May 27, 2025 • 37 mins
Have you ever stopped to consider what truly ignites your passion? Many of us pour tremendous energy into hobbies, sports, entertainment, and countless other pursuits—yet something deeper calls us to examine what we're genuinely "on fire" for.
This powerful message challenges us to look beyond our temporary enthusiasms to discover what drives us at our core. Just as ancient travelers always carried fire for survival, we need spiritual fire to thrive in our faith journey. But unlike physical flames that eventually die out, the fire of God within us can burn eternally—if we tend to it properly.
Drawing from Paul's encouragement to Timothy to "fan into flame the gift of God," we explore how a vibrant spiritual life requires the same elements as a physical fire: fuel, oxygen, and a spark. The Holy Spirit works as that divine breath, igniting our small embers of faith into powerful flames that transform not only our lives but the lives of those around us. We discover that God hasn't equipped us with a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and self-control—everything we need to live with passion and purpose.
Many believers experience seasons where their spiritual fire dims to barely glowing embers. Perhaps you've felt this too—going through religious motions while missing the vibrant connection with God you once enjoyed. This message offers practical wisdom for rekindling that flame through intentional communion with the Holy Spirit, who Jesus promised would dwell with us and in us as our helper and guide.
The beautiful promise remains: God's steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness extends to all generations. As you listen, you'll be challenged to examine what might be smothering your spiritual fire and encouraged to embrace the transformative power of a heart truly ablaze for God. Are you ready to reignite what matters most?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What are you on fire for?
You know, there's somethinginside of each one of us that
gets us excited, gets us firedup, that gets us kind of driven
for the day, and something thatwe focus on.
Maybe we live for it.
Possibly we're like a reallypassionate fan about something,
or maybe we're just like areally big music nut or
something like that, and I cantell you that I'm somebody who
(00:21):
has too many hobbies Anybodyelse Too many hobbies.
They tell you that I'm somebodywho has too many hobbies
Anybody else Too many hobbies.
They're like too many stuff andtoo many things that are
expensive Anybody else.
It's one of these things whereit's like man, I love music and
I like going to live music, butman, I really love barbecue and
we love barbecue and go tobarbecue.
But oh, man, you know, I reallylike sports and watching sports
or playing golf or doing theseother things.
I really like fishing andhunting and shooting and doing
(00:44):
this other stuff.
I'm buying guns and buyingshoes and doing these things and
taking photos and all of thatstuff is awesome, but none of it
is what really gets me fired up, see, because there's only one
thing that I'm really passionateabout and it's none of those
things Now, and I come from anera that's a little bit in days
(01:05):
gone by where we used to allcarry this thing in our pocket
called a lighter.
And we used to carry our pocketlighter because you never knew
when a really good song wasgoing to come on and you just
needed to let everybody know howdope that song is.
Anybody else Do you guysremember?
So whenever the song comes on,you're like get the lighter out,
it's good to go.
So whenever the sun comes out,you're like get the lighter out,
(01:25):
it's good to go.
And it was so weird because allof us had this fire in our
pocket.
I remember, you knoweverybody's grandparents like
chain smoke cigarettes, and itwas very normal.
There was always lighterslaying around.
As kids, you could get yourhands on matches all the time.
And now nobody carries firebecause it's like a foreign
thing.
Like what would you need tostart a fire for?
You know, like I have an iPhone, you know.
So it's a different deal, andso as we think about it, it's
(01:45):
like man, what a departure fromthis idea of always having fire
on you to never having to dealwith it anymore.
And so it's one of these things.
That is a big shift for us inculture.
But you know, as we talk aboutthis idea of what you're on fire
for, you get the concept ofwhat really gets you excited.
You know, I was thinking aboutman, some of the things coming
up and the men's campy trip andsome other stuff.
(02:07):
We were talking about thisseries called Everyday Carry and
when we were talking about that, we were talking about how the
things we carry every day andwhat we're prepared for, not
that we live in fear, but thatwe're prepared for what may come
.
And some of the stuff that wasin that bailout bag that we were
talking about was stuff likethis.
It's some people call it theC's, some have the five C's, the
10 C's.
It's different stuff, but theysay it's things that you should
(02:29):
have with you to prepare you forif you had to go out into the
wilderness so you could survive.
How many people think theycould survive in the wilderness?
That doesn't fare very well forthis crowd.
Okay, we have 10 people goingto survive out of this whole
crowd.
But you get the idea.
And the reason is because noneof us none of us are practicing
these skill sets.
I mean, you think about it.
You got to use a compass.
(02:49):
Most people don't know whichway to point the compass to
start, and so you know it's likeyou have that.
You have combustion, somethingto start a fire.
You have something like acontainer so you can capture
water, because without water weall die.
That's right, very good.
And then this idea of likesomething to clean the water,
like you know, iodine orwhatever.
That would be something thatyou can use to cut, so that you
can cut, like down a branch, oryou can cut you know some things
(03:11):
to make sure you can go dosomething, cordage so you could
make, maybe make a shelter outof it or something to take care
of, like first aid.
Man, you need something.
Maybe stop the bleed kid or ora tourniquet or something.
Man, stop the bleed kit or atourniquet or something.
I mean something to cook,because how many people?
Once you get out there day two,you know your stomach's starting
to rumble.
You need to be able to survive,and so this is something you
(03:32):
have to have, and maybe a pieceof clothing, because maybe you
got out there and you werewearing a fashionable fit.
Now you got to be blending in,and so you need some camo.
You need something like that,and possibly, if none of the
things are working, then youcan't use your phone to pay.
Then you actually need cash.
You guys remember cash.
It's like a paper thing, youguys remember.
All of this stuff is all goodand fun, but the problem, of
(03:53):
course, is that if you don'tknow how to use it, then none of
it is worth anything to you.
So you could have a wholebackpack full of stuff and none
of it means anything.
But if we're going to try tosurvive, the first thing that
most people say is that you needto start a fire.
And the reason you need tostart a fire is because without
a fire, you can't stay warm, youcan't cook anything, you can't
clean your water and any ofthese kind of things.
(04:15):
And so as we're thinking aboutthis stuff, about how valuable
fire is to us man, it comes tothis idea that you know that
skill set is kind of lost on usbecause all of us can go to the
store and just go buy a lighter,whereas in the day they had to
know how to do that withfriction, they had to do it with
some kind of a striking rod orsomething like this.
How do people can actuallystart a fire without a lighter?
(04:36):
Can you do it?
Oh, man, got some pretty strong, okay, so you guys are the same
people that were raising theirhand earlier.
So that's good, it's good.
So, this idea of like starting afire, because it's a skillset,
man, that's kind of lost becauseyou have to practice it in
order for it to function.
And so, as you think about that, in this idea of fire, it comes
to this idea of concept of man.
(04:57):
If we're so intentional abouthaving a skillset that will keep
us alive, then what are wedoing with our intentionality
when it comes to our spirituallife in God and being on fire
for him?
And see, that's an importantshift because, as we talk about
it, that's the very thing thatI'm most passionate about man.
I love my soccer clubs.
I follow, and you know theAmerican football teams that we
(05:18):
follow, and the baseball teamand the basketball team, and I
cheer for all those things, butnone of those things matter
eternally, and that's why, ifyou ask me, what are you fired
up for man?
I'm fired up for God and I wantyou to be fired up for God.
I want you to have a fire forGod inside of you.
That's something that drivesyou.
It's this thing that really isa passion for your life.
It's something that helps youget up in the morning and go.
(05:40):
You say, okay, what am I doingwith my life?
Well, I'm trying to do what Godhas asked me to do.
That's what I'm doing with mylife and so I want to be fired
up for him and that's what Iwant to be about.
If you have your Bible, yourtablet, your phone, we're
looking at 2 Timothy thismorning and as we pick up there,
it's in 2 Timothy 1, it's justPaul writing to Timothy and he's
(06:00):
challenging him and encouraginghim as a young leader.
He's saying for this reason, Iremind you to fan into flame the
gift of God which is in youthrough the laying on of my
hands, for God has given us aspirit not of fear, but of power
and love and self-control.
Somebody say amen to that andyou can see what he says here.
(06:22):
It's this idea of fanning intoflame and so often, you know, we
get in a season where maybewe've had a really passionate
fire for God and it's beensomething that's really driven
us and maybe over time that hasfaded and it's become down to,
just maybe, this little emberthat's inside of us.
What the challenge is here?
What Paul is telling to Timothy,is don't give up.
