me and turn to 2nd Timothy chapter 1. Take the Word of God with me and turn to 2nd Timothy
chapter 1. Today, and today only really, we're going to be spending a little time in this chapter
talking about stoking the fire. Stoking the fire. And that's why I showed you that video before
we got started with this theme, because I think it helps prepare us for what
Paul is challenging Timothy here in his second letter to Timothy. This was, for a little bit of
background, the last letter that we have recorded that Paul wrote before he died and gave his life
for his faith in Jesus. He was in prison in Rome facing certain death. The Emperor Nero had already
announced his execution. He would be beheaded for Christ. And shortly before this happens,
he writes his last letter to not his biological son, Timothy, but his son in ministry, his son in the
faith, Timothy. So let's look here at 2nd Timothy chapter 1, and let's rise together if you are able
to physically. And let's read verse 6 together. 2nd Timothy chapter 1 and verse 6. Therefore,
I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. Also,
I want to read it to you from the NIV. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift
God gave you when I laid my hands on you. Let's pray together. God, we have all received this same
gift, the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray that we would fan it into flames, that we would rekindle
that gift, that we would stoke that fire that you have placed within us. For your glory, it's in Jesus'
name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Thanks for standing. I want to back up now and begin in verse 1
as we read from Paul's letter to Timothy. He writes, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will
for the sake of the promise of life in Christ Jesus. To Timothy, my dearly loved son, grace, mercy,
and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God who I serve with a clear conscience
as my ancestors did when I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day. Can we pause there for
just a moment? Paul was able to say, I serve God with a clear conscience. Y'all, we could spend the rest of
the morning talking about that topic. Can you and I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and say,
I serve God with a clear conscience? Or is there something that you're holding back? Is there something
that you have said no to? Is there something that you have been unwilling to hand over to God and His
control? Because I promise you, whatever you refuse to hand over to God will not receive the blessings
He so wants to give you in that area of your life. But sometimes we hold things back, don't we? Sometimes
we guard things. Sometimes our own weakness gets in the way and we say, man, I can't handle that.
I don't want to talk to that person about Jesus. I don't want to make that hard decision and do the
right thing as I know ought to be done. So can we say, I serve God with a clear conscience? Paul,
despite his many faults, was able to say that. And he encouraged his son in the faith, Timothy,
to do the same. And so he said, I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day. I remember
your tears. Isn't that interesting? Verse 4, Paul writes, Timothy, I remember your tears. And I long
to see you so that I can be filled with joy. Now we don't understand exactly why Timothy had tears the
last time he and Paul were together. But clearly there was some kind of issue that Timothy was
dealing with. We know from other parts of scripture that Timothy perhaps had some health problems,
maybe some chronic stomach issues that he had to deal with. We know that there was probably some
resistance that he was putting up with in the church in Ephesus. Y'all remember about a year ago,
we were finishing up our series in Ephesians, which was Paul's letter to the church in this ancient
city called Ephesus. We would know all these cities, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi. If we lived back then,
they were major cities. And there were churches established in each of these. And Paul had left
a pastor in charge of this church in Ephesus, and it was Timothy, kind of his protege, his mini-me,
so to speak. And Paul said, Timothy, I know that it's been hard. I know there's been sadness. I remember
the last time we were together, you were in tears. Timothy might have been getting worn down. He might
have been struggling in the work that Paul asked him to do and God had laid out for him to do.
But then he continues on in verse 5. Timothy, I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your
grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice. And now I am convinced is in you also. Now before we go on
to verse 6, let's stop there for just a moment. We get to see a little picture into Timothy's past,
into his upbringing. You know who wasn't mentioned in that verse? They mentioned his grandmother,
they mentioned his mother. You know who wasn't mentioned there? His father. Do you know why?
Because we find out in Acts chapter 16 that Timothy's father was a Greek. He was an unbeliever. He wasn't a
follower of Jesus. And the custom back then was that your faith would be passed down from your father.
Whatever your religion was going to be, it would be inherited from your father. You would continue on
in the religious tradition of your father. It wasn't going to be like that with Timothy.
Because his grandmother and his mother had been saved by Jesus and they had then chosen to raise
young Timothy in that faith. And apparently he had gravitated toward that. He had listened. He had
embraced it. But I'm sure there was difficulty growing up because his dad was not a follower of Jesus.
