Sermon Illustrations

In the early 1700’s a congregation of some 300 Hussites, Anabaptists, Calvinists and various disciples of non-conforming Christian doctrines came together seeking refuge on the estate of Count Zinzindorf in Saxony, East Germany also called Moravia. Like the Count who was 27 years old at the time most of this community were young and fleeing persecution

At first they quarrelled over doctrines of baptism, holiness, predestination and the like

The Count encouraged them to just concentrate on their shared love for Jesus, over his cross, which he reminded them brought their redemption not their doctrines, they joined in understanding and covenant agreement to begin seeking the Lord in travailing prayer (meaning Work, especially when arduous or involving painful effort; toil, tribulation or agony; anguish another definition is Childbirth), this is what happened:

Tuesday August 05th 1727 Count Zinzindorf spent the entire night in watching and prayer this was called Herrnhut meaning “The Lords Watch” the community took this name for their Church from the name of the village were it was based

Sunday August 10th 1727 when Pastor Rothe preached the congregation fell under the power of the Holy Sprit

Wednesday August 13th 1727 at morning communion the power of God came upon that community in such shattering force that men working in fields 10 miles away were stricken and under the shock of it, the records of this time point to this event as the moment when the community “learned to love one another”

Wednesday August 27th 1727 the Herrnhut Church began a prayer meeting that lasted day and night without stopping for over 100 years

This century long prayer meeting of labouring, travailing, intercession basically birthed the modern mission movement. Long after the original members of Herrnhut were dead every Protestant orientated denomination engaged in carrying the gospel to the unsaved did so because of that century of Moravian praying

Moravian Missionaries quickly flooded out of Germany like water rushing out of a powerful artesian well, in 25 years more than 200 preachers and 3000 Evangelists

went to every continent on earth

One such Moravian Pastor a Brother Bohler came to England to London and preached to the likes of John and Charles Wesley, during his sermon the brothers were deeply moved and John experienced “Justifying Faith”

From the first prayers to the prayers over a 100 years, hundreds of millions came to faith, a slumbering tradition choked Church was stirred back to life and the world was transformed