(06:45):
Be someone who allows the HolySpirit to fan that small amount
of faith into a flame that burnsfor him.
Don't get put out, in yourfaith with God, that you would
burn for God, that you wouldhave this passion and this thing
that's going inside of you thatis clearly not from you, it's
from him and that you fan thatthing into a flame that will
(07:06):
burn bright for God.
And you just don't do thateasily.
See, this is the gift of God.
This is what he wants to do inyour life.
See, he wants you to thrive, hewants you to be successful.
He wants your children tothrive and your grandchildren to
thrive.
He wants good things for them,not bad things.
He wants them to be overcomersand he wants them to be used by
(07:28):
his spirit.
He wants to guide them anddirect them and to instill in
them gifts and abilities to beused for his glory.
And all this comes from thespirit of God in us.
And so that's why Paul sayslisten, you remember that I put
hands, I prayed for you, for theimpartation of the Holy Spirit
(07:50):
to empower you to do the verythings that you are now doing,
because how many people know,man, you could get prayed for?
And then you're out there doingit and you're like I need more
prayer.
Anybody else that's me, I'm theguy on the stage.
I'll still tell you I need somemore prayer.
If you think about it, stop andpray for me, because I need it,
and that's the same thing forall of us.
Is that it's not just a one anddone, it's an every day.
(08:13):
More of your spirit, more ofyour power, more of your
anointing Friends.
We wanna be on fire for Jesus.
You say amen to that, and sowhat we pick up here is this
concept that we know that noneof us is perfect.
None of us have arrived, I'mthe first to tell you, but that
means that all of us, just likeJesus and his disciples, all of
(08:35):
us are following after Jesuswhere he's leading us to go, and
so that means that none of ushave arrived yet.
Until you meet him face to face, you're not finished.
So keep on walking after Jesuswhere he's leading you to go.
Our ambition is to be more likeJesus, and what we know is that,
as we do that individually,collectively, we see a huge
(08:58):
change start to happen.
We can love God, we can makedisciples, we can reach the
world, and so that's how we livecollectively as this church in
the community of faith.
See, we live across all thesecities in the West Valley, but
we come together with this drivethat we would be those that
connect and we grow and we servethe Lord.
So we challenge you to beintentional in your life with
(09:20):
God, get a part of a life group,get involved in what God wants
to do in you.
Amen.
So we want to be those that areon fire for Jesus.
Now we think about a flame.
It's the very thing we've beenpicking up here.
Is this flame that's burningfor God?
And you could tell thedifference with someone who has
a passion for God and someonewho is kind of mentally given
(09:42):
assent to God.
Right, there's a big difference.
There's even a differencebetween people that are
passionate for God and theirfaith as a Christ follower and
people that used to bepassionate in their faith as a
Christ follower.
And I could tell you as a kidwho grew up as a pastor's kid
and seeing the differentvariations of people and how
they faked it or didn't fake itfrom Sunday to the week.
(10:03):
I'm sorry, was that too real?
Me back up and say it again soyou get it the second time.
See, I would see where peoplewould either act it all the way
out and live their faith forreal or they would fake it and
be a hypocrite just on Sunday.
And maybe I was one of thosepeople, because I would act a
certain way around church folksin a different way around other
(10:24):
people, because I would act acertain way around church folks
in a different way around otherpeople.
And what was happening is thisflame that had started in my
life.
I had allowed other things tostart to put that flame out, I'd
allowed it to get choked downin my life and I had not allowed
the Spirit of God to work inand through it and for me to
push through the difficultiesBecause, guess what, I can't do
it in my own strength.
(10:45):
He doesn't ask us to do it inour own strength.
That's why we go to him.
And so, as we pick up back herewith the same scripture in
second Timothy, what does it say?
It says that it's by thislaying on of hands that you've
experienced this, but that weare called to be those that have
the power of God, that he givesus the power, and we know the
difference whenever we are thosewho need the power of God,
(11:08):
because all of us need the powerof God.
If we try to do it in our ownstrength, it's not going to
happen the right way.
You ever try to do something inyour own strength and you run
out of your strength.
So you just act crabby towardseverybody.
You're like the non-ChristianChristian that's out there, not
acting like Jesus, anybody,nobody, nobody's pointing at
(11:30):
their friend.
Okay, praise God.
I can tell you in my own life.
It's totally true, man, it'slike man.
If I'm trying to operate on myown power and my own strength,
it's something that he didn'tcall us to do.
He called us to go to him forthe power, to live for him for
today.
And I think sometimes we makethat same mistake of we're
trying to live in the power ofGod from last Sunday instead of
(11:52):
the power of God for today, andso we're listening to it from
last week.
Man, what a powerful word fromPastor Scott.
You know, dr Martin, he's uphere.
Giving the word of God is sogood.
That was a long time ago.
Oh, I bet you can't tell me hissermon points.
That's what the point is.
Is that every day we need to goto him.
(12:12):
Lord, for today, your dailybread For today, the power to
live for you.
Lord, I can't do this in my ownstrength.
I know I can't.
I will fall short.
I will start acting a fool.
I will say hurtful thingstowards my neighbor, anybody.
I'm getting too real today.
I'm going to keep moving.
So, power, love.
(12:35):
The second thing that he says isthat we all have love, and the
love of God is so different thanthe way our love is.
Our love is so fickle right,it's about how we feel at the
moment Whereas God's love is thedecision.
He has made it for you.
He loves you.
The reason he loves you, heloves you so much that he sent
Jesus all the way to you to getin your business.
Because he loves you that much.
(12:56):
He loves you so much that hewill convict you of what you're
doing wrong, so that you don'tkeep on acting a fool and walk
away from him for eternity.
He will bring you back tohimself.
It's not condemnation, no, hewill bring you back to himself.
It's not condemnation, no, it'sconviction, it's bringing you
back to him.
It's the reason you tell yourlittle kids don't touch the
stove, it's hot, because youdon't want them to get burned.
(13:17):
And they don't see thedifference.
They're like, oh, whatever theywanna touch it.
You're like don't touch it why?
Because you love them, youdon't want them to get hurt.
It's not that God's trying togive you a bunch of rules.
No, he's trying to help youlive for him.
And so he loves you so muchthat he gives you the love, his
love for other people.
So that's how you can love theunlovely people.
(13:38):
That's why you are loved,because you are unlovely too.
It's because the love of Godcan work in us and through us to
love our neighbor as ourselves,to be those that love people.
The way God loves us, the wayhe has shown us to love, and
that's how we can show the loveof God to other people, is that
we ask him Lord, today, I needyour power to live for you.
(14:01):
Lord, today I need your love toflow through my life.
Lord, I want to love people theway you love me.
And see, that's a difficult one, friends, because what it does
is it means that we have to bethose willing to forgive.
In fact, we have to be thosethat are willing to pre-forgive
the situation, and before you goout your house, you should
(14:23):
might as well just start.
You know, lord, today I needyour love.
I'm going to ask you topre-forgive.
Help me to pre-forgiveeverybody in traffic the whole
I-10, all of 303, the whole 101,all of it, lord, the 202 behind
the mountain, god, please,today, before I hit it, before
we go downtown, before we hitthe tunnel, oh God, am I wrong?
(14:43):
Nope, probably before you getout of your driveway, lord, for
my neighbor who could spit thattrash can out beside me, god, I
had neighbors and my neighborshad a whole bunch of sand people
delivered in front of theirhouse.
I was like what is going on?
They needed Jesus that day.
You know what I'm saying?
It's the love of God to flowthrough us so that we don't
react the way we would naturallyreact, which is not the love of
(15:05):
God.
The third piece is interesting.
It says that we would havepower and love and self-control.
Some say a sound mind, and whatI love that about this
translation is it's showing uswhat is it.
It's the fruit of the spirit.
The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience all these
different attributes andself-control, and what that
(15:28):
means is that, lord, I'm notjust going to act out, however
makes me feel good, but insteadI'm going to put this before you
.
I need the mind of Christ tohelp me make decisions, the way
you would help me make decisions, lord.
I want to say things that arebuilding up and not tearing down
.
Lord, I want to be someone whois a confidant and can keep
confidential.
Lord, I want to be someone whois speaking love and speaking
(15:50):
the truth in love, and not justtrying to burn people down.
Lord, help me to be who youwant me to be and see, when we
start to put those elementstogether, then we really start
to have some fire.
We start to have some flame.
That's what it is.
Whenever you think of flame,it's in three parts right, you
need to have oxygen, you gottahave the fuel that you're
burning and you gotta have thatspark.