So I'm sure there were times along the way when it felt like mom and grandma were fighting a losing
battle. I'm sure there were difficulties. Unless Timothy was a completely different kid than everybody
else growing up and through his teenage years, I'm sure there was some resistance sometimes
to what Lois and Eunice were teaching him. But I can imagine that his mother and his grandmother spent many
hours on their knees begging God to save their son, grandson, and do something powerful in his life.
To use him for God's glory. Well, apparently they kept at it. Apparently they were faithful.
To teach him. Despite less than ideal circumstances in that home. I can tell you, and any of you who have a
mother and dad, who both try to follow Jesus and try to teach your kids to do the same, you know how difficult
that can be. You know that sometimes there's resistance there. Can you imagine, and some of you in this room
might resonate with this, can you imagine if it was just one of you? Maybe a grandparent. But you weren't united
in teaching your child to follow the Lord. So I can imagine how difficult that was for them.
But I heard a song on the radio, Christian radio, that said, don't stop praying. Don't stop calling on
Jesus' name. Keep on pounding on heaven's door. Let your knees wear out the floor. Don't stop believing.
Mountains move with just a little faith. The Father has heard every single word you're saying,
so don't stop praying. And I can imagine that that was the attitude of Lois and Eunice growing up,
raising Timothy to be what God wanted him to be. And you know what happened? He did.
It came true. The prayer was answered. And Timothy, boy those things are everywhere right now, aren't they?
That's all right. We leave them alone, they'll leave us alone. Timothy was called by God. A great
path was laid out for him to walk. He was connected with this mentor in the faith, Paul,
and God used him in powerful ways. But I can imagine that it wasn't always easy. So I encourage you,
encourage you parents, grandparents, don't stop praying. Keep calling on Jesus on behalf of your
children, your grandchildren, for them to walk the Jesus walk, follow his path. So let's move on now to
verse 6. Therefore, I remind you, because of all this I know about you, Timothy, I now remind you to
rekindle or fan into flames the spiritual gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. Because God
has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment. And this is where we're going
to really focus our time today. It's on fanning into flames or rekindling or stoking the fire of
God's gift. So what does he mean by that? Well, I've got my nine, almost 10-year-old son down here,
Austin. And he's looking at me like, where are you going with this, Dad?
One of Austin's favorite things to do, especially when we have weather like we've had, and we're
apparently about to get again this week, is building what? Building a fire. That's right. He loves it.
It's his favorite thing to do, building a fire in the fireplace. And here he is in front of one of his
fires around Christmas time, looking all proud. I will say that this kid does not let anybody else
in our house build a fire. Holly can build a fire. I can build an amazing fire, let me tell you.
But I never get to because it's Austin's thing. He loves it, and he will do the dirty work and go out
to the shed and get a big load of firewood and bring it in. So I just let him do it. It's his thing.
And he does a great job. He builds some incredible fires, let me tell you. Now, the truth is,
this kid would keep the fire going 24 hours if we let him. I mean, it can be getting bedtime,
and he's like, hey, Dad, can I go stoke the fire again? And what do I say? Right. Yeah. It needs to
die out, man. We're going to bed. We're not going to sit here all night and tend this fire, you know?
But the truth is, fires will die if they're not stoked. If you don't tend the fire, they will die.
Why is that? Because they need oxygen. There needs to be a fuel, which is the firewood. There needs to be
heat. That's why you got to light that initial flame, and then once the fire is roaring, that heat
that's built up allows it to continue burning, but it must have oxygen. If it doesn't get oxygen, it will
die out. Might take a long time to die out, but it will die out. So that's why you go take a fireplace
poker. I got him in the little black bucket right behind his head. You can see him sticking out. You go
take a poker, and you stick it around in there, and kind of stir up those coals, and get it going again.
Got to breathe oxygen back into that fire. How many of y'all watch Bear Grylls on the outdoor TV stuff?
Anybody? Thank you. We got some in the back. Good job, boys. You know, you see him or some other
survivalists out there building fires, and what do they do? They get down, they breathe oxygen into those
flames, and it lights up. Well, Paul is telling Timothy, fan the flames. Get oxygen back into your fire.
What's he talking about? God placed a fire within you. Number one, if you are a child of God, we had our
very first starting point class of this new cycle of this morning up in room 201. If you're not doing
anything on Sunday mornings, come up there, room 201, and join us at 9 30. We'd love to have you up there.
But we talked about the Holy Spirit, and how only God's children have the Holy Spirit. How many of you
ever heard somebody say, well, we're all God's children? Anybody? I've heard that my whole life.
You go out talking to people about God, well, we're all God's children. Like, no, we're not, man.
