On Fire For God
🗣️ Speaker: Pastor Derrel Strickland
In this week's message, Pastor Strickland talks about being "on fire for God" and living life extremely well. He emphasizes that despite the negative news surrounding us, there are many people who are shining and doing good in the world. Pastor Strickland draws inspiration from Luke 17, touching upon the coming of the Kingdom and being like Jesus in our daily lives. He stresses the importance of having the breath of the Holy Spirit and a spirit of power, love, and self-control. God doesn’t want us to just sit idle, but to be active and vibrant in our faith—like a living sacrifice.
The core takeaway is to remember to be the spark and allow God to fan the flames, allowing you to be on fire for His purposes.
Additional Info
The info below was generated by an AI from the audio recording of the sermon.
The Meaning of Being On Fire for God
In today's world, the phrase "on fire" can have multiple interpretations, from its literal meaning to a figurative expression of someone excelling. Regardless of how it's interpreted, we must remember that there are many individuals living out their faith and passionately serving God. Pastor Strickland reminds us that despite the negative news and challenges we face, countless believers are fervent in their devotion to God. Just as there were heroes of faith at the Olympics, there are many who are unabashedly showcasing their love for Jesus.
Understanding the Coming Kingdom
In Luke 17 Jesus discussed the coming of God’s kingdom. It's crucial to note that the Pharisees were inquiring about a physical kingdom, while Jesus emphasized a spiritual reality: the kingdom is within us. As believers, we find the essence of the kingdom manifested in our lives and actions.
While the world seems to spiral downwards, the church resides here to make a difference. Though we can observe distressing events, we have the responsibility to maintain our spiritual fervor and live righteously. We are the vessels through which God’s light can shine brightly in the dark.
The Necessity of Community
Community is important in nurturing our spiritual fire. Pastor Strickland speaks of his experiences in Royal Rangers, where he learned vital lessons regarding fire – symbolically representing our passion for God. A fire requires air, heat, and fuel; similarly, our faith needs the breath of the Holy Spirit, the light of Christ, and our willingness to be used by God. We must surround ourselves with fellow believers who can support and encourage us in our spiritual journeys.
The Breath and Fire of the Holy Spirit
The fire of God can only be ignited when we have the right conditions: the Holy Spirit’s presence and our readiness to act as fuel. 2 Timothy 1:6-7 tells us about when Paul encouraged Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God. We must not allow the spirit of fear to overwhelm us. Instead, we should rely on the power, love, and self-control given to us by God.
Living Sacrifices for God
To be on fire for God, we need to recognize that we are living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2). This requires us to present ourselves daily to God, allowing Him to work through us and use us for His purposes. As believers we must actively engage with God and stay grounded in His Word. The process of burning brightly for God means being willing to endure discomfort for greater purposes and serving others with love.
Stoking the Fire of Faith
Stirring up our spiritual fire isn’t a one-time event; it’s an ongoing effort. We should be continually adding fuel to our faith, either by engaging in community, participating in worship, or serving others. Every believer has periods of spiritual fatigue, and during those times, reaching out for support from others is vital.
Encouragement Through Christ
God honors our desire to be on fire for Him. When we feel as if our flames have dimmed, we can take assurance in God’s promise that He will not let our fire extinguish as long as we bring ourselves back to Him and seek His renewing strength.
Conclusion: Passing It On
As we reflect on this call to be on fire for God, we remember the words of Kurt Kaiser’s song "Pass It On": "It only takes a spark to get a fire burning." Our experience of God’s love and presence should be shared, igniting the same passion in those around us. If you are seeking a closer relationship with God, present yourself and receive the Holy Spirit's igniting power.
Through committed worship and serving others, we can be the fuel, lighting the world with God's love. Join Pastor Strickland and the community at OAG in this pursuit of passionate faith, igniting a change one spark at a time.
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Use the questions listed below as a launching point to discuss the sermon points together as a family. These are great for dinner table discussions and small groups.
