Rekindle! (Week One)
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Rekindle! • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 39:43
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· 194 viewsPastor Chase takes a break from our Design for Discipleship series in order to reevaluate where we are all at spiritually. Over the next 3 weeks we will be looking at 2 Timothy 1:7 in order to find out how to stir up our spiritual lives. We are calling this series “Rekindle!” Grab your Bible and listen to week 1/3 now!
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INTRO
INTRO
Good Morning church!
Today, as you can see we did not end up live streaming a service, instead I’ve recorded the message.
Things have certainly been different lately, haven’t they?
Just in about a month we’ve gone from talking about the “what if’s” into a home lock down scenario.
There has definitely been quite a bit of panic and fear broadcasted out by the media lately, I’m sure we can all agree on that.
Regardless, as believers, we can rest assured whether we are out and about or in home lock down...
we know with out a doubt that God can make good of every situation, and it’s up to us to trust Him, no matter what we are going through.
In light of us taking a small break from meeting together for a time, I wanted to take some time over the next couple weeks to reevaluate our spiritual lives.
What do I mean by this?
We can’t always see things the way we need to when we are going 100 mph all the time, at times we need to slow down to see outside the box.
When you’re on a camping trip and sitting around a fire often you might talk with your wife or friend about the current state of your life or share dreams together that you wouldn’t normally do “back at home” in the hustle and bustle.
Are you with me now?
OK, well it’s in that state of mind right now that I want us to be over the next 3 weeks.
Pretend we are sitting around a fire, hey if you want, to make things interesting… pause this recording, go outside and start a fire in your fire pit and then unpause.
So, for the next 3 week lets pretend as if we’re sitting by a campfire having a heart to heart talk about life.
2:17 PM PRAYER TIME
And for the next 3 weeks we’ll be looking at a specific verse, 2 Timothy 1:7.
In our emails that we’ve been sending, you hopefully by now, have got into routine of praying at 2:17 pm with your family each day.
If you are hearing about this for the firs time, please check your emails- that is how we’ve been communicating with our church body through all of this.
A few days ago I had a great conversation with Betty Madsen who attends our church, as many of you know, and the Lord put it on her heart to have everyone set aside a certain time each day to pray over this whole situation in the world today with the Coronavirus.
As we continued to talk we discussed using 2 Timothy 1:7 as a basis to prepare our hearts which we’ll be discussing in a minute.
So, we put word out to the church body and to be creative we made the time 2:17 pm.
Join us each day and invite others around you and in your circles to commit to praying at that time each day.
CAMPFIRE TALK
Let’s get back to our campfire talk as we get into the background for the next 3 weeks.
(Talk about stoking a fire and the reason for it)
Before we read our passage for today it’s important to have some background.
The apostle Paul has been a spiritual father to Timothy for many years even though he grew up in somewhat of a Christian home.
I say somewhat because Timothy’s mom and grandma were believers but it is almost certain his dad was not.
His mom taught him of the Scriptures and how Jesus was the true Messiah while his dad was more concerned with living in the world.
Thank God for mothers and grandmas, amen?!
We could say a lot hasn’t changed since then, sadly.
Paul is writing this letter from prison and traditionally it’s thought and final to be his last letter ever written.
Paul is almost certain he will die and wanted to write Timothy who was his spiritual son.
Timothy, being young encountered issues in his church having to do with standing up against heresy and how it began to infect his church.
From what we can tell, Paul’s writing proves that Timothy is going through a rough patch in his faith.
You could say he is border line burned out from all the issues, and as we will read it is really a result of what is going on at a deeper level in his life.
BACKGROUND OF 2 TIMOTHY 1:7
Go ahead and grab your Bibles and turn with me to 2 Timothy 1:1.
READ 2 TIMOTHY 1:1-6.
Charles Spurgeon used to hold that pastor’s required more mercy than others, and that is why you see Mercy added to his introduction in this pastoral letter whereas other places in his introductions you will find only grace and peace.
Discuss what’s found in verse 1-6.
Paul’s introduction (v.1-2)
Paul is reminiscing but also reminding Timothy...