(16:11):
Without it, it doesn't goanywhere.
You can have something thatwill burn, you can even have a
flame right next to it, butwithout the oxygen, the breath
upon it, then guess what?
It doesn't go anywhere.
And that's why so often we talkabout how the Holy Spirit
symbolizes throughout scripture,how the Spirit blows upon them.
(16:32):
It's a fresh wind of what Godis doing and it's a way to see
the Spirit's actions.
We can't see the wind, muchlike we can't see the Spirit,
but we can see the activity thatthe Spirit is doing.
And so, in the same way, that'swhat he's talking to you about
is that he wants to have a freshmove, a fresh breath upon your
life, upon your situation, butyou have to embrace what he's
(16:54):
doing in order for that tohappen.
I wonder how often we're hidingaway.
We have the other piece.
We still have faith, we stillhave something there, but he's
like no, you need my oxygen toburn bright.
For me, it has to come from me.
This is the whole point.
You need something that wouldbe a starter to kick that thing
(17:14):
off.
You have to have all thoseelements together and I can tell
you, man, as somebody who youknow, I've been in a jam once
and again and I've been in aplace where I was away from that
fresh fire in my life and Ifelt a little bit dejected.
And it's interesting because allof those decisions were my
decision, but I was wanting toblame God for it.
I'm glad I'm the only one, butI had isolated myself.
(17:41):
I had put other things in mylife.
I let my quiet time with Goddie down and I started to have
the flame go down, flame go down, flame go down, and I'm like,
oh, I can't feel the spirit ofGod.
God, why aren't you talking tome?
He's like what are you talkingabout?
I'm here all the time.
I'm open to you all the time.
(18:03):
Why are you hiding from me,friends?
He wants you to draw near tohim, because as you draw near to
God, then the voice of God, thespirit of God, the feel of the
spirit moving through your life,will start something new.
It'll be that new flame in yourlife that you've been looking
for.
Man, many of us have gonethrough this season of busyness
(18:25):
and chaos, and even these lastyears it's been pretty wild.
But he wants to do somethingnew in you today for this season
, for what you're going throughright now, for what you're about
to head into that you don'teven know you're going into.
You need more of the spirit ofGod in your life.
I need more of his spirit in mylife because he wants to do
something greater than what hehas already done.
(18:47):
He wants to get it going to thenext level, and so that means
that we have to be those thatembrace the work of God in our
lives.
Now, sometimes there's thingsthat are preventing us from
actually making that fire happen, like I was talking about in my
own situation, and I thinkthat's where we have to really
take an assessment and changewhatever that is so.
If the starter is where we haveto really take an assessment
(19:08):
and change whatever that is so,if the starter is not working
for you, then you need to changethe starter.
You need to get those otherperspectives out of your life,
you need to get those otherhabits out of your life.
You need to change things sothat you can be fired up for God
.
Now, in my own experience, oneof the cool things that I got to
do was that my parents did notmake me ride the bus.
(19:28):
My junior year I rode in thebus.
Freshman year, sophomore year,junior year, I'm like please,
please, for the love of God, nomore bus, no bus.
And they're like okay, I'll letyou drive our car, as long as
you have good grades and you dothis and you work and you put
gas, you know all the things.
And I was like, okay, great,great, great.
Because the other side of thatwas I was going to go out, you
(19:48):
know, to the desert and stealone of the wild burrows and ride
that to school.
I was going to do something.
I was over the bus but I got todrive the car and so I was
excited.
You know, I'm a kid, I don'tthink about it.
I get out there, keys in thehand, the power, you guys
remember the power, see the keyand you go in, I put it in the
thing, just fired it up, went toschool like normal.
And then I get out there oneday and I put the key in and I'm
(20:10):
like what is this?
Nothing.
There's power in the battery,everything's, the lights work,
everything's.
Oh no, the starter has gone out.
So I walked in, dad, your truck,the starter is bad in your
truck.
He's like JT.
Good news you can put a starterin it tomorrow so that you can
start the truck back up.
(20:31):
I was like, do I get to put anew starter in?
I'm so excited you guys gettingit not excited and I was
underneath the truck.
It's like September and it'ssuper cool in September in
Arizona under a truck super cool, no problem with the concrete,
it's fine.
And so, as you can imagine,putting a starter in it.
Man, the intricacies of thisthing.
I didn't know what I wasworking on, so I'm like trying
(20:53):
to fix it and do this stuffEventually got a part, got a
part put in the truck.
Took a bunch of times but I gotit in there.
And when that miraculousturning over of the engine, when
the fire started the engine, itwas like vroom.
I was like, oh, you guysremember, thanks, be to God, you
know what I'm talking about.
And that's what he wants to doin your life is he doesn't want
(21:15):
to just leave you there, youknow, not being able to go
anywhere.
He wants you to go after thethings he has for you and he
wants to give you the fire to beable to do those things.
We pick up here in John 14,where Christ is talking to his
disciples and as he does so,he's kind of challenged him on a
different level.
He says if you love me, youwill keep my commandments and I
(21:37):
will ask the Father and he willgive you another helper to be
with you forever, even thespirit of truth, whom the world
cannot receive, because itneither sees him nor knows him.
You know him, for he dwellswith you and will be in you.
Lord, thank you so much foryour promise.
(22:00):
See, that's exactly what it isis the Holy Spirit.
He is the promise of the Father.
See, jesus was done with hisassignment.
He came, he was a sacrifice forus.
He needed to return back to theFather and he's coming again.
Somebody say amen to that?
And what we know about this isthat he did not leave us alone.
In fact, he gives us the HolySpirit so that we can be
empowered to live for God.
(22:21):
So the promise of the HolySpirit is from the Father, so
that we can live for him.
And to think about this, fromthe beginning it talks about the
Spirit and the Father and theSon are all together, the triune
God.
That he would be consideredsomeone who would help us is
amazing.
The fact that Holy Spirit knowsme and cares about me and wants
(22:44):
to help me is amazing, becauseit means that we have a God and
we serve a God who loves us ashis child and he wants the best
for us.
He doesn't want to leave usastray, he doesn't want to just
kick us out, go for it.
No, he wants to lead us, as ittalks about like a good shepherd
(23:04):
.
He's the one that directs usand guides us and tries to keep
us from calamity and terribledecision-making.
He wants us to thrive and hedoes that day after day.
And that small still whisperthat he's saying to you whenever
you start getting an attitudeto start acting a certain way,
(23:25):
and he's like hey, hey, what areyou doing?
He's trying to help us to makebetter decisions.
Whenever we get away from ourtime with the Lord, we start
going off in a differentdirection in our thought
processes and in our focus, he'slike hey, hey, what are you
doing?
See, I have this plan and Ihave this purpose.
(23:47):
It's greater than your plansfor your life, but you have to
come to me so I can direct youin this path.
And what I love about that isthat he calls us not just to be
someone who is there and it's aonce in occasion.
No, he wants us to dwell withhim.
To dwell we talked about itlast week.
It means to be there who's,someone who lives with him, who
(24:10):
walks with him where we're goingand see, it means that we're
not keeping Holy Spirit back atthe house and then living our
life through the day and thencoming back to him, or keeping
him here at church and thengoing about our life and coming
back.
That's not how it works.
He is with us and so he's theone that's with us.
He will not forsake us that wewould dwell with him, man, ask
(24:32):
him.
Ask him for favor in giving youinsight.
Ask him for his mindset asyou're in your job and you're
trying to troubleshoot a problem.
Ask him for favor as you'reworking with clients.
Ask him for favor in yourfamily and with your children,
with your grandchildren.
Ask him for favor in yourschool and rapport with your
teachers or professors.
Ask him for these thingsbecause he is more than greater
(24:55):
enough to do all that and waymore than that, see, because
you're dwelling with him, he'sgoing to lead you in the right
way.
It says it like this in Psalm105, for the Lord is good, his
steadfast love endures foreverand his faithfulness to all
(25:17):
generations.
See, that's that part that wehave to understand is that the
Lord is good.
See, for some man, they have ahard time with this first point,
that the Lord is good.
They feel like the Lord is outto get them, or the Lord is mad
at them, or the Lord hates themand all these things.
Friends, that's not the story.
The Lord loves you.
(25:39):
He has good things planned foryou.
He has good gifts for hischildren.
He doesn't want you to liveaway from him.
He doesn't want you to live insin and destruction.
He doesn't want you to live offthe path of where he's called
you, and he will challenge thatin your heart because he loves
you that much.
The Lord is good.