Reflection on Fire: What does being "on fire for God" mean to you personally? Can you share any examples from your life where you felt this way?
Scriptural Insights: Pastor Strickland mentioned Luke 17 about the coming of God's Kingdom. What stood out to you in this passage?
Fuel for the Fire: In what ways can we feed our spiritual fire daily? Discuss any habits or practices that help keep your faith vibrant.
Dealing with Challenges: We often face obstacles in our spiritual lives. How can we overcome these challenges to stay "on fire" for God?
Community Impact: How can we collectively as a church support each other to maintain our passion for God?
Personal Application: After hearing this sermon, what is one action step you feel called to take in your personal spiritual journey?
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Historical Context of Luke 17
Luke 17 speaks about the Kingdom of God, a central aspect of Jesus' ministry. Understanding the historical and cultural context of this passage can provide a richer insight into its meaning. Written during the 1st century AD, the Gospel of Luke is attributed to Luke the Evangelist. This book is addressed to a primarily Gentile audience, intending to present Jesus as the savior of all humanity.
During this time, Palestine was under Roman rule, a period marked by political tension and religious expectation. The Jewish people eagerly awaited a messianic figure who would overthrow Roman oppression and establish God's rule on earth. Many believed this messiah would bring about a political kingdom, restoring Israel to its former glory.
The Pharisees, a group mentioned in Luke 17, were religious leaders known for their strict adherence to the letter of the law. They often struggled with Jesus' teachings, which sometimes challenged their interpretations of the law and the nature of God's kingdom.
In Luke 17:20-21, Jesus subverts expectations by indicating that the kingdom of God is not a matter of external observation but rather, it is present within and among those who believe. This message redefined Jewish expectations, suggesting a spiritual kingdom characterized by inner change and righteous living, challenging and reshaping contemporary Jewish thought.
Understanding these nuances helps illustrate Jesus' radical teachings and the hope he offered of a new kind of kingdom—one marked by faith, love, and the Spirit—found internally among believers.
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The Story of Flaming Faith
Once upon a time, in a busy town, there lived a young boy named Timmy. Timmy loved playing outside, especially with his friends. One day, Timmy's Sunday school teacher told them about being "on fire for God." Little Timmy's eyes widened. "Fire for God?" he asked, confused and curious.
His teacher said, "Not real fire, Timmy, but a spark inside that helps you love and do good things, like Jesus taught us."
After class, Timmy thought about being on fire for God. He remembered his Grandpa telling him once, "We are like little sparks, and when we do good, it's like we light up the world."
Inspired by that, Timmy decided he wanted to be a spark too. So, he started by helping his little sister with her homework and saying kind words to his neighbors. Timmy even started a club with his friends, called the 'Sparklers,' where they would share snacks and stories about being helpful.
The whole town began to notice all the good things the Sparklers were doing. People felt happier, kinder, and it was all because of the fire of love Timmy spread.
And that's how Timmy learned that being "on fire for God" just means letting your heart shine brilliantly with kindness and goodness every day. And that’s the way Timmy always wanted to be!
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You know, there are a lot of expressions that people use describing people. Some of those descriptions are not very pleasant. Some might be pleasant, but one of the descriptions, one of the expressions that you may hear is he or she are on fire. Now, how many knows that that can be literal?
Somebody can be on fire, literally. Now, you don't want to see that. Okay? You don't want to see that. But we also know that it can be an expression meaning they're doing something extremely well.
Boy, they were on fire. They were really doing something extremely well. Now, if we listen to many in the world today, you'd think that there's not a godly person in the world. You know, we would almost be like, Elijah Lord, I'm the only one. But I want to tell you that there's a lot of godly people in the world today.
God is doing a lot of good things. There are people that we could say. They're even on fire for God. Now, I'll have to admit that sometimes I lose focus of all the good things because we're bombarded with the negative. I mean, listen, now I'm going to just give you some words of advice.