Trust me. We're not all God's children. Some of us are. Some of us aren't.
We're all God's. We're all God's creation. But we're not all His children. He lays out a very
specific path for how you can become God's child. If we were all God's children, then Jesus never would
have had to die on the cross. But unfortunately, sin came into this world, and it ruins the relationship
between God and His greatest creation, mankind. So in order for us to be His children,
our sin debt had to be paid. And so Jesus died a cruel death on the cross. But then He rose back to
dead and showed all of us that He is God, and He is worthy of our faith, and He will take it,
and He will guard it, and we will not be ashamed if we place our faith in Jesus. And so if you do that,
then you're God's child. Then He's your Father. And then you have His presence with you called
the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is likened in Scripture sometimes to fire.
water. And He's likened in Scripture sometimes to wind or the breath of God. Sometimes He's likened in
Scriptures to water. He is a force that cannot be stopped, but He can be ignored. He can be ignored.
And oftentimes, though God's children have this powerful force within us, we ignore it. We let it die out.
And Paul says, stoke that fire. Bring that fire back to life. God placed within us the gospel,
the saving message of Jesus. We just talked about it, how you can repent of your sins and receive
the payment that Jesus made on the cross for you and place your faith in Him as someone who loves you
enough and is able to forgive you of your sin. That's the gospel. And you have this wonderful gift
from God within you. Don't let that gift die out. Don't let that gift go to waste. I would hate to see
Austin's beautiful fire die out
before its time and not provide heat
to everybody else in the house. Not provide that warmth for all of us to enjoy.
But so much more damaging
is when God's people let the fire that He placed within them
die out and we don't fan the flame. So,
fire needs oxygen and we must breathe
life back into our fire. God has breathed life there.
We have that fire within us. It is our job to tend it, to stoke it.
John chapter 20 and verse 22 says,
I'm sorry, that's the one we just read. 2 Timothy 1.6. Let's read it again all together. Ready?
This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift
God gave you when I laid my hands on you. Now we go to John 20.22.
Then He breathed on them and said,
Receive the Holy Spirit.
This is what happens
when God breathed His Holy Spirit
onto men.
What a powerful thing it is.
We receive this gift.
We receive this breath.
And God can breathe life
back into
this gift that He gave us.
But it can lie dormant.
The fire can die out
and not provide heat in our life anymore.
And how many times have you felt like,
you don't have to raise your hand on this one,
but how many times have you felt like
that fire for God
isn't burning in me anymore?
I've been there.
Apparently Timothy was there too.
That's why Paul said,
Timothy,
rekindle that fire, man.
Fan those flames
back into action.
1 Thessalonians 5,
verse 19.
Do not extinguish
or quench
the Holy Spirit.
Isn't that interesting?
So that means you can
quench the Holy Spirit?
What does quench mean?
Anybody?
Yell it out.
What does quench mean?
Huh?
Put the fire out, right?
What are our wonderful,
brave,
volunteer firefighters
going out to do
when they fight these fires?
Quench the flames.
So apparently,
you can quench
the fire
of the Holy Spirit
within you.
Because Paul tells
the church at Thessalonica,
don't do this.
Too many are doing this.
Don't extinguish
these flames.
Life will hand you
a fire extinguisher
called brokenness,
called despair,
called anger,
called bitterness.
Distractions.
Time and time again,
life will hand you
different fire extinguishers
to quench the flames
of the Holy Spirit
in your life.
Throw them down.
Hand them back to God.
Say, God,
I don't want to put
the fire out.
I recognize
this has the capacity
to place,
to pour water
on the flames
of your Spirit,
and I can't do that.
You mean too much
to me.
So,
we quench the Spirit
when we ignore
what God is doing.
what does it look like
to extinguish
the flames?
Well,
we quench
the Spirit
of God
within us
when we ignore
what God is doing.
God is working
in our church.
So,
He's alive
and well.
You can look
at all kinds
of different things
that are happening
in the life
of our church.
Just look at the last
six months,
look at the last year,
look at the last year
and a half.
I can't speak
to much more
beyond that
because,
well,
we've only been here
two years in May.
So,
I can't speak
to a whole lot
of what was happening
before that.
But I know God
has used this church
for many,
many years.
Founded in 1876.
We're coming up
on our 150th
pretty soon.
It's incredible.
God has used
this church
for a long time.
But I can speak
from personal experience
what He's been doing
in this church
since we got here.
I've seen that in action.
I've seen it happen.