(26:03):
The second thing is that hissteadfast love endures forever,
and what I love about this isthat there's something that you
cannot shake.
It's not like it's a once anddone, and that's why we live
this life after God continuously, every day.
If it was about just making adecision for God once, then the
moment that you said yes toJesus, you'd be gone and you
(26:26):
would have no more problems.
But what he's called us to dois be someone who takes that
light of the gospel to the nextperson, who lives for Christ in
the situations, who lives forhim and lives this thing out as
an example of what it means tobe his.
His steadfast love enduresforever the same God that was
(26:46):
there for Abraham is the Godthat's there for you, the same
one that was with Moses and didall the miracles to bring people
out of Egypt, is the same Godthat's there for you, the same
God of the disciples and seeingmiracles happen and seeing Peter
, under the power of the HolySpirit, walk by and people
miraculously healed, is therefor you in your life as well.
(27:07):
See, friends, his steadfast loveendures forever, and so we're
called to be those that takethat fire from one to another,
because that's what we're calledto do, that we're called to
take it to our neighbor.
We're called to take it to ourfriend.
We're called to be that lightin the darkness.
We're called to be agrandparent who gives that light
of the gospel to our childrenand to our grandchildren and our
(27:30):
great-grandchildren.
We're called to be those thatlive in his example of what it
means to live for God andworship the Lord with our whole
heart and mind, not just so theysee us, but because it's real.
It's something we're livingbecause his faithfulness is to
all generations, and what I loveabout that is the promise that
my parents were praying over mewhen I was being a bonehead and
(27:52):
acting a fool.
They knew that the truth of thegospel would win out, because
greater is he that's in themthan he's in the world.
And so they were praying Lord,go get Jay.
Even if you got to shake him upa little bit, got to bounce him
down the freeway a couple oftimes, guess what it's worth it
(28:12):
because in the end he'seternally with you and living
your purpose.
Friends, I will pray all thetime that my friends are blessed
, but I will pray.
They have no satisfaction inthe things of the world.
And why is that?
Because all that stuff will tryto put the fire out, whereas
they need a fire inside themthat burns for God so they can
live for his purposes.
(28:34):
Friends, faithfulness to allgenerations, as you're spending
time with your family, as you'respending time with your sphere
of influence, with your friends,that you would be someone who
could be said of you that youhave a heart that's burning
after God, that you have a firein your heart for God, that
something's different there,that, as you impart, that,
(28:54):
that's something that's felttangibly by your presence,
because the presence of the HolySpirit in you, see, friends,
that's what he wants to have foryou.
John 14,.
It continues a little bit laterit says it like this these
things I've spoken to you whileI was still with you.
See, jesus has not left usalone.
(29:30):
He says listen, I will neverleave you or forsake you.
I am the good shepherd.
And even as he returns to theFather, he sends Holy Spirit to
be with us, to teach us allthings.
And I love this because, evenif it's not spelled out in the
book directly, what does it say?
That you would go after hisheart and he will speak to you
(29:52):
in how to navigate those things.
And the Lord help us because,friends, this world is
spiritually dark, but that thelight of the gospel that's in us
cannot be quenched by darkness,but that the brighter we shine
for the gospel of the light ofthe Holy Spirit inside of us,
the more it will change theworld around us.
So, friends, let me challengeyou.
(30:13):
We ask that question what areyou on fire for, friends?
My challenge to you is have afire for God.
Be on fire.
Today we come to this questionfor each one of us of whether or
not we've said yes to Jesus.
See, our ambition here is to bemore like Jesus.
(30:37):
That's who we're called to beas Christ followers.
So we ask that question today.
Maybe you're here and you'venever said yes to Christ.
Today is your opportunity tosay yes, have you embraced Jesus
?
Each person has to answer forthemselves.
It can't be your Nana, it can'tbe your Papa, it has to be you
(30:58):
that answers that question.
What are you going to do withJesus?
See, for us, the symbol of thecross is one of transformation.
It's one of freedom.
The cross is where Jesus tookall of my sin and all of my
brokenness and all of my regret.
He took all of it upon himself,though he didn't do anything.
He took it upon himself and hedied with my sin upon him.
(31:20):
But what he did?
He paid for that sin forever.
And he did that not just for me, he did that for every single
one of you as well.
He did it for all of us.
He took the sin of the worldupon himself and he became the
ultimate holy sacrifice for allpeople, for all time.
(31:41):
Friends, we can't earn the graceof God, we can't earn God's
presence, we can't earn hisholiness.
It's only through Jesus Christ,through his sacrifice for us,
that we're made in rightstanding with the Father.
But because Jesus came, there'sa bridge to the Father through
Jesus.
And we say, jesus, I believeyou are who you say you are and
(32:07):
so, lord, I ask you into myheart and life that you would be
my Lord and Savior.
Lord, I ask you to forgive me.
I want to start a whole newlife with you and friends, he
will.
He'll make you into a newcreation.
You'll experience theforgiveness, the peace, the joy
that you've been looking for.
The Apostle Paul.
(32:27):
He writes to the church at Rome.
He says this because if youconfess with your mouth that
Jesus is Lord and believe inyour heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart, onebelieves and is justified.
With the mouth, one confessesand is saved.
Friends, today is your day.
(32:48):
It's your opportunity to sayyes to Jesus.
I'm going to ask everyone inthe room for you to stand to
your feet right where you're at,bow your heads.
If you're online, wherever youare, just take a moment.
Quiet your heart for what Godwants to do in and through you.
You, as Christians, are prayingfriends.
(33:14):
There are some here that were inthe first service and need to
make a decision with Jesus.
I'm going to encourage youtoday that you would say yes to
him, that you would invite himinto your heart and life, that
it be the transformation in yourlife you've been looking for as
heads are bowed.
If that's you here today, yousay, pastor, I wanna be included
in that prayer.
I wanna invite Christ into myheart and life.
(33:35):
Maybe it's for the very firsttime, or maybe you've done that
in the past, but you haven'tbeen living for Christ.
You need to recommit your lifeto him.
Make a decision to follow Jesustoday.
If that's you, if you justraise your hand right where
you're at, say, pastor, that'sme, I want to invite him to my
heart and life.
I see the hand that's there.
The hand that's there.
Thank you, lord.
Others making decisions today,people raising their hands Thank
(33:56):
you Jesus.
Thank you Jesus.
I'm going to ask if everyonewould, if they'd pray this
prayer out loud after me Lord,thank you for loving me.
(34:17):
Thank you for sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you.
In Christ's name, I pray Amen,amen.
Friends, we rejoice with you.
Make a decision to apologizetoday.
(34:38):
Several people raising theirhand today Praise the Lord.
Hey, we want to put somematerials in your hand.
Please connect with us back atthe cafe or back in the back by
the prayer tower or prayerbanner.
We want to be able to connectwith you.
Give you some resources.
If you're online, message us.
We don't want you to live thislife in Christ alone.
(34:58):
Friends, today for all of us,it's our opportunity to respond
to this message, to be thosethat are on fire for God, and so
that's the prayer that we wouldpray as we come forward to this
altar today.
We do so with intentionality,asking for more of his spirit to
live for today and for thethings he has for us, for more
of his power, for more of hismentality, for his love in our
(35:19):
lives that we would be thosethat are full of the spirit of
God to live this love out toothers.
And so let me encourage you tocome down to this altar today to
spend time with the Lord, topray for your children, to pray
for your grandchildren, to praythat blessing over your family
that they would all know thelove of God.
Jesus, we come to you todaythanking you so much for your
word as you speak to us.
(35:40):
Lord, thank you for all thatyou've done on our behalf.
Lord, we just revel in who youare and, holy Spirit, we thank
you for being the one who is ourhelper and our protector and
our guidance.
Lord, you're the one who givesus insight and you convict us,
because you wanna bring us backinto alignment with you.
Lord, you are the very one thatbreathe upon this faith we have
and make it be fire and alive.
(36:02):
Lord, we wanna be full of yourspirit.
Lord, we don't want a deadreligion, we want a live faith
in God.
So, Lord, as we come to youraltar today, we do so with
intentionality.
Lord, for more impartation ofyour spirit, for more of your
presence.
Lord, that you would be morethan enough in us and in our
children and in our children'schildren.
Lord, from generation togeneration.
(36:24):
You are faithful.
We pray all this in thepowerful name of Jesus Christ,
amen.
Hey, did you know that today,this weekend, actually marks 52
years of our founding pastorsbeing married?
It's their anniversary tomorrow.