If you stay tuned to a news channel all day long, if you're not depressed at the end of the day, you're a stronger man than I am. I'm going to tell you. They're going to tell you how bad the world is. But can I tell you that regardless of what dominates our news, there are many people the world today that are on fire for God? I know that many of us were disgusted with some of the things that went on with the Olympics, but did you see some of the marvelous testimonies that some of these precious young people had that they could care less what else was going on?
They were going to lift up Jesus. I would have to say they were on fire for God. They were living life extremely well. They were doing life extremely well. I want to talk about that today.
Being on fire for God or doing life extremely well. I want to start by reading in the book of Luke, Luke, chapter 17. And it's talking about the coming kingdom, gentlemen, and I. We're talking before service today, how many thinks that we're seeing scriptures fulfilled before our very eyes? I mean, it's happening.
Everywhere we look, it's happening. And chapter 17 talks about the coming of the kingdom. It says, being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He answered them, now, let me just mention, they were not looking for the kingdom of God that we're looking for. See, the Pharisees did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
And they were looking for a messiah to come and set up an earthly kingdom. And they were asking, well, when's this going to take place? And he says, the kingdom of God is not coming in the ways that can be observed. Nor will they say, look, here it is, or there. For, behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.
Some scriptures say, in you. Both of them are correct. It means they're in you. It's in the midst of you. The kingdom of God is within you.
It's in the midst of you. And he said to the disciples, the days are coming when you would desire to see one of the days of the son of man. And you will not see it. And they will say to you, look there or, look here. Do not go out or follow them.
For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other. So will the son of man be in his day. But first, he must suffer many things. And be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the son of man.
They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage. Until the day when Noah entered the Arkansas and the flood came and destroyed them all. I tell you, when Moses was building the ark, it was a wicked day. Matter of fact, you may not think it, but it's worse than it is today. Hey, I know a few more christians today than Moses had.
I mean, than Noah had. I mean, he didn't have many friends that were godly people. Just his family. And I can tell you, they were partying. They were having a grand time.
And I wondered in the first service this morning, when did the party stop? Did it stop when the first few drops hit? Hey, you know, Moses been tough. All of you know that I get Moses in the ark and Noah in the desert. So, okay, you know, I know the difference.
Okay, okay. Noah was in the ark. And I'm sure that they had been preaching and they'd been partying and said, this guy, he does not know what he's doing. He's just crazy. Don't listen to him because he says it's going to rain.
Now, according to scriptures, it had not rained before. It was just a mist covered the earth. And so it's a different world. And I wonder how long it took to dampen the party. Did it have to get just a few drops of rain or did it wait till it began to get knee deep?
But I can tell you by the time it got waist deep, the party was over. The party was over. They were ready to get in that boat. But guess what? The door was closed because God closed the door and says likewise, just as it was in the days of lot.
They were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But on the day when lot went out from sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. So will it be on the day when the son of man is revealed? We are living, I believe, in the last days. I do not know when.
And I know we preached a few weeks ago on what happens next. And I believe the next thing on the world calendar, God's calendar, we're going to see the church disappear. Now, I'm not talking about this building as much as I like this building, it can stay here. But I want this body to be gone. And on the way up, I don't know when it's going to change, but somewhere I'm going to have a new body.
Oh, that's going to be nice. No more pain, no more suffering, all those things. But the reality is just like it tells there in Luke we could say that the world is going to potential or maybe more scripturally the world is going to hell. But let's not overlook the fact that the church is still here. And as long as we hear, regardless of how bad it gets, we can be on fire for God.
We can be doing life extremely well. See, look back at verse 21. We commented on it. Nor will they say, look, here it is or there. Behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.
The kingdom of God is within you. The church has the spirit of God within us, and we can be on fire. For goddess, we can be doing life extremely well regardless of how bad the world gets. Going back to my royal Ranger days. Now, I know some of you are not familiar with royal rangers.
