The First Great Awakening was a wave of religious enthusiasm among Protestants in the American colonies c. 1730-1740 , emphasizing the traditional Reformed virtues of Godly preaching , rudimentary liturgy , and a deep sense of personal guilt and redemption by Christ Jesus . The First Great Awakening was a wave of religious enthusiasm among Protestants in the American colonies c. 1730 â `` 1740 , emphasising the traditional Reformed virtues of Godly preaching , rudimentary liturgy , and a deep sense of personal guilt and redemption by Christ Jesus .