So if you get a chance, makesure you say hello to them and
just let them know how much youlove and appreciate them.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
And next Sunday we're going to be celebrating all of
our graduates, and there aremany of them.
We are going to rejoice withthem in both services.
So if there's someone that youknow that has just graduated
high school, college, a tradeschool, please make sure that
you let the office know or turntheir name in on the app.
We want to rejoice with them.
(37:06):
It's going to be a special timeof just praying a blessing over
them and rejoicing for alltheir hard work.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Amen.
Before we go, I want to praythis blessing over us.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord, make his face toshine upon you and be gracious
to you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
(37:33):
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
We pray all this in thepowerful name that is Jesus
Christ.
Amen, amen.
Know this.
We love you very much here atCornerstone.
God bless you and have a greatweek.
What are you on fire for?
You know, there's somethinginside of each one of us that
gets us excited, gets us firedup, that gets us kind of driven
for the day, and something thatwe focus on.
Maybe we live for it.
Possibly we're like a reallypassionate fan about something,
or maybe we're just like areally big music nut or
something like that, and I cantell you that I'm somebody who
(00:21):
has too many hobbies Anybodyelse Too many hobbies.
They tell you that I'm somebodywho has too many hobbies
Anybody else Too many hobbies.
They're like too many stuff andtoo many things that are
expensive Anybody else.
It's one of these things whereit's like man, I love music and
I like going to live music, butman, I really love barbecue and
we love barbecue and go tobarbecue.
But oh, man, you know, I reallylike sports and watching sports
or playing golf or doing theseother things.
I really like fishing andhunting and shooting and doing
(00:44):
this other stuff.
I'm buying guns and buyingshoes and doing these things and
taking photos and all of thatstuff is awesome, but none of it
is what really gets me fired up, see, because there's only one
thing that I'm really passionateabout and it's none of those
things Now, and I come from anera that's a little bit in days
(01:05):
gone by where we used to allcarry this thing in our pocket
called a lighter.
And we used to carry our pocketlighter because you never knew
when a really good song wasgoing to come on and you just
needed to let everybody know howdope that song is.
Anybody else Do you guysremember?
So whenever the song comes on,you're like get the lighter out,
it's good to go.
So whenever the sun comes out,you're like get the lighter out,
(01:25):
it's good to go.
And it was so weird because allof us had this fire in our
pocket.
I remember, you knoweverybody's grandparents like
chain smoke cigarettes, and itwas very normal.
There was always lighterslaying around.
As kids, you could get yourhands on matches all the time.
And now nobody carries firebecause it's like a foreign
thing.
Like what would you need tostart a fire for?
You know, like I have an iPhone, you know.
So it's a different deal, andso as we think about it, it's
(01:45):
like man, what a departure fromthis idea of always having fire
on you to never having to dealwith it anymore.
And so it's one of these things.
That is a big shift for us inculture.
But you know, as we talk aboutthis idea of what you're on fire
for, you get the concept ofwhat really gets you excited.
You know, I was thinking aboutman, some of the things coming
up and the men's campy trip andsome other stuff.
(02:07):
We were talking about thisseries called Everyday Carry and
when we were talking about that, we were talking about how the
things we carry every day andwhat we're prepared for, not
that we live in fear, but thatwe're prepared for what may come
.
And some of the stuff that wasin that bailout bag that we were
talking about was stuff likethis.
It's some people call it theC's, some have the five C's, the
10 C's.
It's different stuff, but theysay it's things that you should
(02:29):
have with you to prepare you forif you had to go out into the
wilderness so you could survive.
How many people think theycould survive in the wilderness?
That doesn't fare very well forthis crowd.
Okay, we have 10 people goingto survive out of this whole
crowd.
But you get the idea.
And the reason is because noneof us none of us are practicing
these skill sets.
I mean, you think about it.
You got to use a compass.
(02:49):
Most people don't know whichway to point the compass to
start, and so you know it's likeyou have that.
You have combustion, somethingto start a fire.
You have something like acontainer so you can capture
water, because without water weall die.
That's right, very good.
And then this idea of likesomething to clean the water,
like you know, iodine orwhatever.
That would be something thatyou can use to cut, so that you
can cut, like down a branch, oryou can cut you know some things
(03:11):
to make sure you can go dosomething, cordage so you could
make, maybe make a shelter outof it or something to take care
of, like first aid.
Man, you need something.
Maybe stop the bleed kid or ora tourniquet or something.
Man, stop the bleed kit or atourniquet or something.
I mean something to cook,because how many people?
Once you get out there day two,you know your stomach's starting
to rumble.
You need to be able to survive,and so this is something you
(03:32):
have to have, and maybe a pieceof clothing, because maybe you
got out there and you werewearing a fashionable fit.
Now you got to be blending in,and so you need some camo.
You need something like that,and possibly, if none of the
things are working, then youcan't use your phone to pay.
Then you actually need cash.
You guys remember cash.
It's like a paper thing, youguys remember.
All of this stuff is all goodand fun, but the problem, of
(03:53):
course, is that if you don'tknow how to use it, then none of
it is worth anything to you.
So you could have a wholebackpack full of stuff and none
of it means anything.
But if we're going to try tosurvive, the first thing that
most people say is that you needto start a fire.
And the reason you need tostart a fire is because without
a fire, you can't stay warm, youcan't cook anything, you can't
clean your water and any ofthese kind of things.
(04:15):
And so as we're thinking aboutthis stuff, about how valuable
fire is to us man, it comes tothis idea that you know that
skill set is kind of lost on usbecause all of us can go to the
store and just go buy a lighter,whereas in the day they had to
know how to do that withfriction, they had to do it with
some kind of a striking rod orsomething like this.
How do people can actuallystart a fire without a lighter?
(04:36):
Can you do it?
Oh, man, got some pretty strong, okay, so you guys are the same
people that were raising theirhand earlier.
So that's good, it's good.
So, this idea of like starting afire, because it's a skillset,
man, that's kind of lost becauseyou have to practice it in
order for it to function.
And so, as you think about that, in this idea of fire, it comes
to this idea of concept of man.
(04:57):
If we're so intentional abouthaving a skillset that will keep
us alive, then what are wedoing with our intentionality
when it comes to our spirituallife in God and being on fire
for him?
And see, that's an importantshift because, as we talk about
it, that's the very thing thatI'm most passionate about man.
I love my soccer clubs.
I follow, and you know theAmerican football teams that we
(05:18):
follow, and the baseball teamand the basketball team, and I
cheer for all those things, butnone of those things matter
eternally, and that's why, ifyou ask me, what are you fired
up for man?
I'm fired up for God and I wantyou to be fired up for God.
I want you to have a fire forGod inside of you.
That's something that drivesyou.
It's this thing that really isa passion for your life.
It's something that helps youget up in the morning and go.
(05:40):
You say, okay, what am I doingwith my life?
Well, I'm trying to do what Godhas asked me to do.
That's what I'm doing with mylife and so I want to be fired
up for him and that's what Iwant to be about.
If you have your Bible, yourtablet, your phone, we're
looking at 2 Timothy thismorning and as we pick up there,
it's in 2 Timothy 1, it's justPaul writing to Timothy and he's
(06:00):
challenging him and encouraginghim as a young leader.
He's saying for this reason, Iremind you to fan into flame the
gift of God which is in youthrough the laying on of my
hands, for God has given us aspirit not of fear, but of power
and love and self-control.
Somebody say amen to that andyou can see what he says here.
(06:22):
It's this idea of fanning intoflame and so often, you know, we
get in a season where maybewe've had a really passionate
fire for God and it's beensomething that's really driven
us and maybe over time that hasfaded and it's become down to,
just maybe, this little emberthat's inside of us.
What the challenge is here?
What Paul is telling to Timothy,is don't give up.
(06:45):
Be someone who allows the HolySpirit to fan that small amount
of faith into a flame that burnsfor him.
Don't get put out, in yourfaith with God, that you would
burn for God, that you wouldhave this passion and this thing
that's going inside of you thatis clearly not from you, it's
from him and that you fan thatthing into a flame that will
(07:06):
burn bright for God.
And you just don't do thateasily.
See, this is the gift of God.
This is what he wants to do inyour life.
See, he wants you to thrive, hewants you to be successful.
He wants your children tothrive and your grandchildren to
thrive.
He wants good things for them,not bad things.
He wants them to be overcomersand he wants them to be used by
(07:28):
his spirit.
He wants to guide them anddirect them and to instill in
them gifts and abilities to beused for his glory.
And all this comes from thespirit of God in us.