Royal Rangers is the assembly of God boys group that we emphasize and do a lot of teaching of camping. It's not near as popular today as it was years ago, but we still have that ministry going. And in the Royal Rangers I earned a fire badge. Now a fire badge you could get. You earn it.
When you learn how to start a fire with one match. Start a fire one match. Now, anybody can start a fire one match, because really, when you like to strike the match, guess what? You started fire. So to keep you from doing that, what they did is we not only had to start a fire with one match, we had to cook a meal over that fire.
We had to have a productive fire. Now, I kind of believe that God wants us to be more than just striking a match.
I said, God wants us to live a life that's more than just striking a match. He wants us to have a productive fire. He wants us to be on fire. He wants us to do life extremely well. So people say, well, how can we do that?
How can we be on fire for God? Well, many of you know the scripture in two Timothy. This was the letter that Paul wrote to Timothy, his son in the faith. And he had a number of sons in the faith, but Timothy was one of his early sons in the faith that it went through him, through most of his ministry. And we read the letter that he wrote to him right before he died.
Now, he did not die a natural death. He was martyred, and he knew that he was going to be martyred. He already had the death sentence over him when he wrote this letter. And he told Timothy this. I thank God, whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience.
As I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day, as I remember your tears, I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. I'm reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. And now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and of love and self control.
Now, let me tell you this spirit of fear that's sweeping the church today, that is not of goddess, that's not of God. You've heard me say it many times. One of my biggest frustrations is when I see christians that are as fearful as the non christians. Friends, we don't need to be afraid. I said, we don't need to be afraid.
God did not give us the spirit of fear. But, pastor, don't you see all these bad things? Yeah, I see a lot of things, but I know that my God is in control. He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly. Above all, I ask a thing so I don't have to be afraid.
Well, don't you see the news? Yes, I see the news, but not very long.
I know better. It's depressing, but I know that God did not give me a spirit of fear, but a power of love and self control. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor me his prisoner, but share in the suffering for the gospel. By the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages begun. If you flip over a page or two to chapter four, it tells us this.
It says in verse nine, do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Christians, has gone on to Galatia, Titus, to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me in the ministry, I can tell you.
I am so glad that he put that in there for Mark. Don't you know that that made mark's day? Because Mark was the one saying, mark, you're not going me. You don't let me down one time. I'm not going to let you go again.
But he said, you bring Mark because you've been useful to me. Aren't you glad that our God is a God of second chances? Some of us for 13, 1415, 150. And that says Tychus, I've sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Karpis at Troas.
Say, why would he say, bring my cloak? Cause it was cold in prison.
Friends, we need each other. And when you're locked up and got no way to get out, you want somebody to bring you something warm. But he said it's particularly the parchments. Now, why did I read all that? See, he needed us to realize.
He needs you to realize that we're better together.
It's very hard to be on fire for God when you're all by yourself. Now, I can tell you one of the biggest amazements to me. How many thinks it's hard to live in a christian life here in America. How would you like to live in a city in Turkey, a city of a million people, and you were the only Christian? I'm going to tell you, it's hard to be on fire for God in that situation.
We're blessed. I said we're blessed. We have one another that can help us. To keep our fire burning, we got one another to help us. And sometimes we wonder, well, why are we not burning so well, I can tell you, some of you are surrounded by a bunch of wet logs.
They'll put anybody's fire out. Huh? They'll put anybody's fire out. We need to surround ourselves with godly people, people that are on fire. So if our fire flickers a little bit, that we can get that spark from our neighbor.
We're better together. Now, in my royal ranger days, I found out that there were three things needed to have a fire. You can't have a fire with one of them. You can't have a fire with two of them. You got to have all three.
You got to have all three. First of all, you have to have oxygen or air. If you don't have oxygen or air, you can't have a fire. Isn't it interesting that the word for spirit and God, in Genesis chapter one, verse one through two, it says this. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void.