Many of you
can speak
for many more years
beyond that
and say,
yeah,
I've seen God
working in this church.
When we ignore that,
when that doesn't make
a profound impact
on us
emotionally,
mentally,
and practically,
then we quench
the Spirit
within us.
And if enough
of us
in the church
quench the Spirit
in our own lives,
guess what happens?
The Spirit
is quenched
in our church.
That's what
we don't want
to see happen.
But you know
who does want
to see that happen?
Satan,
the enemy,
Satan.
That's what
he's out to do.
He's out to stop
Rosemary
from getting baptized.
He's out to stop
the Sudols
from getting baptized.
He's out to stop
the next three baptisms
that we already have
on the calendar
for people
who have come forward
and said,
I want to make
my faith public.
I want to follow
the Lord
in baptism.
He wants to stop
the new families
that have been coming
into our church.
He wants to increase
the disunity,
the strife,
the discord
that pops up
and starts to spread.
That's what Satan's goal is.
He wants to quench
that fire.
And we play
right into his hands
when we ignore
what God is doing.
Can I tell you,
the adults already know this,
but let me tell you
the kids,
life is never
going to be perfect.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry to burst
that bubble for you.
We're not going to get
into Santa Claus
and the Easter Bunny
right now,
but let me just tell you,
Santa,
don't worry,
shouldn't have even
said anything.
Life is not perfect.
And it's never
going to be.
So what does that mean?
There's always going to be
things that are wrong.
There's always going to be
things that you wish
were different.
What you can control
is what you decide
to do about the things
that you wish
were different.
and then what you decide
to do about the things
that God is doing
despite the bad.
You understand
what I'm saying?
There's always going to be
good things happening
and there's always going to be
bad things happening.
You determine
which one you're going
to focus on.
Which one you're going
to give your attention to.
And if you thank God
and focus on what
he's doing
and you don't worry
so much about the things
that you wish
were different
can I tell you
that often times
God will either
fix the things
that you wish
were different
or he'll change you
to where you realize
oh maybe it wasn't
the worst after all.
It's true.
But you never get
to experience that.
You never get to see
that God can do that
and does do that
if you ignore
the good things
he's doing over here
and you obsess
and focus
on the things
that you wish
were different.
I'm talking about
in your life.
I'm talking about
in the life
of our church.
Talk about
in our community.
We should not
be a people
who are obsessed
with all the bad
things we wish
were different
about our town
about our community.
we should be
a people
seeing what
God can do
and is doing
in our town
in our county
and focus on that
and run with that
and make sure
that we're a part
of that
and not worry
so much
about all the things
we wish were different
because you know what
God has the ability
to fix it
or God has the ability
to fix us.
Sometimes
we obsess
over problems
if we don't realize
we might be part
of the problem.
So we quench
the spirit
when we ignore
what God is doing
but we stoke
the fire
when we passionately
participate.
At first
I said
we stoke
the fire
when we participate
in what God
is doing
and then I realized
no
that's not always
true.
We really
stoke the fire
when we participate
with passion.
When we really
get excited
about it.
I don't know
what that was.
It was getting excited
alright
the sound system
was passionately
participating there.
We get excited
and we lean into it
and we say
you know what
I love this.
I see these people
getting baptized
in church.
I'm going to start
talking to
whoever in my life
or my circle
you know
have you ever
been baptized?
Have you ever
given your faith
to Jesus?
Have you ever
placed your faith
in Jesus?
Have you ever
given your life
to Jesus?
Because there's
a whole lot
of people
at First Baptist
Church who are
doing that
and I think
maybe you could
also do that.
Maybe you start
a conversation
and plant a seed
in somebody's mind
that then God
uses to grow
a mighty tree
full of spiritual fruit.
When you
passionately
participate
in what God
is doing
and you're not
just a sideline
critic
or you're not
just a sideline
fan
but you say
forget this man
I'm going to
get in the game.
I'm going to
get involved
in what God
is doing.
I want to be
a part of it.
We see new
believers coming
through our church.
How can I
speaking for
you as the church
how can you
start participating
in their
discipleship
in their
spiritual growth?
How can you
become a
passionate
active participant
in what God
is doing here?
Or you can
sit back
and take
two
attitudes.
You can say
man that's great
I'm glad all
those new folks
are coming
I'm glad
those folks
are getting
baptized
glad those
things are
happening
that's good.
What are we
having for lunch
today?
Or you
can say
yeah I see
all that
stuff happening
but I
didn't like
that choir
song they
did last
time.
Wasn't
my jam.
