay till the conclusion of this. I'm not telling you to go out and build a shack. Not what I'm doing. All right? That is the last day's message for today. And if you're thinking, all right, pastors lost it, where did this come from? I'm glad you asked. Amen. It comes from Leviticus 23 and 40. When I worked at Carnegie Mellon years ago, during homecoming, the Jewish students on campus would build these booths on campus. They called them a suka. Uh it was made out of branches and sticks, and it was an eight by eight. I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but it was an eight by eight shack tent made out of branches. And they would live in these booths for seven days. Now of the 613 Jewish commands, this is still today considered to be one of the most important and the holiest. It was considered so holy that if I would, if one of my guys would even bump one of the sukhas with a mower, uh my phone would ring off the hook because you desecrated this most important article of God. So in Nehemiah's time, uh they again revived this building of the booths. They hadn't done it for a long, long time. And for seven days no one slept or uh in their ho houses, they lived in these booths in these tents. It wasn't a sad or solemn time. Uh seven days it was filled with joy and celebration, filled with blessing and rejoicing. So, what does that have to do with me? What does that have to do with me, a 21st century Christian? Uh glad you asked that. The seven days in the booth alluded to the seventy years that we're given, three score and ten. Amen. Uh, the lifespan that God has given us on this earth. The Sukha also reminds us how temporary life is. That as those seven days passed in the de in the desert heat, in the Mideastern heat, amen, the branches would start to what? They would start to turn brown, start to diminish, uh, start to wilt. And they could see that the fading of life and health and strength, that God wanted their hearts set on things above. He wanted their hearts set on eternity, on the city not made with hands. That we're only camping here. We're only passing through. Uh the blessing we receive here can't compare with the beauty of Zion. Can't compare. If you've ever been camping, I'm not I'm talking about true camping now in a tent, not glamping. All right. Not in a motor home or anything like that. Talking about true camping in a tent. The only heat you have is fire. Uh the only place to wash is in the stream or the river or wherever you're camping. After you're in that tent for a little while, don't you long for home? Don't you long for a shower? Some food that wasn't cooked on a fire and half burnt. Don't you long for air conditioning? And when you come home, you're refreshed. Everything that we've accomplished here, don't care what it is, beautiful home, vineyards, gardens, businesses. And we rejoice in those things. Don't misunderstand. God has been good, but this isn't home. We used to sing a song, George. Beautiful for situation. The joy of the whore is Mount Zion on the side of the north, the city of the great king. King David was rich. He had everything, but he said, I'm but a stranger here. I'm a sojourner, I'm a foreigner, as all my fathers before me were. Paul said he was a pilgrim and an alien on this earth. They knew and desired of a better place. Jerusalem, the new Jerusalem, heaven. This may not be the thing to close with in in especially in this church that has American flags everywhere, and a patriotic church. Living in America is really great. You know, we uh all have uh reasonably nice homes, we eat well, we drive nice cars, but there's a better place in America. There's a better place than America in heaven with Jesus Christ. And I'll I'll I'll close. But why would God put an entire nation in boots for a whole week for seven whole days? He knows how prone humans are to being ensnared by life and possessions. How important possessions may be to us. What danger that we put ourselves in. Who said it this morning that we somehow get better from our afflictions rather than our blessings? He knows that the danger we put ourselves in when all we count on is blessing. Even the land of milk and honey was promised by God, was given by God, but God said, Look, the land is mine. I give it to you, you can use it, but the land is mine. Everything we have, everything we eat, drive, spend, even our the children we we raise belong to God. They belong to him. We say of our offering, Lord, I give this to you. It was his anyway. He lets you keep 90 percent. We're merely merely stewards of his property. The power, the importance of walking in the spirit, the mighty outpouring that the Lord has instructed me to build this ministry around is that we lay all of our possessions, all of our control, all of our authority at the feet of Jesus. Do do with it what you will, Lord. I'm yours. Uh at Pentecost, it was said, all were of one heart and soul. No one said of what they owned or what they possessed, and they all had things in common. Without a life of repentance, there can be no revival. Everybody say revival. Where we see revival and restoration, we see a people with a growing separation with the world, becoming more alien, more pilgrim, more stranger. Things things don't thrill you as much as they used to. Glory, glory, glory. And closer and closer we move into the image of our Christ and our beloved, a longing for our true home, our sights set on a heart on a higher calling. That's revival. That's revival. Thank you.

Worship: How Great Is Our God

SPEAKER_00 39:12

Thank you for listening to this week's podcast. We pray it was an encouragement and a blessing to you. You can contact us at Valley Gospel Church, 1069, Butler Logan Road, Springdale, Pennsylvania, 15144. We invite you to listen to this week's worship service that follows and tune in for next week's podcast.

SPEAKER_04 39:31

You know, the word great is a powerful word, and we use it to describe many things. It's a great day, it's a great friend, it's a great meal, and we say, oh, and God is great. But all of these common, ordinary, everyday things can't even be compared to the greatness of our God. This is what great is our King who reigns over all the earth, clothed in royal majesty and glory, a God whose light dispels darkness when he speaks. A God who stands unmoved from age to age, holding and controlling time in his hand, the beginning and the end. Greatness is Father, Spirit, Son, working together with the greatness of a lion and the gentleness of a lamb. So let's sing this song and declare how great is our God.

SPEAKER_05 44:00

Is our God all will see how great, how great is our God. Would you sing that first verse again, please? The splendor of our kings. Oh, he's clothed in majesty, so that all the earth rejoice. All the earth rejoice. He wraps himself in light. Oh, and darkness tries to hide. Oh, but it trembles at his voice, trembles at his voice. How great is our God. Sing with me, how great is our God.

unknown 45:11

Oh we'll see how great.

SPEAKER_05 45:15

How great is our God. How great is our God? Sing with me.

unknown 45:32

How great is our God. Oh, and all we'll see.

SPEAKER_05 45:38

How great, how great is our God and age to age, he stands. Oh, and time is in his hand, beginning and the end, beginning and the end. He's the Godhead three in one, he's father, spirit son, the lion and the lamb, the lion and the lamb how great is our God. Sing with me, how gray is our God. I will see how great, how gray is our God.