Now, the newer translation says the world was chaos. And you can look up chaos in the dictionary. And I was amazed when I looked it up and found out that chaos is a word that's used to describe the world before it was created. Look it up. I was blown away when I did that.
Now, there's other definitions, but that's one of the definitions, man. But then it says, and the spirit, what's that word? Spirit? That's ruach, the wind, the breath of goddess, was hovering over the face of the waters. See, if we're going to be on fire for God, we've got to have the breath of the Holy Spirit.
We've got to have the air, we've got to have the oxygen. And then we know that the next thing that came up, the next day or so, they had the light of the world. Because when you have fire, you have light as well. So we must have air for fire. You must have the spirit.
You can have all the desire that you want.
I said, you can have all the desire that you want. You can have all types of fuel. You can even have a match. But without air, the match goes out. The fire will not ignite.
Now, if you were a serious camper, when I was going through Royal Rangers, we had what we called a survival kit, and you carried it with you anywhere you went. And one of the things you had in there was a little piece of surgical rubber hose. Now you say, what was that? Well, you could make a slingshot in a bad situation. But one of the reasons you carry that surgical hose is because when you were building a fire, sometimes a wind would be blowing 40 miles an hour.
And it's hard to light a fire when the wind's blowing. So what you do, you dig down into the fire so that it will be protected from the wind so it won't blow the fire out. But guess what? When you light the match, you've got to have fire. And you take that little surgical hose and aim it to where you want it to have the heat, and you blow on it to create a fire.
I have built a fire literally in the rain, pouring rain, with one match. If you know how to do it now, I can tell you at that time I was consider myself an expert fire builder. But I know somebody that's a better fire builder than I am. And I'm glad that he can breathe the breath of air on me and he can direct it where it needs to be. And I don't have to depend upon me doing the whole work.
But we need that breath of the Holy Spirit. You need that. We must have the breath of the Holy Spirit, and we must allow the spirit to direct the breath for maximum results. Because if we want to do life extremely well, if we want to be on fire for God, we've got to have the breath of the Holy Spirit. Now we also need the heat.
We know that Jesus is light. But once again, we need the spirit. What's another word for the Spirit? It's the fire God. We need the fire of God.
But who is the fire giver? Now this may help some of your theology, because I struggled growing up in a pentecostal church with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Because, see, I grew up. It wasn't taught, Jeff, but it was implied that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was a stamp of God's approval. I mean, once you got it, you were there, buddy.
That's not it. It just opens a new door.
So what helped me, what helped me is when I realized I did not need to seek tongues.
I needed to seek the baptizer. Because if you seek the baptizer, the rest will take care of itself. When you begin to worship Jesus and realize that he's the one that sends the fire, it says out of his spirit, God does that. God the father, God the son, God the Holy Spirit. But he says, and God says, if you worship Jesus, you worship me.
And Jesus said, if you worship the Holy Spirit, you're worshiping me. We need the fire of the Holy Spirit. And if we need to forget about seeking after the results, let's seek after the baptizer. Let's seek after the one that can light the match. If you want a fire, you need to seek the baptizer.
Now, Carl Straighter, who was one of the ones that questioned me, if you think that guy should have never been called to preach, you need to go visit cross trader because he was the one that questioned me for my ordination. And he had a saying that I've quoted many times. He said, without the spirit, we dry up. We need the fire of the Holy Spirit.
But then he also says, without the word, we blow up.
We need both. We need the Holy Spirit and we need Jesus. We need both parts. So we want to live a life for God. We want to be on fire for God.
Now what else is needed? What else is needed for fire besides the heat and besides the air? You got to have fuel. You got to have something that will burn. And when you run out of something that will burn, guess what?
The fire goes out. You can have all the air that you want. You can have all the heat that you want. But when you don't have anything to burn, there's no fire.
Those people in California need to hear this.
