Isaac, the Old Wells, and the Revival You're Waiting For

Introduction

It's the second part of Saturday, October 18 at Momentum, in the middle of the "A Generation Rising" session. In the afternoon, Duncan, a guest pastor from London, takes the floor. He first shares a dream he had the night before: an earthquake in a room high up, like a boat rocking back and forth. Then he opens Genesis 26 and tells how Isaac, stuck without water, goes back to dig his father Abraham's old wells. From there, he offers four very concrete paths to see God move in your city.

Sermon Outline

1. A dream, a rocking boat, and the Holy Spirit shaking things up

Duncan shares a simple dream: he's in a high-up room, an earthquake hits, and it feels like a boat rocking side to side.
Several people stand up to interpret it: the Church as a boat that must keep moving forward, God's presence "covering us" even when we're shaken, the Holy Spirit of Acts 2 coming like a violent wind.
One image keeps returning: God is moving things, and the enemy tries to take credit for it by scaring you. But in the dream, you never see the water. The boat is protected.
Alice stands up to pray; her voice grows clearer and clearer. Duncan sees this as a sign: God is calling a whole generation of young men and women to speak with power.

2. Genesis 26: Isaac goes back to dig Abraham's old wells

Isaac is blessed because of his father Abraham's obedience. God speaks to him and tells him to stay in the land. He sows and reaps a hundredfold.
The Philistines become jealous. They had already stopped up the wells Abraham had dug. Isaac has to move into the valley of Gerar, without water, with his family and his flocks.
The temptation, Duncan says, would be to look for something new: a new well, a new method, a new way of doing church.
But Isaac's story is the story of a man who returns to ancient sources. He reopens his father's wells, gives them back the same names, and living water flows again.
Every great revival in history (the Reformation, the Huguenots, Wesley in the 18th century), has rediscovered something old, often a doctrine from the book of Acts.

3. Four paths to see revival in your city

Praying together. In East London, three churches carry a gathering called "Jo Prayer Gathering London," at HCN. In August, Duncan saw 1,300 young people from Generation Z lining up to pray, with no paid ticket, no complicated program: two and a half hours of worship and prayer, with teams taking turns. He also shares his visits to Pentonville Prison as a chaplain: one Friday, he prays for an hour and a half with a friend for four former inmates. Fourteen hours later, two of them reach back out. One recounts having been stabbed twice and resuscitated, God was bringing him back to the Church.
Obedience. God blesses Isaac "because Abraham obeyed." If God calls you to create, create. If he calls you to speak to a colleague or start a study group at university, do it. Not alone, but under the authority of leaders. Like the little Nike logo: if God speaks, you just do it.
A high view of God's sovereignty. Isaac was not perfect, the skipped verses (6 to 11) show that he lied by claiming Rebekah was his sister. Yet God uses people we wouldn't expect. Even today, God raises up revival in people or traditions that, yesterday, would have scandalized us. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and let God choose whom he uses.
The fear of the Lord. At the end of the chapter, God tells Isaac: "Do not be afraid, for I am with you." Isaac had seen the glory of God, and that glory had made him tremble. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If you reduce God to a distant friend, you diminish who he is. Seeing his majesty brings you to your knees, and that's where you cry out: "Have mercy on me."

4. A time of ministry: raising a hand

Duncan invites everyone to respond to one of the four points by raising their hand: a call to intercede, a call to obey, a need to recover a view of God's sovereignty, or a need to rediscover his greatness.
The prayer team comes forward to lay on hands, and the afternoon session ends with this welcoming of the Holy Spirit before the break.

Key Takeaways

When God shakes your life like a rocking boat, it isn't necessarily the enemy: it's often him moving things to bring you back to Himself.
Great revivals are almost never novelties. They rediscover old truths that the Church had set aside.
Shared prayer, sustained over time, opens doors that nothing else opens, for you, for your friends, for your city.
The obedience of your parents and the generations before you still bears fruit in your life; your own obedience will open wells for those who come after.
Fearing the Lord is not being afraid of God: it's seeing his glory clearly enough to fall on your knees and let him be God.

Personal Application

Are you experiencing an "earthquake" right now? How could you welcome it as an invitation from God rather than an attack to fight off?
What "old well" (a practice, a doctrine, a discipline), might God be asking you to reopen in your life or your group?
Who could you simply set aside an hour with this week to pray, no program, just praying together?
Is there something God has clearly asked you to do that you keep putting off? What's keeping you from obeying now?
When were you last on your knees before the majesty of God, asking nothing of him, just to fear and worship him?

Scripture References

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Duncan compare revival to reopening old wells?

Because in Genesis 26, Isaac doesn't dig new wells: he reopens the ones his father Abraham had dug, which the Philistines had stopped up. Duncan sees a principle in this: almost every revival in history (the Reformation, the Huguenots, Wesley), has consisted of rediscovering an old truth that the Church had covered over, often a doctrine from the book of Acts. Revival isn't novelty; it's a return to living sources.

How do you know if a "shaking" comes from God or from the enemy?

In Duncan's dream, the boat rocks but you never see the water: God's protection is total. A shaking from God may hurt, but it produces a movement (a change of place, of relationship, of way of doing things) that brings you closer to Him. The enemy, on the other hand, tries to claim credit for God's movement in order to scare you and paralyze you. The test: does what I'm going through push me toward Christ, or make me close in on myself?

What does "fearing the Lord" concretely mean today?

In the sermon, Duncan quotes Proverbs 9:10 and Philippians 2:12: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and we work out our salvation "with fear and trembling." This fear is not the fear of a tyrant, but a clear-eyed wonder before an all-powerful God who went all the way to the cross to seek you out. It produces worship on your knees and obedience without bargaining. Without it, we shrink God down to a distant friend, and love loses its depth.

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