And so that's why Paul sayslisten, you remember that I put
hands, I prayed for you, for theimpartation of the Holy Spirit
(07:50):
to empower you to do the verythings that you are now doing,
because how many people know,man, you could get prayed for?
And then you're out there doingit and you're like I need more
prayer.
Anybody else that's me, I'm theguy on the stage.
I'll still tell you I need somemore prayer.
If you think about it, stop andpray for me, because I need it,
and that's the same thing forall of us.
Is that it's not just a one anddone, it's an every day.
(08:13):
More of your spirit, more ofyour power, more of your
anointing Friends.
We wanna be on fire for Jesus.
You say amen to that, and sowhat we pick up here is this
concept that we know that noneof us is perfect.
None of us have arrived, I'mthe first to tell you, but that
means that all of us, just likeJesus and his disciples, all of
(08:35):
us are following after Jesuswhere he's leading us to go, and
so that means that none of ushave arrived yet.
Until you meet him face to face, you're not finished.
So keep on walking after Jesuswhere he's leading you to go.
Our ambition is to be more likeJesus, and what we know is that,
as we do that individually,collectively, we see a huge
(08:58):
change start to happen.
We can love God, we can makedisciples, we can reach the
world, and so that's how we livecollectively as this church in
the community of faith.
See, we live across all thesecities in the West Valley, but
we come together with this drivethat we would be those that
connect and we grow and we servethe Lord.
So we challenge you to beintentional in your life with
(09:20):
God, get a part of a life group,get involved in what God wants
to do in you.
Amen.
So we want to be those that areon fire for Jesus.
Now we think about a flame.
It's the very thing we've beenpicking up here.
Is this flame that's burningfor God?
And you could tell thedifference with someone who has
a passion for God and someonewho is kind of mentally given
(09:42):
assent to God.
Right, there's a big difference.
There's even a differencebetween people that are
passionate for God and theirfaith as a Christ follower and
people that used to bepassionate in their faith as a
Christ follower.
And I could tell you as a kidwho grew up as a pastor's kid
and seeing the differentvariations of people and how
they faked it or didn't fake itfrom Sunday to the week.
(10:03):
I'm sorry, was that too real?
Me back up and say it again soyou get it the second time.
See, I would see where peoplewould either act it all the way
out and live their faith forreal or they would fake it and
be a hypocrite just on Sunday.
And maybe I was one of thosepeople, because I would act a
certain way around church folksin a different way around other
(10:24):
people, because I would act acertain way around church folks
in a different way around otherpeople.
And what was happening is thisflame that had started in my
life.
I had allowed other things tostart to put that flame out, I'd
allowed it to get choked downin my life and I had not allowed
the Spirit of God to work inand through it and for me to
push through the difficultiesBecause, guess what, I can't do
it in my own strength.
(10:45):
He doesn't ask us to do it inour own strength.
That's why we go to him.
And so, as we pick up back herewith the same scripture in
second Timothy, what does it say?
It says that it's by thislaying on of hands that you've
experienced this, but that weare called to be those that have
the power of God, that he givesus the power, and we know the
difference whenever we are thosewho need the power of God,
(11:08):
because all of us need the powerof God.
If we try to do it in our ownstrength, it's not going to
happen the right way.
You ever try to do something inyour own strength and you run
out of your strength.
So you just act crabby towardseverybody.
You're like the non-ChristianChristian that's out there, not
acting like Jesus, anybody,nobody, nobody's pointing at
(11:30):
their friend.
Okay, praise God.
I can tell you in my own life.
It's totally true, man, it'slike man.
If I'm trying to operate on myown power and my own strength,
it's something that he didn'tcall us to do.
He called us to go to him forthe power, to live for him for
today.
And I think sometimes we makethat same mistake of we're
trying to live in the power ofGod from last Sunday instead of
(11:52):
the power of God for today, andso we're listening to it from
last week.
Man, what a powerful word fromPastor Scott.
You know, dr Martin, he's uphere.
Giving the word of God is sogood.
That was a long time ago.
Oh, I bet you can't tell me hissermon points.
That's what the point is.
Is that every day we need to goto him.
(12:12):
Lord, for today, your dailybread For today, the power to
live for you.
Lord, I can't do this in my ownstrength.
I know I can't.
I will fall short.
I will start acting a fool.
I will say hurtful thingstowards my neighbor, anybody.
I'm getting too real today.
I'm going to keep moving.
So, power, love.
(12:35):
The second thing that he says isthat we all have love, and the
love of God is so different thanthe way our love is.
Our love is so fickle right,it's about how we feel at the
moment Whereas God's love is thedecision.
He has made it for you.
He loves you.
The reason he loves you, heloves you so much that he sent
Jesus all the way to you to getin your business.
Because he loves you that much.
(12:56):
He loves you so much that hewill convict you of what you're
doing wrong, so that you don'tkeep on acting a fool and walk
away from him for eternity.
He will bring you back tohimself.
It's not condemnation, no, hewill bring you back to himself.
It's not condemnation, no, it'sconviction, it's bringing you
back to him.
It's the reason you tell yourlittle kids don't touch the
stove, it's hot, because youdon't want them to get burned.
(13:17):
And they don't see thedifference.
They're like, oh, whatever theywanna touch it.
You're like don't touch it why?
Because you love them, youdon't want them to get hurt.
It's not that God's trying togive you a bunch of rules.
No, he's trying to help youlive for him.
And so he loves you so muchthat he gives you the love, his
love for other people.
So that's how you can love theunlovely people.
(13:38):
That's why you are loved,because you are unlovely too.
It's because the love of Godcan work in us and through us to
love our neighbor as ourselves,to be those that love people.
The way God loves us, the wayhe has shown us to love, and
that's how we can show the loveof God to other people, is that
we ask him Lord, today, I needyour power to live for you.
(14:01):
Lord, today I need your love toflow through my life.
Lord, I want to love people theway you love me.
And see, that's a difficult one, friends, because what it does
is it means that we have to bethose willing to forgive.
In fact, we have to be thosethat are willing to pre-forgive
the situation, and before you goout your house, you should
(14:23):
might as well just start.
You know, lord, today I needyour love.
I'm going to ask you topre-forgive.
Help me to pre-forgiveeverybody in traffic the whole
I-10, all of 303, the whole 101,all of it, lord, the 202 behind
the mountain, god, please,today, before I hit it, before
we go downtown, before we hitthe tunnel, oh God, am I wrong?
(14:43):
Nope, probably before you getout of your driveway, lord, for
my neighbor who could spit thattrash can out beside me, god, I
had neighbors and my neighborshad a whole bunch of sand people
delivered in front of theirhouse.
I was like what is going on?
They needed Jesus that day.
You know what I'm saying?
It's the love of God to flowthrough us so that we don't
react the way we would naturallyreact, which is not the love of
(15:05):
God.
The third piece is interesting.
It says that we would havepower and love and self-control.
Some say a sound mind, and whatI love that about this
translation is it's showing uswhat is it.
It's the fruit of the spirit.
The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience all these
different attributes andself-control, and what that
(15:28):
means is that, lord, I'm notjust going to act out, however
makes me feel good, but insteadI'm going to put this before you
.
I need the mind of Christ tohelp me make decisions, the way
you would help me make decisions, lord.
I want to say things that arebuilding up and not tearing down
.
Lord, I want to be someone whois a confidant and can keep
confidential.
Lord, I want to be someone whois speaking love and speaking
(15:50):
the truth in love, and not justtrying to burn people down.
Lord, help me to be who youwant me to be and see, when we
start to put those elementstogether, then we really start
to have some fire.
We start to have some flame.
That's what it is.
Whenever you think of flame,it's in three parts right, you
need to have oxygen, you gottahave the fuel that you're
burning and you gotta have thatspark.
(16:11):
Without it, it doesn't goanywhere.
You can have something thatwill burn, you can even have a
flame right next to it, butwithout the oxygen, the breath
upon it, then guess what?
It doesn't go anywhere.
And that's why so often we talkabout how the Holy Spirit
symbolizes throughout scripture,how the Spirit blows upon them.
(16:32):
It's a fresh wind of what Godis doing and it's a way to see
the Spirit's actions.
We can't see the wind, muchlike we can't see the Spirit,
but we can see the activity thatthe Spirit is doing.
And so, in the same way, that'swhat he's talking to you about
is that he wants to have a freshmove, a fresh breath upon your
life, upon your situation, butyou have to embrace what he's
(16:54):
doing in order for that tohappen.