A controlled burn helps prevent an out of control burn. Now I realize that the weather out there is different, but I also know that when they had the opportunity, they would let a control fire go through there and burn out all the fuel. They wouldn't have near as many wildfires as they do. Farley could teach them that if they listened to them, but they haven't listened to anybody else, they're probably not going to listen to us. See, a control burn?
What do you mean? What I'm saying is that when you run out of fuel, you run out of fire. Now, so what is the fuel? That's a good question.
We are the fuel. I said we're the fuel. God provides the air, he provides the heat, but he does very, very little without us. Now I have to say, he can do it without you. I remember a guy in the Bible, God couldn't use him, so he used a donkey.
I remember a story way back years ago. A lady was being escorted out of church because she was shouting and praising God too much. And so she had a man on each side, and as she's going out said, thank you, Jesus. You rode in on one. I got two.
I probably shouldn't have told that. What is that? Can you edit that off online?
But God can do it without us. But how many knows? He generally doesn't. He needs us. Matter of fact, he says in Romans, the same writer that wrote Timothy wrote Romans, chapter twelve, verse one and two, verse that many of you can quote.
I uphold you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. God doesn't want a dead sacrifice. He wants a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that. Bye.
Testing. You may discern what is the will of God. What is good and acceptable and perfect. See, the first step into having a fire, that we're going to be on fire for God. We have to present our bodies as fuel.
We have to give God something to use.
Now, I know some of you saying, well, I could have figured out better than that. Maybe I could too. But God didn't do that. He says, I'm going to use man. Does he use angels?
Occasionally. But what's his primary source? Man. I look for a man, and God is still looking for men or women, boys and girls that he can set on fire for him to accomplish great things for him. So the first step is presenting ourselves to God so that he can light us up, so he can breathe on us, so that we can have the fire of the Holy Spirit and be on fire for God.
Now, we need to understand that he needs a living sacrifice. Not a dead sacrifice, but a living sacrifice. Now here's a question. How is the fire lit? Now, I was struggling with this a little bit because I wanted to say we're the match.
But then I said, no, that's not exactly true because the Bible says that no man can come to God unless the Holy Spirit draws him. So how could I explain this? Then I remembered my roll. Ranger days. What we know is a steel match.
A steel match, you say? What in the world's a steel match? Some people call it flint and steel. It depended on how old you are. But if you had a flint and a piece of steel or a knife, you could start a fire.
So I said, okay, I can understand that. I'm the flint. I'm that. That can produce a spark, but I cannot do it by myself. You can leave that piece of flint there all day and it'll never produce.
You can even set it in a fire and it'll never burn. It has to have a spark. It has to be hit some metal. It has to have some steel so it calls a spark. And so I said, that's it.
I have to present myself a living sacrifice to God, and the Holy Spirit will take me. And guess what? He is a master fire builder. How many of you ever built a fire with a splint and steel? Any of you?
There's quite a few in here. It's not as easy as it looks. Why? Because you've got to direct that spark. You got to get that spark to hit at the right space in a right time.
Now, it's certainly doable. I mean, I've done it. If I can do it, you can do it. But it's not as easy as it looks, because you have to hit it just right. Can I tell you that Jesus Christ knows how to hit it?
Can I tell you that God knows what he's doing? Can I tell you that he can take something that doesn't look like much, that has nothing power in itself, and he's able to produce something. So we need to do that. So we know that we have to have God calling us. But in some respect, we are that match.
So if we want to be on the. If we want to be on fire for God, the Holy Spirit can call us all he wants to. You say, wait, what are you talking about? See, the Bible tells me that there's only one unforgivable sin. There's only one thing that will cause that fire not to start, is that if you refuse to allow the holy spirit to draw you, because until you present yourself to God, he can't start the fire.
That's where it starts. You're the match.
But see, if we place our lives, if we place our flint in the hand of the master fire builder, he knows exactly how to hold it. He knows how hard to strike, and he knows what to do.
