Stoke the Fire

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

Acts 16 · chapter mention

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,

John 20 · chapter mention

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,

1 Thessalonians 5:19

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,

Romans 12:11

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.