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In 1734 in the Massachusetts village of North Hampton, a black gown congregational minister named Johnathon
Edwards fell to his knees in prayer and cried out to the Lord in response to what the Lord had shown him regarding the lost
souls throughout the small town of 1,100. Gone was the God fearing generation which had once settled this land. The new generation
had forgotten God. Immorality, debauchery, and self-interest ruled. Few worried about the next world and none were concerned
about the passionate love of the Lord. Church roles were shriveling and many Christians were living in sin. Years of heeding
the voice of the Lord began to impact Edward's life as he diligently waited before the Lord in prayer, hours upon hours
at a time, all the while being burdened souls of his home town. And then it happened, Edwards began to preach in a way he
had never preached before. Humility was his mark, a soft spoken but well articulated message was his gift, and the truth was
his torch. The compassion of the Lord filled Edward's soul as he called hundreds throughout the town to repent. Christians
began to turn to the Lord and prayer began to spread throughout the colonies. People gathered in their homes to pray. Shops
closed up business in order to hold public assemblies of prayer and worship. One author wrote, quote, "Tears flowed,
some weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love, others with concern for the souls of their neighbors."
Soon the revivals spilled over into other towns and before long a hundred communities were affected. In May of 1735 the revival
began to cool off, but it was only a flicker of greater things to come when 25 year old George Whitfield, a colleague of the
Wesleys in England came in response to the news of praying Christians throughout New England. Where Edwards was spare and
deliberate in his soft-spoken message, Whitfield hurled the words of truth like thunderbolts. Edwards logically built truth
upon truth until the weight of that logic bore down on the listener, but Whitfield's delivery was simply filled with and
enthusiasm he could not contain. He was not a pretentious melodrama, but a humble brokenness that was consumed with people
knowing the truth about God's love. With this consuming passion for souls, Whitfield preached the gift of repentance,
the cross of Calvary, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Thousands upon thousands responded, the spirit of the Lord swept through
the colonies. Soon Christian leaders began to repent of their apathy. While new ones were raised up, hundreds of thousands
were saved. Families were restored, people were filled with the presence of the Lord and the course of a new nation was changed.
Revival after revival hit the colonies in this first Great Awakening. It all happened when one person fell to his knees in
response to the drawing of the Holy Spirit. It happened when he decided that the love of Jesus was the most important thing
in the world. The most important thing in life.
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