You notice
that spot
on the carpet
up front?
That thing
drives me nuts.
Can't believe
they haven't
fixed it by
now.
I'm not
calling out
building and
grounds by the
way.
They're actually
working on
the carpet
okay so
just hang
tight.
I'm saying
there's
different
attitudes you
could find
yourself taking.
When you
ignore what
God is
doing you
quench the
spirit.
Do you
want to be a
spirit quencher
in First
Baptist Church?
Some of us
find ourselves
in that role
and we've
got to stop.
Do you
want to be a
fire stoker
in First
Baptist Church?
Then jump
in.
Passionately
participate in
what God is
doing.
How do
we do
that?
Well
glad you
asked.
Or glad I
asked on your
behalf.
Children's
ministry.
Here's how you
can passionately
participate.
You know
where we
need passionate
participants?
Children's
ministry.
Sunday
morning nursery
workers.
Sunday
school teachers
and workers.
Preschool
children's
church teachers
and workers.
Wednesday
night nursery
workers.
Wednesday
night children's
workers.
VBS kids
camps.
Other events
volunteers.
That's where
we need
passionate
participants.
So if you
would like
to passionately
participate in
what God is
doing here,
start there.
Start there.
Tied for
first place is
youth ministry.
We need
passionate
participants in
youth ministry.
Sunday
school teachers
and workers.
Wednesday
night teachers
and workers.
D-NOW
volunteers.
Camp volunteers.
Other events
that Jared is
regularly doing
with the teens.
We need
passionate
participants in
those.
Guess what?
You hire a
youth pastor,
that doesn't
mean he can
handle 40,
50 kids on
his own.
We need
y'all.
This church is
fantastic.
When there's no
paid staff member
over a ministry,
they'll rise up
and they will
take the reins
and run.
But I'm telling
you, it's easy
once you get
that youth pastor
in place for
those volunteers
to vanish.
I'm not calling
out anybody
specifically.
I'm just saying
it can happen
and it's happened
time and time
again.
And we need
sometimes,
sometimes those
people have
served their
time.
Sometimes they're
burned out with
all the demand
that's been placed
on them to carry
the load when
nobody else was.
Sometimes we need
a new crop of
passionate participants
to jump in and
say, okay, I'll
help.
It's my turn now.
I understand these
people put in
10, 15, 20
years into serving
in this area.
Maybe I can try
for six months.
Maybe I can try
for two months.
Maybe I can try
it out and see
if that's where
God wants me to
serve.
This is how you
can passionately
participate and
stoke the fire of
what God is doing
in this church.
Welcome team.
You know who
our welcome team
is?
It's three people.
Don and Diana
Shipley and Billy
Carlton.
And they are
well suited for
the welcome team.
They are friendly
people.
They greet people.
The Shipleys send
cards to visitors
after they come.
It's awesome.
They're great at it.
Billy is the smiling
face that you want
to see and he's got
some kind of joke
up his sleeve for
you when you walk
into the doors on
Sunday morning as he
hands you a bulletin.
But y'all, they
can't carry it all
alone.
We need parking
lot greeters.
We need people who
can park the car for
older people that are
physically challenged.
Not necessarily even
just older people.
Sometimes younger
people can be
physically challenged.
That would be a big
blessing for them.
We need door openers.
Y'all, we've got two
sets of double doors
right here.
Nobody opens the
door for anybody.
How great would it be
if we had some people
standing at the door
opening the door for
somebody and saying
welcome to church.
That's it.
You don't have to do
anything else.
Put a smile on your
face and say welcome
and open the door.
That is a right away
need that you could
fill and actively
participate, passionately
participate in what God
is doing here.
Lobby greeters, ushers,
there are places that
you can jump in all
around.
But you know what
happens?
The same 30 people wind
up doing everything
because they're the
passionate participants.
Don't let it be that
way.
You be a passionate
participant.
You jump in and say I
want to be a part of it.
I want to stoke the
fire.
Clearly there's a fire
burning in Henrietta,
Texas that God has
started.
I want to be somebody
that stokes that fire,
not just watches it burn
and heaven forbid,
somebody who tries to
quench it.
Music ministry,
prayer ministry,
kindness ministry.
Randy Jones is sitting
back there all
throughout the year.
She's got plans for
ways to go out and
serve in our community.
From Pioneer Union,
handing out Dr.
Peppers when school
drops out, lets out for
the summer.
Evangelism ministry.
We've been doing very
little of actively going
out and sharing the
gospel with people in our
community.
