From "Serving Tea" to Spiritual Awakening: Why the Inoculation is Fading
- Peter Shaw
- Jun 17
- 1 min read
If you have been sitting in our current sermon series through the book of Acts, you know that the Holy Spirit is deeply challenging our assumptions about comfort, stability, and what it means to be A Light for the City.
Last Sunday, in the evening I looked at Acts 4 and a famous quote by a bishop who noted that "wherever the Apostle Paul went there was a riot; wherever I go, they serve tea." For decades, Western secularism has tried to confine our faith to the private living room, turning the explosive power of the resurrection into a polite, safe, cultural monument. The tragedy of the modern West is that our post-Christian culture has been exposed to just enough institutional Christianity to lose its power. We inoculated an entire generation against the real thing.
But the vaccine is wearing off.
A New Hunger Across the UK
Last week, a brilliant new documentary was released called Awakening in the UK. If you haven't watched it yet, it is an absolute must-see. The film tracks a profound spiritual movement bubbling under the surface of our long-labeled "post-Christian" nation: a sudden, intense openness to the Gospel, a surge in radical prayer movements, and a deep Hunger for the presence of the Holy Spirit.
The documentary highlights stories of churches rediscovering total dependence on God, and crucially, young adults and youth encountering Jesus for the very first time.
The secular fortresses are cracking, and people are searching for reality. Let’s stop playing it safe. Let's stop protecting our comfort. Let's watch the resurrected King transform our city.