And he can start us on fire, that we can do life extremely well. So when Paul, going back to the scripture, starts, says, stir up the fire, now, what did he mean? Well, a more modern word that would probably may be more adequate, instead of just stir up the fire says, stoke the fire. Anybody know what stoked the fire means? Okay, now, some of you that's had a furnace or something that you had to put coal in or something, you know what stoked the fire means?
That means to stir it up. You got to stir it up, get the old stuff done, and then you got to do what? Put more fuel on the fire. You got to put more fuel on the fire. He said, timothy, you need to stir it up.
This is just my opinion.
Well, I believe Timothy might have been going through a time of discouragement. Have any of you ever been discouraged? You say, well, why would Timothy be discouraged? I can tell you why. Because of people.
I won't tell you. Pastoring is the easiest job in the world. If it wasn't for people, people messed it up. Just joking. You're the best people in the world.
But you know one or two that have been a pain.
You say, why would you say that about Timothy? You read Paul's letters. Almost every letter. When he mentions Timothy, he said, accept Timothy the way you accept me. In other words, treat Timothy with respect.
Now, why in the world would he need that? Because Timothy was very, very young, and a lot of old people don't like to treat young people with respect, especially if they're in the ministry. You say, how would you know that? Hey, I started at 21. You don't look like no preacher.
And I said, thank God. Now, now they say, you look like a preacher. And I said, oh, no.
Now you know why so many preachers wear red ties. The state of Florida law says that anything with an 18 inch hangover has to be tagged.
I'm trying to get down where I don't have to tag mine anymore.
Whoa, where did that come from? That's not even in my notes.
But we need to stoke up the fire. And why else was Timothy discouraged? It was a big issue back then. He was not a full jew. He was half jew.
He was a mixed heritage. And I'm sure that a lot of people treated him that way. And Paul said, listen, you need to start the fire. You need to stoke that fire. You need to put more wood on the fire.
Now, how do you put more wood on the fire for you? That means you put more of you on there. You need to do it because God did not give you the spirit of intimidation. See that? The old king James, the other, says, God did not give you a spirit of timidity, but a power of love and a sound mind.
So stoke up the fire. Put more wood on it. They'll say, well, if I do that, what if we burn out? I have to be careful how I say this because I know that occasionally we overwork. I've known some christians that got burned out, but I can tell you there's a whole lot more that do nothing than those that are burned out.
How do we handle burnout? Well, we need to take care of ourselves and rest. I understand that. But you know what?
God said it in Isaiah. Then he said it also in Matthew. Jesus quoted Isaiah. Matthew was directed to the Jews. And it says in chapter twelve, verse 20, a bruised reed he will not break.
And a smoldering wick he will not quench until he brings justice to victory in his name. The Gentiles will hope. I want to tell you something. God's not going to let your fire go out if you keep presenting it. God's going to keep taking care of it.
Now, I remember a scripture in Isaiah. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. Now, this is just Strickland's theology here.
You don't have to agree with it.
That sounds backwards to me. Seem like if you walk, you won't go weary, and if you run, you won't faint. But that's not what it says.
See, I used to marvel at some people, some of my heroes. I think of people like Dave Wilkerson. I think of people like Dan Betzer. Dan Betzer was assistant general superintendent, did revival time, pastored a huge church. Also on the board for Simonides of God.
He was stretched so thin and amazing man, I said, how does he do it?
Now, remember that verse? He runs, and God says he will not grow weary. You know what it told me? Maybe I should quit walking and start jogging and start running, because God will give you strength. And then again, I just want to encourage you.
We know we need to rest. We know those things. But I think he would much rather have us burn out than to rust out. Just saying. They do wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
They shall walk in all. But yesterday, as I was meditating on this message, I thought of the miracle of the burning bush. You know what's so amazing about that miracle? You say a bush burning? No, that wasn't a miracle.