So there are all kinds of
ways for you to jump in
and serve God.
That's how we do it.
Now, before we leave, I
want to share this final
thought with you.
How many of y'all would
say there's a roaring fire
on the screen?
How many of you would say
that fire's out?
Yes.
But you know what?
Is it really out?
Because even dying embers
still have life in them.
Dying embers still have life
within them.
That's why they need to be
stoked.
That's why they need to be
stoked.
Romans 12 verse 11 says this,
never be lacking in zeal,
but keep your spiritual
fervor serving the Lord.
You know what that word
fervor means?
Well, in the International
Standard Version, it says
this, never be lazy and
showing devotion.
Be on fire with the Spirit.
That's what that fervor word
evokes.
That's what it means.
It means being on fire.
Smith's literal translation of
the Bible says boiling in
spirit, serving the Lord.
The God be New Testament
says boiling over in spirit,
serving the Lord.
You get the idea?
You get the picture of what
this is?
This fervor?
It means being on fire for God.
Y'all, we've got people in
this church that have been
Christians for decades.
Multiple decades.
It's hard to keep the fire
burning year after year,
decade after decade.
Some of you have been
Christians 50 years or more.
It's hard to keep the fire
burning all that time.
That's why Paul told Timothy,
stoke it.
Stoke that fire because it's
only natural that it's going
to start to die out.
And the Holy Spirit's fire
in your life is going to
look like that.
But that's not what our God
is.
Exodus and Hebrews both
describe our God as a
consuming fire.
God wants to roar.
He wants to blaze.
He wants to burn brightly.
So don't be ashamed.
Stoke that fire.
Get involved.
Dying embers still have life
within them.
You know, Paul told Timothy,
don't be ashamed.
It means he must have been
ashamed.
And it's easy to get ashamed.
We don't live in a world
that is particularly friendly
to followers of Jesus.
You know, we have that in
common with just about every
other Christian throughout
history.
Very rarely in this world
have there been governments
or nations that were very
friendly toward followers of
Jesus.
America might be one of,
if not the most,
friendly toward Christians.
And we still have it rough,
don't we?
But can I promise you this?
The harder the enemy tries
to put out the fire,
the more the fire rages,
the more it spreads.
And that's what happened in
the early days of the church.
It spread like wildfire
around this world.
It wasn't even legal in most
of the known world to be a
Christian.
But they couldn't stop people.
The fire kept spreading.
Why isn't our fire like that?
The fire is still there.
Dying embers still have life
within them.
It's just got to be stoked.
It's got to be stoked.
So our takeaway
is what step will you take
to stoke it?
The Holy Spirit's fire
is alive and well
in all of his children.
But it's got to be stoked.
Would you bow your head with me?
God, I pray that you would show us
how to stoke our fire.
Show me how to stoke my fire.
It's easy for me
to let the cold water
that this life seems
to throw on me every day
put out my fire.
But God,
you have given me
everything I need.
Service is not everything.
Service is not why
we have a relationship with you.
You didn't save us
so we could do things for you
and you just won
an army of workers.
you saved us
because you love us.
You want to have a relationship
with us because you love us.
Our relationship with you
is not hinging on
how much we do for you
but God doing for you
is what stokes the fire.
Serving you
is what stokes the fire.
And when we go
for days and weeks
and months
and years
and decades
without really serving you
actively,
passionately,
our fire can die out.
It's how you designed it.
Doing your work
is what fulfills us.
It's what stokes that fire.
So show every woman,
every wife,
every mother,
every sister,
every daughter
how to stoke that fire.
Show the men,
the husbands,
the brothers,
the sons,
the grandfathers,
how to stoke the fire
in their life.
If our fire
isn't burning,
we can't stoke the fire
anybody else.
God,
I pray that you would teach us
what we need to do
right now.
in this moment
with our heads bowed.
With our heads bowed,
God,
right now,
the enemy wants
to distract us.
He doesn't want to,
he doesn't want God's people
to passionately pursue him.
Amen.
Quiet the noise.
Let your still,
small voice
be the one thing
that comes through.
It says,
yeah,
you're the next
children's ministry
volunteer.
You're the next
youth volunteer.
You're the next
choir member.
You're the next usher.
You're the next greeter.
You're the next one
going out
kindness ministry
and serving our community
doing what Jesus did.
You're the next one
I'm going to call
to lead a church,
to lead a class,
to lead a committee,
to preach the good news.
Raise up
passionate participants
from our midst,
God.
We'll give you
the glory for it.