Together2016 was a gathering of hundreds of thousands of believers on the National Mall in Washington DC that took place yesterday. Although I couldn’t be there due to a scheduling conflict I was able to help drive the evangelism pre-training event held last week in the DC area. Back in Denver I watched as much as I could from the live stream of the Together2016 event.
What I saw was powerful.
The brainchild of Nick Hall, a Minnesota-based evangelist (and friend), this event was designed to lift Jesus up and call Christians together for a mission and a movement. As far as I could see from the screen on my cellphone, that’s exactly what happened.
Although it was cut short by the authorities who were overwhelmed by the number of medical emergencies (heat related) it finished strong. Nick told the crowd “We don’t need a sound system to tell people about Jesus!” With that, he dismissed the crowd and sent them across the mall to pray for revival and tell others about Jesus.
It reminded me of Acts 8:1,4, “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria…Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”
Debbie Bresina, the President of Dare 2 Share, told me that after the crowd was dismissed that’s exactly what they did. They scattered and chattered…to God in prayer and to the lost with the Gospel. This is a sign of a pending revival, if not the kickoff to a great awakening.
The Together event lifted Jesus up, was built on prayer, united believers, focused on young people, honored the Word and unleashed the crowd with a Gospel mission. What more could you ask for?
Great awakenings have often been kicked off by great gatherings. This was a great gathering!
Now the real work begins. Putting in the pipeline so that revival can flow from the churches to their communities and from youth groups to their schools is crucial. Just like John Wesley put in the backend support to the 1st Great Awakening by launching bands, societies and circuit riders we must lay the foundation for a grass roots revival.
At Dare 2 Share we provide a framework to see this movement happen effectively on a youth group level. I encourage you to visit Gospeladvancing.com, download the “Gospel Advancing Ministry” app (iTunes/Googleplay) and pick up the Gospelize Your Youth Ministry book to help you get started with the groundwork.
The Together event gathering has triggered something significant. Now the real work begins.
Let’s remember the words of Nick Hall, “This is our commissioning. We’ve filled the mall, now let’s fill them all!”