… That he thanks the Lord for the ability to serve God and that he doesn’t regret it (v. 3)
He lets Timothy know that he prays for him every night, especially since Timothy has been upset to some extent since they last said goodbye. (v.4)
Paul also shares his heart that when he is with Timothy he is filled with Joy. (v.4)
Paul is reminding Timothy about his spiritual upbringing and his sincere faith. (v.5)
He’s reminding Timothy of the rich spiritual heritage through his mother and grandmother taught him.
And he’s reminding him that this faith also lives in Timothy. (v.5)
He brings all that background up to say this:
READ VERSE 6
“Fan into the flame”- literally means to stir up or stoke a fire.
At some point Paul ordained Timothy into the ministry as a minster of the gospel through the laying on of hands and prayer.
Paul at that point recognized a gift that God was building in Timothy, and gave him his blessing over it along with the elders of the church that were there at the time.
Paul did not say “start a fire”, he said “stir it up, stoke it again.”
WHERE ARE YOU?
It’s important at this point to use the time we have to reevaluate our lives to ask the questions, where are you spiritually?
How can you tell if your faith has become an ember?
Here are 6 signs:
Your interest to read God’s Word has been minimal.
When it comes to praying, it’s not like it used to be.
Your commitment to attending church has been on the back burner (Obviously you’ve got a good excuse currently, ha)
Your giving to the Lord has either become very inconsistent or non existent.
You do not have the desire to share Jesus with others like you used to, if at all.
You feel your relationship with God is not like it used to be.
If this all sounds familiar you have probably heard this before from the Holy Spirit reminding you.
Do you feel like you’re the only one who is going through this?
a. Moses got to the point in his ministry and life where he asked God to take his life.
b. Elijah sat in self pit after Jezebel threatened him.
c. And Jonah ran away from God when he called him to minister to the people of Nineveh.
You’re not alone in this if you are feeling this way and there is hope.
Stoke that fire as we continue to talk.
Here are some practical symptoms you may be feeling...
You avoid spiritual things, you’ve abandoned your service to God, you no longer are listening to God speak and so question everything that is going on in your life, you haven’t lost your salvation but you’ve lost your joy...
The result of all of that, is that you miss out on God’s many blessings, and you’re most likely having a negative impact on others around you.
So, as Paul reminds Timothy what he must do to “Rekindle” we need to do the same thing.
In Revelation 1:2-6 John records the Lord’s words to the church at Ephesus.
READ REVELATION 1:2-6
They are a serving church and they work hard to persevere against false teachings, and getting truth out, but they the Lord has one thing against them.
The church at Ephesus has neglected their first love which is doing everything because they realize what the Lord has done for them.
They are sharing the Word well but have forgotten their position and personal relationship with the God they serve.
They got too busy doing!
In verses 1-6 of chapter 1, Paul reminds Timothy of where he came from and what God has done in his life… he reminds him that he needs to get back to his first love where the fire started.
And then he transitions to verse 7.
READ 2 TIMOTHY 1:7.
Paul tells Timothy that not only does he need to get back to his first love and rekindle the fire, but he needs to address this issue of fear, and strive to be courageous for the Lord in his faith.
Paul then reminds Timothy that the Holy Spirit that God gave us does not enable us to be fearful but to have power, love and self-discipline which means a sound mind.
Over the next 3 weeks we will be discussing each of those 3 topics to help us get our faith back on track, as we come to the week of Easter.
I’m going to be honest, I would love to say we will be back in church on April 5, but I am not so sure we will be in church on Easter.
We will leave all those details in God’s hands, it is our job to be faithful to him no matter our circumstance.
This is a true picture that the church is not the building but people!
So how does power lead us to “Rekindle” our faith?
Let’s turn to Romans 8
READ ROMANS 8:1-17
Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (v.2)
Sin/Death/Flesh vs. Spirit/Life
READ VERSE 6
We have power over sin and death through Jesus’ fulfillment of the law.
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. (v.9-10)
We have power through the Holy Spirit each day because He lives in us and we belong to Christ.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. (v.14)
We have power because God is our Father, we are his and he watches over His children.
