A Revival of Restoration

Watch a message by Dr Allan Meyer on this topic

Today I want to share something that has burned in my heart and changed my ministry and our church: a revival of restoration.

Restoration – the Job Description of Jesus

Restoration is at the very centre of Jesus’ mission. When He opened the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue, He declared:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour…” (Isaiah 61).

Jesus stopped reading there, but the prophecy continues – promising comfort, beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, and praise instead of despair. God’s heart is for restoration. It begins with salvation but does not end there. His purpose is not only forgiveness but transformation – that His people might become “oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendour.”

Eternity in the Streets of Sydney

The word eternity once blazed across Sydney Harbour Bridge as fireworks lit the year 2000. It was the legacy of Arthur Stace – “Mr Eternity.” Born into poverty, jailed young, and broken by war, he encountered Christ in his forties. Illiterate and unable even to spell his own name, he was nonetheless compelled by God to write a single word: eternity. For decades, in chalk across Sydney’s footpaths, he wrote it more than half a million times. His transformed life gripped a city and pointed multitudes to Christ.

The Good Samaritan and the Broken Behind Closed Doors

Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan in response to the greatest of all questions: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). The story shocks us because those expected to help – the priest and the Levite – passed by. Instead, a despised Samaritan stopped, showed compassion, and brought restoration.

Much of today’s brokenn

ess isn’t found on roadsides but hidden in homes: addiction, abuse, family dysfunction, shame, depression, and poverty. For years I drove past thousands of such homes, blind to the pain within. But God opened my eyes. When we began ministering to survivors of abuse, addicts, and struggling marriages, Jesus showed Himself as the greatest healer the world will ever know.

Restoration Opens Doors for the Gospel

Again and again I have seen how brokenness becomes the very doorway for salvation. A neighbour in despair over his marriage found Christ not through my testimony but through his own desperate need. Survivors of abuse discovered hope and healing, and soon their friends came seeking the same. Restoration is magnetic – it grips people.

This is why Helen and I have dedicated our later years to equipping others for this ministry. The church is the Body of Christ, and Jesus lives in His church. Ordinary people, with good training and the love of Christ, can do extraordinary works of restoration.

Good Works Open Hearts

Out of this vision, we created courses like Kids with Courage, helping children who struggled at school. Good works created goodwill, and goodwill opened hearts to the good news. Families were brought into the kingdom because someone cared enough to see, to stop, and to help.

A Call to the Church - A Revival of Restoration

The glory of God is a human life fully restored. Revival is not just about meetings but about transformation – people becoming living testimonies of the power of Jesus. This is the revival of restoration.

Our prayer is simple:“Father, expand our capacity to carry You into the arms of the broken. Let there be a revival of restoration in the pain of life, in Jesus’ Name.”