I wonder how often we're hidingaway.
We have the other piece.
We still have faith, we stillhave something there, but he's
like no, you need my oxygen toburn bright.
For me, it has to come from me.
This is the whole point.
You need something that wouldbe a starter to kick that thing
(17:14):
off.
You have to have all thoseelements together and I can tell
you, man, as somebody who youknow, I've been in a jam once
and again and I've been in aplace where I was away from that
fresh fire in my life and Ifelt a little bit dejected.
And it's interesting because allof those decisions were my
decision, but I was wanting toblame God for it.
I'm glad I'm the only one, butI had isolated myself.
(17:41):
I had put other things in mylife.
I let my quiet time with Goddie down and I started to have
the flame go down, flame go down, flame go down, and I'm like,
oh, I can't feel the spirit ofGod.
God, why aren't you talking tome?
He's like what are you talkingabout?
I'm here all the time.
I'm open to you all the time.
(18:03):
Why are you hiding from me,friends?
He wants you to draw near tohim, because as you draw near to
God, then the voice of God, thespirit of God, the feel of the
spirit moving through your life,will start something new.
It'll be that new flame in yourlife that you've been looking
for.
Man, many of us have gonethrough this season of busyness
(18:25):
and chaos, and even these lastyears it's been pretty wild.
But he wants to do somethingnew in you today for this season
, for what you're going throughright now, for what you're about
to head into that you don'teven know you're going into.
You need more of the spirit ofGod in your life.
I need more of his spirit in mylife because he wants to do
something greater than what hehas already done.
(18:47):
He wants to get it going to thenext level, and so that means
that we have to be those thatembrace the work of God in our
lives.
Now, sometimes there's thingsthat are preventing us from
actually making that fire happen, like I was talking about in my
own situation, and I thinkthat's where we have to really
take an assessment and changewhatever that is so.
If the starter is where we haveto really take an assessment
(19:08):
and change whatever that is so,if the starter is not working
for you, then you need to changethe starter.
You need to get those otherperspectives out of your life,
you need to get those otherhabits out of your life.
You need to change things sothat you can be fired up for God
.
Now, in my own experience, oneof the cool things that I got to
do was that my parents did notmake me ride the bus.
(19:28):
My junior year I rode in thebus.
Freshman year, sophomore year,junior year, I'm like please,
please, for the love of God, nomore bus, no bus.
And they're like okay, I'll letyou drive our car, as long as
you have good grades and you dothis and you work and you put
gas, you know all the things.
And I was like, okay, great,great, great.
Because the other side of thatwas I was going to go out, you
(19:48):
know, to the desert and stealone of the wild burrows and ride
that to school.
I was going to do something.
I was over the bus but I got todrive the car and so I was
excited.
You know, I'm a kid, I don'tthink about it.
I get out there, keys in thehand, the power, you guys
remember the power, see the keyand you go in, I put it in the
thing, just fired it up, went toschool like normal.
And then I get out there oneday and I put the key in and I'm
(20:10):
like what is this?
Nothing.
There's power in the battery,everything's, the lights work,
everything's.
Oh no, the starter has gone out.
So I walked in, dad, your truck,the starter is bad in your
truck.
He's like JT.
Good news you can put a starterin it tomorrow so that you can
start the truck back up.
(20:31):
I was like, do I get to put anew starter in?
I'm so excited you guys gettingit not excited and I was
underneath the truck.
It's like September and it'ssuper cool in September in
Arizona under a truck super cool, no problem with the concrete,
it's fine.
And so, as you can imagine,putting a starter in it.
Man, the intricacies of thisthing.
I didn't know what I wasworking on, so I'm like trying
(20:53):
to fix it and do this stuffEventually got a part, got a
part put in the truck.
Took a bunch of times but I gotit in there.
And when that miraculousturning over of the engine, when
the fire started the engine, itwas like vroom.
I was like, oh, you guysremember, thanks, be to God, you
know what I'm talking about.
And that's what he wants to doin your life is he doesn't want
(21:15):
to just leave you there, youknow, not being able to go
anywhere.
He wants you to go after thethings he has for you and he
wants to give you the fire to beable to do those things.
We pick up here in John 14,where Christ is talking to his
disciples and as he does so,he's kind of challenged him on a
different level.
He says if you love me, youwill keep my commandments and I
(21:37):
will ask the Father and he willgive you another helper to be
with you forever, even thespirit of truth, whom the world
cannot receive, because itneither sees him nor knows him.
You know him, for he dwellswith you and will be in you.
Lord, thank you so much foryour promise.
(22:00):
See, that's exactly what it isis the Holy Spirit.
He is the promise of the Father.
See, jesus was done with hisassignment.
He came, he was a sacrifice forus.
He needed to return back to theFather and he's coming again.
Somebody say amen to that?
And what we know about this isthat he did not leave us alone.
In fact, he gives us the HolySpirit so that we can be
empowered to live for God.
(22:21):
So the promise of the HolySpirit is from the Father, so
that we can live for him.
And to think about this, fromthe beginning it talks about the
Spirit and the Father and theSon are all together, the triune
God.
That he would be consideredsomeone who would help us is
amazing.
The fact that Holy Spirit knowsme and cares about me and wants
(22:44):
to help me is amazing, becauseit means that we have a God and
we serve a God who loves us ashis child and he wants the best
for us.
He doesn't want to leave usastray, he doesn't want to just
kick us out, go for it.
No, he wants to lead us, as ittalks about like a good shepherd
(23:04):
.
He's the one that directs usand guides us and tries to keep
us from calamity and terribledecision-making.
He wants us to thrive and hedoes that day after day.
And that small still whisperthat he's saying to you whenever
you start getting an attitudeto start acting a certain way,
(23:25):
and he's like hey, hey, what areyou doing?
He's trying to help us to makebetter decisions.
Whenever we get away from ourtime with the Lord, we start
going off in a differentdirection in our thought
processes and in our focus, he'slike hey, hey, what are you
doing?
See, I have this plan and Ihave this purpose.
(23:47):
It's greater than your plansfor your life, but you have to
come to me so I can direct youin this path.
And what I love about that isthat he calls us not just to be
someone who is there and it's aonce in occasion.
No, he wants us to dwell withhim.
To dwell we talked about itlast week.
It means to be there who's,someone who lives with him, who
(24:10):
walks with him where we're goingand see, it means that we're
not keeping Holy Spirit back atthe house and then living our
life through the day and thencoming back to him, or keeping
him here at church and thengoing about our life and coming
back.
That's not how it works.
He is with us and so he's theone that's with us.
He will not forsake us that wewould dwell with him, man, ask
(24:32):
him.
Ask him for favor in giving youinsight.
Ask him for his mindset asyou're in your job and you're
trying to troubleshoot a problem.
Ask him for favor as you'reworking with clients.
Ask him for favor in yourfamily and with your children,
with your grandchildren.
Ask him for favor in yourschool and rapport with your
teachers or professors.
Ask him for these thingsbecause he is more than greater
(24:55):
enough to do all that and waymore than that, see, because
you're dwelling with him, he'sgoing to lead you in the right
way.
It says it like this in Psalm105, for the Lord is good, his
steadfast love endures foreverand his faithfulness to all
(25:17):
generations.
See, that's that part that wehave to understand is that the
Lord is good.
See, for some man, they have ahard time with this first point,
that the Lord is good.
They feel like the Lord is outto get them, or the Lord is mad
at them, or the Lord hates themand all these things.
Friends, that's not the story.
The Lord loves you.
(25:39):
He has good things planned foryou.
He has good gifts for hischildren.
He doesn't want you to liveaway from him.
He doesn't want you to live insin and destruction.
He doesn't want you to live offthe path of where he's called
you, and he will challenge thatin your heart because he loves
you that much.
The Lord is good.
(26:03):
The second thing is that hissteadfast love endures forever,
and what I love about this isthat there's something that you
cannot shake.
It's not like it's a once anddone, and that's why we live
this life after God continuously, every day.
If it was about just making adecision for God once, then the
moment that you said yes toJesus, you'd be gone and you
(26:26):
would have no more problems.
But what he's called us to dois be someone who takes that
light of the gospel to the nextperson, who lives for Christ in
the situations, who lives forhim and lives this thing out as
an example of what it means tobe his.
His steadfast love enduresforever the same God that was
(26:46):
there for Abraham is the Godthat's there for you, the same
one that was with Moses and didall the miracles to bring people
out of Egypt, is the same Godthat's there for you, the same
God of the disciples and seeingmiracles happen and seeing Peter
, under the power of the HolySpirit, walk by and people
miraculously healed, is therefor you in your life as well.
