Flight for Religious Liberty and the Birth of a Revival
In 1722, a small band of Bohemian peasants and craftsman crossed the German border and entered Czechoslovakia seeking refuge and religious liberty. They arrived at the estate of Count Zinzendorf and there a spiritual revival would occur that would eventually impact the world. From the community of settlers there emerged in 1727 the renewed Moravian Church, a fusion of the older strain of the Unity of the Brethren with the dynamic revival spirit of Pietism.
Zinzendorf and the Formation of the Moravian Community
Zinzendorf, who would eventually become the key leader, allowed them to settle on one of his estates. He was 27 years old, about the average age of the group. Not many months after they started their community, the Moravian Brethren became conscious of a special nearness of God’s presence.
The August 13 Communion and the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
On Wednesday, August 13, the church, dissatisfied with themselves, came together for a specially called communion service. “They had quit judging each other because they had become convinced, each one, of his lack of worth in the sight of God and each felt himself at this communion to be in view of the Saviour. They left that communion at noon, hardly knowing whether they belonged to earth or had already gone to Heaven. It was a day of outpouring of the Holy Spirit. ‘We saw the hand of God and were all baptized with his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came upon us and great signs and wonders took place in our midst.”
Pietistic Influence and Moravian Spirituality
Zinzendorf has been brought up under Pietistic influences, and out of the Moravian refugees and other followers he created a new society marked by a belief in salvation by faith, personal conversion as ‘new birth, and an intense personal devotion to Jesus Christ which at times took very sentimental and bizarre forms.
The Prayer Movement and Global Mission Vision
As a result of this spiritual awakening, the Moravians committed themselves to pray for the worldwide spread of the Gospel. They met in pairs to pray hour by hour around the clock, an “Hourly Intercession” which continued for more than one hundred years. It led to the launch of one of the most significant worldwide missionary efforts ever.
Missionary Expansion and Influence on John Wesley
Their first missionaries went to the West Indies to minister to slaves, willing to become slaves themselves, if necessary, to reach those in dismal servitude. Also, it was the Moravians who so influenced John Wesley and led to his life-changing “heart strangely warmed” Aldersgate experience, from which the Methodist movement exploded. The Wesleyan revival would become the spiritual forerunner of the modern Pentecostal and Charismatic movements
Tale Tuesday 024
Date: 17th January 2023
Title: he Moravians
Source: The Azusa Street Revival
Author: Roberts Liardon
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