So, in practical terms how can we go back to our first love?
Remember this:
Freedom
Not the kind of freedom that you think about in America, we’re talking about the ultimate freedom from sin and death through Jesus’ death, resurrection and promise of eternal life.
Faith
Through the freedom that we have in Christ a part from sin and death, we live differently.
We live differently through the Spirit’s power given to us which is through the gift of faith.
Family
We must always remember that we are in God’s family and nothing can separate us from that.
Once we are saved, there is no spiritual pit deep enough that could separate us from God.
Here are some encouraging verses to help “Rekindle” your fire...
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
We may feel we are in a low in our spiritual lives at times but Jesus will continue to work in us until His return!
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The power the Holy Spirit gives us which is the catalyst for Faith is hope.
The source of our hope is God and only he can fill us with the joy and peace that we need to trust Him.
So, here is the first piece of wood that we can throw on the fire to keep it going, power.
As a believer we have power to cope with things in life, power from Christ to have strength to complete a task, power to stand firm in a life altering situation, power to retain faith when confronted with life changing sorrow or disappointment, as a believer we can pass the breaking point and not break because we have the power of God’s peace.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
God holds all the spiritual resources that we need to get through life and flourish through His Holy Spirit.
As Paul reminds Timothy, we shouldn’t neglect our gift but fan into flame or stir it up.
The gift of Faith is perhaps one of the greatest gifts God has given to us and the enemy wants nothing more than to destroy it.
Today, it wouldn’t take us but a minute to look around at this world and question what is God up to but it is not our job or expertise to know the answer to that, instead we should go back to our first love rather than discouragement or fear.
Rather than hide our faith in fear, we should make these things known in our life:
The name of Christ, He is who we are called to witness.
As Timothy was urged to remember his family name, so to speak, and his families spiritual legacy we are to remember the name of Christ above all.
The people of Christ, if we belong to Christ we also belong to them.
This should change our attitude on whether we should attend church or not.
We are called to be with the body of Christ and serve one another.
Gospel of Christ, He has entrusted us to spread it.
Great Commission- Matthew 28
So, how do we “Rekindle” our spiritual fire, if it looks like all we have is embers?
Go back to where it first started.
Remember that moment when you came to put your trust in Christ.
Remember this verse that Joyce reminded me of this week:
Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.”
Timothy needed encouragement, he became afraid to do what God called him to do when things got hard and got into a spiritual rut.
And so he needed to go back to the reason why he was serving in the first place.
2. Rise above the fear through the Holy Spirit’s power.
a. As we talked about a couple weeks ago Satan wants nothing more than to have us be burdened by fear but we shouldn’t.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
b. If your spiritual fire is burning low it’s most likely because you aren’t be productive at church or for God’s kingdom.
c. But the other message is that if you are spiritually strong and you’ve got a fire raging, you have an obligation to help those on the edge of spiritual burnout.
d. How can you know who those people are? We must take a break from being consumed with ourselves to look to the interest of others.
e. Paul was Timothy’s spiritual father and we have the ability to be that for others in their time of need.
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
3. Return to the Father
a. The gift Timothy needs to stir up, came from God.
b. Our spiritual fire was and is started at the moment of our conversion to Christ.
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
So here’s some practical ways to “Rekindle” that spiritual fire...
If you can teach, teach
If you can sing, sing
If you can encourage, encourage
If you can build, build
If you can lead, lead
If you can help, help
But do it all from the position of power, through which the holy Spirit enables us to do any works of ministry.
The Greeks had a race in their olympics where the runners carried a torch.
In this race, the runner that finished first didn’t win, instead it was the runner with the torch still lit.
We are running a race in life that requires faith to get through it, but not in our own strength, as we run this race we need to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives in order to keep that fire burning.
It is when we go our own way or live in fear when our spiritual fire starts to burn on embers.
So, where are you today in all of this and what do you need to work on to get that fire burning brighter and hotter?
Many people today have the time they necessarily wouldn’t have in life because of work, sports, obligations, fill in the blank but in this time there is opportunity to “Rekindle” that spiritual fire.
Will you work towards that?
LET’S PRAY