A friendly church with aChrist-centeredmessage
Fall Revival 2026
October 19 – 21
Family Meal at 5:30 PM – Revival Service at 7 PM
Children’s/Youth Service that breaks down Rev. Krueger’s message into something kids can relate to with fun activities.
An explanation from Rev. Krueger:
Closer Than You Think: A Revival on the Nearness of Jesus
You have never once been as far from God as it felt in your worst moment. Maybe it was grief that dropped you to your knees and left you asking, where were you, God? Maybe it was doubt that crept in at 2 a.m. and never fully left. Maybe it was shame over something you did — or something done to you — that convinced you the door was closed for good. Maybe you’ve just been wandering in the dark so long you’ve stopped expecting to be found.
This revival is for you.
Across five services, we’ll walk through the Gospels and discover a Jesus who doesn’t wait at a distance for us to clean up and come find him. He sits down at the table with the outcast. He weeps — really weeps — at a grave before he ever raises the dead. He calls the brokenhearted by name in the dark, closer than they ever imagined. And then he sends us out to be that same nearness for someone else.
Come as you are, carrying whatever you’re carrying. Because before you ever walked through whatever you had to, Jesus already walked into it with you.
Sunday 11 AM — “Drawn to Us” (Matthew 9:9-13)
Jesus sits down at the table with the very people everyone else has written off — and he doesn’t stop there. He’s still pulling up a chair for the outcast, the compromised, the ones who think they’ve disqualified themselves for good.
Sunday 7 PM — “The Ugly Cry” (John 11:17-44)
Before Jesus does a single thing about your grief, he gets in it with you — no polite tears, just real ones. This is a service about the God who weeps at the graveside before he ever rolls the stone away.
Monday 7 PM — “Twenty Five Feet” (John 20:1-18)
Sometimes the darkness isn’t as deep as it feels, and rescue is closer than you think. This is the story of a woman lost in her grief until she hears her own name — and everything changes.
Tuesday 7 PM — “The Big Brain on Top” (Matthew 17:1-7)
The glory on the mountain fades, but the voice that says “listen to him” doesn’t. This service is about what it costs — and what it means — to actually follow Jesus back down into ordinary life.
Wednesday 7 PM— “They Will Now” (Matthew 28:16-20)
Having been drawn near, wept with, and found, we don’t get to stay on the mountain — we get sent. This closing service is about becoming, for someone else, the same nearness of Jesus that found us.
Reverend Courtney Krueger
About out speaker, Rev. Dr. Courtney Krueger
Rev. Krueger is fortunate in that he grew up in a family that helped him experience Jesus’ love in many and various ways. He was born in South Carolina to a Roman Catholic father and a Baptist mother. He was raised in the Baptist church and went to a Baptist college (Furman University).
He then went to a Methodist seminary for his master’s degree (Duke Divinity School) and a Presbyterian Seminary for his doctoral degree (Columbia Theological Seminary).
He served as a pastor in two Baptist churches over a 24 year “career” before accepting the call to First Cumberland Presbyterian in 2015. All of these experiences have helped him develop a tremendous appreciation for the church universal as well as the powerful specifics of the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination.
Courtney is described by his coworkers and friends as a lifelong learner, an approachable mentor and counselor, enthusiastic and supportive coworker and friend, as well as a spiritual guide and caregiver to people of all ages.
Courtney is married to his college sweetheart Lea. They have two grown children, David and Sarah. In his free time, Courtney can often be found getting lost in the mountains hiking with his children, receiving priceless gems of wisdom from his wife, riding his beloved horses or hosting groups, church members and strangers who become friends at their small horse farm in Cleveland, TN.
Bartow Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Christ-centered, Scripture-rooted church community in Rydal, Georgia. Since 1869, we've gathered to worship, pray, and serve. Join us Sundays at 11:00 AM.
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