There's a lot of bushes burn in a desert sometimes. I'm told they do have spontaneous combustion because it's so hot and dry that you can get two limbs rubbing together and can start a fire.
But what made it so amazing is that the fire burned, but it wasn't consumed.
A life surrendered to the master builder.
A life surrendered to the master fire builder will never burn out.
And I know some of you may be saying, but, pastor, my fire is almost out. The spark is gone.
Well, Casey's here. He can vouch for this story I'm about to tell. Years ago, him and his friend. If his friend was here, I'd use his name. But since he's not, I won't.
But they were burning a pile of brush and the fire had gone out. So they took a five gallon can of gas, climbed up on there. And they found that the book, it wasn't out.
It blew them off the stack. God blessed them. Goddess, God protected them. I was told that since the can was full. That's probably what saved them.
Because if it had been half full, it exploded. Since it's full, it just blowed them off the stack of wood, burned one of them's eyelashes off. Looked kind of funny for a while. But I want to tell you something. Your spark's not out.
I said, your spark's not out. You may be discouraged, you may be despondent, you may be oppressed. But if God's spark is in you, all you're having to do is allow the breath of the Holy Spirit to breathe on you. And you present your body. A living sacrifice.
He said, I can't do it anymore. All he said is, present it. Let God do it, he said, stir it up. Stoke the fire, fan the flames. Encourage one another.
A man by the name of Kurt Kaiser. Was a songwriter in the sixties and seventies. Some of you are old enough to remember that. But he was very popular. And he wrote one of the songs that some of you might remember.
Oh, how he loves you and me. He wrote that, well, in 1969. That's the year I graduated from high school. He wrote a song entitled pass it on. The words first verse of that song became a lot more popular than the song title.
Some of you may remember this. It only takes a spark to get a fire burning. And all of those around will warm up in its glowing. That's how it is with God's love. Once you've experienced it, you spread your love.
To show your love. You'll always pass it on. The last verse says, I wish for you, my friends, this happiness that I found. Let me say that again. I wish for you, my friend, this happiness that I found.
You can depend on God. It matters not where you're bound. I'll shout it from the mountaintop. Praise God. I want the world to know.
The Lord of love has come to me. I want to pass it on.
I want to be on fire for God. I want to do life extremely well. And I know that I've probably got a lot less time ahead of me. Than I've got behind me. But I still want to earn bright for the Lord.
I want to be on fire. How many of you say, I want to be on fire for Jesus? What do you do? Well, you got to start by presenting your body. Give him the fuel to burn with.
And then let the spark, let the breath of the Holy Spirit take care of the rest. Worship team, come on up. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the opportunity of sharing together today. Your word.
I thank you, Father, for those that are home watching online, those, Lord, that could not be here, some that are traveling, some that are out of town that are watching today, some will watch it later. Some are in the hospital, some are in the nursing homes. But God, we ask you to go with them right now and encourage them and let them know that they can still be on fire for you, even wherever they are, what they're doing. And for those of us here, regardless of how discouraged we may be, how tired we may be, God, that you're not finished with us, that we need to present our bodies a living sacrifice, that we may be used mindly for you, that we would present to you right now, God, and you would let us flame the fire, that we would be on fire for you and God, we give you praise, give you honor and give you glory. We praise you.
If you're here today and you've never presented your life to the Lord, for him to burn, for him to light, friend, I encourage you to do that. I encourage you to do that. If he's calling you, if he's convicting you, he will not go beyond, he won't light it without your permission. He needs you to say, here I am, Lord, to present your body, a living sacrifice. If you're here and just need to put more wood on the fire, do it by worshiping the Lord.
Do it by praising him. Somebody ask you if you're able to stand. And we're going to just worship the Lord in a moment. If you need prayer, come on up and we'll pray with you. We'll pray that God would just minister to you, touch your life, encourage you, strengthen you, touch your body.
