The Church that is faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ is grounded in the truth of God’s Word, the Bible. To stay on course, the Church must hold firmly to that truth and proclaim how the eternal Word of God applies to the issues of the day. History shows that when the Church fails to do this, it retreats to a rehearsal of the past and loses its cutting edge for the present. A revived Church is a Church with a biblical message and a world-changing ministry for the needs of its day.

The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), therefore, resolves that in this last decade of the twentieth century, we will address the challenge for a revived Church.

We believe that God revives His Church through preaching, study and obedience to the Word. The Word is eternally relevant. It has a message for every generation. It shows lost men and women how God speaks truth and life into the problems we face in these days. God has an answer for war, racism, injustice, drug and alcohol abuse, crime, hatred and violence, immorality, broken families, abortion, materialism and every other sin. We resolve to proclaim the Word needed for these contemporary problems.

We believe that God revives His Church through prayer. The Church advances on its knees. In a nation of exceptional “busyness,” we resolve that prayer will be a priority and that the many demands of a chaotic world will not deter us from making prayers and supplications for those in authority, believers and unbelievers, for the needy and for the troubled of our world.

We believe that God revives His Church through repentance. The bedrock of our faith is the truth that God turns people around. We believe that a broken and contrite spirit, confession of sin, and the renouncing of unrighteousness are essential to a godly life. A revived Church is one in which people turn from their wicked ways. We resolve that repentance will characterize the ministry and the life of our churches in these days.

We believe that God revives His Church through holy living. Holiness is the ongoing demonstration of God’s nature in the lives of believers. We oppose the extremes of legalism on the one hand and libertarianism on the other hand. We do seek a manner of life that is a manifestation of the character and the mind of Christ.

We believe that God revives His Church through a renewed vision of His greatness and glory. Focusing on today’s problems can discourage us and dim our vision. We proclaim, however, that until Jesus returns, men and women will continue to be saved, churches will be built and the needs of our generation will be met by the power of God. Although we are not naïve about the challenges of our day, we express with confidence our firm conviction that Jesus is the answer to the problems of this world.

We believe that as God revives His Church, this new life will be demonstrated through evangelism. Spreading the Good news at home and abroad is an essential part of the ongoing mission of the Church. All across America, people are seeking spiritual reality. This can be seen in the fact that religions quite foreign to this country have found fertile soil in the hearts of people who have grown bored or jaded in this prosperous land. These foreign ideologies, however, have provided no satisfaction for the spiritual longings of the human heart. We determine to take the gospel to our generation by every possible means.

We further believe that as God revives His Church, this new life will be demonstrated by the salt and light of the gospel penetrating and transforming all areas of life to the glory of God.

Revive Your Church, O Lord, we pray!