(27:07):
See, friends, his steadfast loveendures forever, and so we're
called to be those that takethat fire from one to another,
because that's what we're calledto do, that we're called to
take it to our neighbor.
We're called to take it to ourfriend.
We're called to be that lightin the darkness.
We're called to be agrandparent who gives that light
of the gospel to our childrenand to our grandchildren and our
(27:30):
great-grandchildren.
We're called to be those thatlive in his example of what it
means to live for God andworship the Lord with our whole
heart and mind, not just so theysee us, but because it's real.
It's something we're livingbecause his faithfulness is to
all generations, and what I loveabout that is the promise that
my parents were praying over mewhen I was being a bonehead and
(27:52):
acting a fool.
They knew that the truth of thegospel would win out, because
greater is he that's in themthan he's in the world.
And so they were praying Lord,go get Jay.
Even if you got to shake him upa little bit, got to bounce him
down the freeway a couple oftimes, guess what it's worth it
(28:12):
because in the end he'seternally with you and living
your purpose.
Friends, I will pray all thetime that my friends are blessed
, but I will pray.
They have no satisfaction inthe things of the world.
And why is that?
Because all that stuff will tryto put the fire out, whereas
they need a fire inside themthat burns for God so they can
live for his purposes.
(28:34):
Friends, faithfulness to allgenerations, as you're spending
time with your family, as you'respending time with your sphere
of influence, with your friends,that you would be someone who
could be said of you that youhave a heart that's burning
after God, that you have a firein your heart for God, that
something's different there,that, as you impart, that,
(28:54):
that's something that's felttangibly by your presence,
because the presence of the HolySpirit in you, see, friends,
that's what he wants to have foryou.
John 14,.
It continues a little bit laterit says it like this these
things I've spoken to you whileI was still with you.
See, jesus has not left usalone.
(29:30):
He says listen, I will neverleave you or forsake you.
I am the good shepherd.
And even as he returns to theFather, he sends Holy Spirit to
be with us, to teach us allthings.
And I love this because, evenif it's not spelled out in the
book directly, what does it say?
That you would go after hisheart and he will speak to you
(29:52):
in how to navigate those things.
And the Lord help us because,friends, this world is
spiritually dark, but that thelight of the gospel that's in us
cannot be quenched by darkness,but that the brighter we shine
for the gospel of the light ofthe Holy Spirit inside of us,
the more it will change theworld around us.
So, friends, let me challengeyou.
(30:13):
We ask that question what areyou on fire for, friends?
My challenge to you is have afire for God.
Be on fire.
Today we come to this questionfor each one of us of whether or
not we've said yes to Jesus.
See, our ambition here is to bemore like Jesus.
(30:37):
That's who we're called to beas Christ followers.
So we ask that question today.
Maybe you're here and you'venever said yes to Christ.
Today is your opportunity tosay yes, have you embraced Jesus
?
Each person has to answer forthemselves.
It can't be your Nana, it can'tbe your Papa, it has to be you
(30:58):
that answers that question.
What are you going to do withJesus?
See, for us, the symbol of thecross is one of transformation.
It's one of freedom.
The cross is where Jesus tookall of my sin and all of my
brokenness and all of my regret.
He took all of it upon himself,though he didn't do anything.
He took it upon himself and hedied with my sin upon him.
(31:20):
But what he did?
He paid for that sin forever.
And he did that not just for me, he did that for every single
one of you as well.
He did it for all of us.
He took the sin of the worldupon himself and he became the
ultimate holy sacrifice for allpeople, for all time.
(31:41):
Friends, we can't earn the graceof God, we can't earn God's
presence, we can't earn hisholiness.
It's only through Jesus Christ,through his sacrifice for us,
that we're made in rightstanding with the Father.
But because Jesus came, there'sa bridge to the Father through
Jesus.
And we say, jesus, I believeyou are who you say you are and
(32:07):
so, lord, I ask you into myheart and life that you would be
my Lord and Savior.
Lord, I ask you to forgive me.
I want to start a whole newlife with you and friends, he
will.
He'll make you into a newcreation.
You'll experience theforgiveness, the peace, the joy
that you've been looking for.
The Apostle Paul.
(32:27):
He writes to the church at Rome.
He says this because if youconfess with your mouth that
Jesus is Lord and believe inyour heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart, onebelieves and is justified.
With the mouth, one confessesand is saved.
Friends, today is your day.
(32:48):
It's your opportunity to sayyes to Jesus.
I'm going to ask everyone inthe room for you to stand to
your feet right where you're at,bow your heads.
If you're online, wherever youare, just take a moment.
Quiet your heart for what Godwants to do in and through you.
You, as Christians, are prayingfriends.
(33:14):
There are some here that were inthe first service and need to
make a decision with Jesus.
I'm going to encourage youtoday that you would say yes to
him, that you would invite himinto your heart and life, that
it be the transformation in yourlife you've been looking for as
heads are bowed.
If that's you here today, yousay, pastor, I wanna be included
in that prayer.
I wanna invite Christ into myheart and life.
(33:35):
Maybe it's for the very firsttime, or maybe you've done that
in the past, but you haven'tbeen living for Christ.
You need to recommit your lifeto him.
Make a decision to follow Jesustoday.
If that's you, if you justraise your hand right where
you're at, say, pastor, that'sme, I want to invite him to my
heart and life.
I see the hand that's there.
The hand that's there.
Thank you, lord.
Others making decisions today,people raising their hands Thank
(33:56):
you Jesus.
Thank you Jesus.
I'm going to ask if everyonewould, if they'd pray this
prayer out loud after me Lord,thank you for loving me.
(34:17):
Thank you for sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you.
In Christ's name, I pray Amen,amen.
Friends, we rejoice with you.
Make a decision to apologizetoday.
(34:38):
Several people raising theirhand today Praise the Lord.
Hey, we want to put somematerials in your hand.
Please connect with us back atthe cafe or back in the back by
the prayer tower or prayerbanner.
We want to be able to connectwith you.
Give you some resources.
If you're online, message us.
We don't want you to live thislife in Christ alone.
(34:58):
Friends, today for all of us,it's our opportunity to respond
to this message, to be thosethat are on fire for God, and so
that's the prayer that we wouldpray as we come forward to this
altar today.
We do so with intentionality,asking for more of his spirit to
live for today and for thethings he has for us, for more
of his power, for more of hismentality, for his love in our
(35:19):
lives that we would be thosethat are full of the spirit of
God to live this love out toothers.
And so let me encourage you tocome down to this altar today to
spend time with the Lord, topray for your children, to pray
for your grandchildren, to praythat blessing over your family
that they would all know thelove of God.
Jesus, we come to you todaythanking you so much for your
word as you speak to us.
(35:40):
Lord, thank you for all thatyou've done on our behalf.
Lord, we just revel in who youare and, holy Spirit, we thank
you for being the one who is ourhelper and our protector and
our guidance.
Lord, you're the one who givesus insight and you convict us,
because you wanna bring us backinto alignment with you.
Lord, you are the very one thatbreathe upon this faith we have
and make it be fire and alive.
(36:02):
Lord, we wanna be full of yourspirit.
Lord, we don't want a deadreligion, we want a live faith
in God.
So, Lord, as we come to youraltar today, we do so with
intentionality.
Lord, for more impartation ofyour spirit, for more of your
presence.
Lord, that you would be morethan enough in us and in our
children and in our children'schildren.
Lord, from generation togeneration.
(36:24):
You are faithful.
We pray all this in thepowerful name of Jesus Christ,
amen.
Hey, did you know that today,this weekend, actually marks 52
years of our founding pastorsbeing married?
It's their anniversary tomorrow.
So if you get a chance, makesure you say hello to them and
just let them know how much youlove and appreciate them.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
And next Sunday we're going to be celebrating all of
our graduates, and there aremany of them.
We are going to rejoice withthem in both services.
So if there's someone that youknow that has just graduated
high school, college, a tradeschool, please make sure that
you let the office know or turntheir name in on the app.
We want to rejoice with them.
(37:06):
It's going to be a special timeof just praying a blessing over
them and rejoicing for alltheir hard work.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Amen.
Before we go, I want to praythis blessing over us.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord, make his face toshine upon you and be gracious
to you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
(37:33):
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
We pray all this in thepowerful name that is Jesus
Christ.
Amen, amen.
Know this.
We love you very much here atCornerstone.
God bless you and have a greatweek.
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